DIY Teacher Valentine Gift Idea + Art Class Valentines for Students

 This is a bit late, but here are some Valentine's Day gift and card ideas I created this year for my teacher colleagues and students. Some of the student cards are themed around artworks/artists, such as the middle school ones, which had a Howard Finster pun since we've been studying GA folk art. I found an artwork of Mark from the Bible to go with my markers and marker pun for my second graders. I used sweet treat artwork by Wayne Thiebaud for some of my lower school student gifts. Some of the gift tags just had a pun and I handwrote them. For the teachers, I bought containers of Valentine's Day donuts, put two in each bag, and separately packaged soap roses I fond at a local store in bulk. The poem I wrote for them is below on the free printable, but if you needed to change the wording like the word "colleague" or do different gifts, I made my tags in the Paint program most computers come with. I shopped all over and the stores all kept running out of supplies, so I had to do different things for each class. I gave glitter pens to my first grade class (since they all love glitter) and ice cream pens, chalk markers and chalk tags to my second grade class who expressed interest in using chalk markers, Sharpies or special pens with glitter glue sticks or rainbow pens for my third-to-seventh grade students, note sets with cats or dogs for my high school small group members, and stacked highlighters for my art appreciation class. I decorated my classroom with a balloon arch you may recognize from the party I recently posted (it was still put together, too, which saved a lot of time), and gave the option of spending the Monday before Valentine's Day creating Valentine's cards or drawing animals holding hearts in art class. I unfortunately did not really photograph the beautiful works before I sent them home. 

Free Printable Cards:

I hope you enjoyed these free printable cards and find the Valentine's Day ideas handy for next year! 

-Lauryn 

DIY Art History Valentines + Free Printable

Hello, everyone! I'm sorry this post is coming to you later than usual and that I couldn't finish it before Valentine's Day. However, these puns could come in handy for any day, and maybe will provide inspiration for more art history gifts/cards, in addition to being a resource for you next year. I made these puns and came up with the art history theme while doing a huge art history project for my art education classes (called "the mammoth project" for a reason!), and most of the puns came to me while I was in bed around midight (isn't that when all the best ideas come?). These are super easy to make, at least for the most part. If you have a laminator I imagine the process is way easier, but I cut, peeled and stuck together my laminate paper by hand. These cost probably around $0.75 each if the ink, paint tubes, paper and laminate are all included, but not counting the extra paper and supplies left over. To clarify: I am not calculating and adding the cost of paper, ink, and the roll of laminate, but estimating based on the amount used of those items. I normally would do cheaper valentines, but I only needed around ten this year, plus I didn't realize how much they would add up to. You could modify this to be more cost-efficient.

Here is what you will need:

-Tubes of Paint (or some artistic material)

-Laminate Paper

-White Cardstock

-A Printer and Colored Ink

-The Free Printable Below

-String or Tape (or some material you have on hand to hold the paint/alternative to the card)

-A Pen 

-Playing Cards (optional)

-A Glue Stick

-Scissors

Step 1. 

Printout the printables below onto white cardstock and cut them out.

Step 2. 

If you use playing cards, glue the picture onto one side of each card with a glue stick and cut an equal-sized peice of white cardstock to glue to the other side (so the card is sandwiched in between). The card just reinforces sturdiness. Whether or not you use playing cards, the back is white. Write a message on the back with your pen (preferrably black gel ink, a simple message like "Happy Valentine's Day!") and sign your name. 

Step 3. 

Laminate the cards. 

Step 4. 

Tie, tape or somehow adhere the paint tubes (or alternative media) to the cards, preferrably with an adhesive that will not mess up the cards when removed. You are done! 

Here are the free printables:

If you have difficulty downloading them, just right-click, select 'Open image in new tab' and you can print it from the new tab from the right-hand corner options.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

-Lauryn

DIY Recycled Heart backdrop

For the Valentine's Party at the Park that I shared in my previous post, I made a heart backdrop. As promised, I present the tutorial so that you can make one too! This backdrop is easy, quick, recycles cardboard, and can be used for photo backdrops, birthdays, weddings, or other events in addition to Valentine's Day. It makes a great last-minute party decoration.

You will need:

-Cardboard (if you want it to look like mine, use the white bottom halves of clothing boxes, making sure that there is nothing on them, such as labels or unwanted colors).

-Hot glue gun with hot glue gun sticks

-String (I used yarn from the thrift store)

-Scissors

Step 1. Gather up your cardboard, and begin cutting out hearts. It's okay if they're different sizes.

Step 2. Hot glue string to the back of the hearts. I spread mine out so that the strands would be longer.

That's all there is to it! 

I plan on posting some St. Patrick's Day crafts later this week, so come back soon!
-Lauryn

Valentine's Day Party at the Park, 2017

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm really behind on blogging. Remember the Valentine's Day Party at the Park from last year? Well, it's become a tradition! Here's a party held on the weekend of Valentine's Day at the same location. I handmade the heart backdrop, and plan on making a tutorial for it. I kind of threw everything together in less than three days, so it was very simple and last-minute. The color scheme was browns, white, green, pale pink, and gold. The food was provided by all of the guests. The diamonds were created using straws. The children and teens all exchanged Valentine's cards. It was fun!

I have more posts planned for next week!
-Lauryn