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I went a little crazy with this idea and made 2 different crafts. One would be great if it’s just you and a kid or two – the other is a bit quicker and easier so would work for a play group or class Valentine project.
The first one is super simple and would be great for a larger group or to make enough for the classroom. You just need clothespins (this is a mini clothespin), paper, glue and a pen or marker.
Cut out a heart, cut out a mouth, draw eyes and glue onto the clothespin as shown. You could do one on the other side so it can be used either direction.
You could use them as gift or treat bag toppers as well
For the “heart grabber” you’ll need thick cardstock (or ideally cardboard like a cereal box), brads, paper, googly eyes and glue.
This one is made from 3/4″ x 4″ strips but can be made to any size. Any bigger and you’ll need to use sturdier paper.
Assemble the paper as shown and connect with the brads.
Make the heart “head” out of paper and cut out a mouth.
Glue the head to either side of the grabber making sure the mouth closes when it is extended.
And you’re done!
Longer strips work even better, but like I said you’ll need to use a sturdier material like cardboard.
9 Comments
Allison, these are soooo cute!! Facebook is notorious for not notifying page owners when I feature them, so I thought I would stop by myself and let you know 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153779138845217&set=a.353593675216.349539.323548680216&type=1&stream_ref=10
I absolutely love these ideas, Allison! I only have girls, but I think they'll love them, too. So creative! Pinned.
Just wanted to let you know these are the cutest thing…and I have a 7 year old girl who choose this as her valentine treat for classmates!! Thanks for the idea!
Hi! i love the clothespin idea! it’s great, thanks for sharing, do you mind telling me what kind/brand of glue you used for this project? i thought about using the silicone hot glue gun but i want to avoid kids getting accidentally burned. Thanks a lot!
I made it last year and can’t for the life of me remember, but I bet that regular school glue would work ok. The clothespins are usually un-coated so it should adhere well!
Hey wow, I made this EXACT same valentine like a year before you posted this… and painstakingly sat up with my son to come up with not only the type of puppet–being a puppeteer this is my job–but also coming up with a tag line that would fit it pretty well. Funny how we both came up with the exact same thing, and both wrote blogs about it…, but mine was a year before… weird.
http://puppetpie.blogspot.com/2013/02/valentine-puppet-tutorial.html
If you are asking if I copied your idea – no, I have never seen your post or blog before now (cute puppet though I never thought to call it a puppet!) I got the idea from a mix of this project https://www.flickr.com/photos/molasecompanhia/2199522132/in/photostream/ and a craft from a 1993 kids Valentine craft book. The saying from a million other printable Valentines on the internet. I’ve had lots of projects done exactly the same from other bloggers after I have posted them, the same project (especially Holiday projects I assume) can be dreamed up without blatant copying. If you’d like I’d be happy to link to your post.
Stacy, love the red googly eyes you used!
Sometimes it’s the simplest things that can bring our kiddos the most delight. I can see my 3.5 year old getting such a kick out of these!
I did a roundup of Handmade Candy Free Valentine Ideas Kids Will Love and included your project in it! I’d love for you to take a peek and share if you think it’s a fit for your audience. 🙂
http://hellocreativefamily.com/candy-free-handmade-valentine-ideas-kids-will-love/
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Crystal