Fun Valentine’s Day Craft for kids: DIY Beautiful!

My daughter is completely nutso about decorating for the holidays. All the holidays. Visit my house around St. Patrick’s Day and you’ll be bombarded with giant shamrocks and glittery leprechaun traps (in her room anyways, I can’t be having the stuff conflict with my décor mojo.) But decorating with pink hues and hearts? Now we’re talking.

Here are a couple of my favorite DIY kids’ crafts perfect for Valentine’s Day. They’re easy and super cute.

“Stained Glass” Hearts

Stained Glass Hearts courtesy of the crafty minds at MarthaStewart.com.

Hang these beautiful creations in your sunniest window so that the bright rays shine through! That just warms our heart.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Roll of wax paper
• Crayons
• Hand held pencil sharpener
• Kraft paper (it’s that brown paper you’d wrap packages to mail)
• Iron
• Ribbon or yarn

How to make it:

1. Begin with a 12-by-16-inch sheet of waxed paper. Fold it in half along its length; unfold.
2. Deposit wax-crayon shavings (made with a handheld pencil sharpener) evenly but not thickly across one half of the paper.
3. Fold the clean half of the paper over the shavings. Crimp the three open edges with a 1/2-inch fold to hold the shavings.
4. Protect your ironing surface with kraft paper. Place the waxed paper on the kraft paper, and cover it with another sheet of kraft paper.
5. Iron lightly on medium heat, checking after every few passes. Stop when all the shavings have melted; let cool.
6. Next, trace and cut out hearts of various sizes.
7. String each heart with a silk thread for hanging.