8 Homemade Valentines: A Cute, Easy How To

I love Valentine's Day. It is such an optional holiday that when you receive something a gift or card, you know the person truly cares. Here are eight cards to get your creative juices flowing and maybe create a wonderful family tradition.

To make this romantic ruffled heart valentine you'll need a Big Shot, three different size hearts to go with it, a plastic embosser and four coordinating papers. To get depth, you will also need double-sided foam tape.

Tip: Be careful when embossing the body of the card because it can easily tear.

For this sweet owl, you'll need the Big Shot, circular dies to go with it, four different coordinating papers and a small heart die to make the feet. The wings and ears are the same size. A circle die is used for them both.

Note: To make the body of the owl, fold your decorative paper over so when you cut your initial circle, you can open the card to include a message.

Valentine's Day is one of my son's favorite holidays. I first made this butterfly valentine with him when he was 5. It's a lot of fun to do and easy enough for young kids to make. I hope you enjoy making it as much as we did.

For this project you will need:

• 2 pieces of coordinating scrapbook paper
• A piece of thin card stock
• 1 pipe cleaner
• Plastic eyes - 3/16"
• Heart stickers
• Glue dots
• Double-sided tape
• Scissors
• Stick of gum

1. Trace a heart shape onto your piece of card stock. My heart was 3 inches across and 3 inches high at the widest part. Don't worry about the tip. It will be attached to another heart in the next step.

2. Trace your heart onto the reverse side of one of your decorative papers to make your butterfly's wings. Flip the card stock heart over and trace another heart connecting to the first one at the tip.

3. Cut out your wings.

4. Repeat Step 2 with your coordinating paper to make the backside of your butterfly's wings.

5. Once you have cut out both sets of wings, attach them to each other with glue dots.

6. Trim the edges of the wings so no they are even and no pen or pencil marks show.

7. Cut a piece of coordinating paper three times the width of your stick of gum by the length of the stick of gum.

8. Attach a piece of double-sided tape to the reverse side of your stick of gum.

9. Cut two pieces of your pipe cleaners for the antennas. Make them half as long as your stick of gum. Curl the ends and attach the bottoms of the pipe cleaner to the sticky tape.

10. Center your gum in the middle of your coordinating square of paper. Fold the paper and attach one side to the double-sided tape. Attach a piece of double-sided tape to the paper and fold down and seal the side.

11. Put a glue dot on each eye and attach to the front side of your stick of gum.

12. Attach several glue dots to the middle of your wings and stick the butterfly body onto it.

13. Attach your heart stickers to each wing.

14. Bend the wings slightly upward for a more natural look.

Easy and pretty, this valentine is one for the for kids to do. Use a piece of 8.5 by 11 inch white card stock for the base and cut it to fit in nicely in your envelope of choice. Use a heart punch to make the hearts and attach with glue dots.

If you love doing crafts with your kids, Family Fun is chock full of ideas. They have been around quite awhile (at least 18 years) and my son and I have gotten a lot of enjoyment from their pages.

This valentine is 4 X 4 inches. Print your sentiment onto white card stock using your laser printer and cut a 3.5 inch by 3.5 inch square. Cut two identical squares in two different papers, using your Big Shot and circle dies. Attach them with glue dots. Attach your card base to the black layer with double-sided foam tape to give your card depth. Attach a heart and you're done!.

1. Cut a piece of green decorative paper 3 inches by three inches.
2. Using your double-sided sticky tape, fold over and edge and tape it down. Put three more pieces of tape on the backside of the paper.
3. Roll the paper around your push pop. Put the paper underneath the clip.
4. Cut out 4 hearts approximately 1.5 inches by 1 inch. Using your glue dots attach them to the top of the push pop.
5. Attach the pompom with two glue dots.

You will need four different patterns of card stock, a bird punch, two different size heart punches, and plastic embossing sleeve (for the heart), a Big Shot and glue dots. The body of the card is 4 X 6 inches. The pink zebra paper is 3 X 5 inches. Mom will probably want to cut the card base but the kids can definitely punch the heart and birds.

You will need a Big Shot, ruffled circular and smooth circular dies for the Big Shot, a flower embellishment and and a die for the body of the purse.

As with the owl, fold your paper over before you cut it so the purse can open. Cut a large ruffled circle and then remove a portion of the inside with a smooth circle die. Cut the result in half which you will use as the handle. Cut a small ruffled circle for the clasp and embellish it with coordinating circles and a flower.