Frugal Valentine’s Day Crafts
As most of the United States is either under water or snow, now is the perfect time to break out all the little odds and ends you have in the house and let everyone make homemade Valentine's Day gifts for their friends and family. This is not only the frugal way to make presents but homemade presents hold much for meaning to the person getting them than the store bought ones.
There of course is the old standby of making homemade cards and hearts and decorating them with glue and glitter. However have you ever delved deeper into the little odds and ends you have around the house? Here are some fun things I have found:
- Look at materials – I sometimes have little scraps of materials around the house or maybe the kids had a stain on the front of a shirt but not the back. They can cut the material out and make little heart pillows for decoration. (The stained portion – as long as it is clean can go inside for stuffing).
- Materials – I have also taken some materials like denim and filled them with rice and sewed them closed very well. These can then be placed in the freezer or micorwave and used as heating pads or “ice packs”. Perfect for the loved one that suffers from sore muscles. You can also use the rice “heating pads” in a basket with a cloth over it and it helps keep the rolls and biscuits warm when your traveling. You could measure the basket and make one to fit perfectly.
- Handprints – handprints are something that I remember making when I was much younger and in school. We made handprints in plaster-of- paris and of course we also did the tempra paint handprints.
- Pictures – One of my favorite things is to have my children take a bunch of goofy pictures of themselves. We then pick out about 10-15 of the funniest pictures and we send them to friends and family as loved ones to use as a slideshow screensaver. We do this since our family is far away and do not get to see the boys that often.
- Videos – nothing will brighten a Grandparent's day more than a cute video of the grandchildren acting out a little skit or just talking about their day and personalizing it for the Grandparents. Grandparents can get into the act also by video taping themselves reading a young grandchild a book (especially if it is a book the child can read along with). We may be doing this sometime soon for my mother since she has not seen the boys in a while.
- Write a letter – letter writing has become a lost art in recent years. Most people love to get mail (except bills) and the idea that someone took time to sit down and actually put pen to paper and write you a letter telling you how they love you and what you mean to them is priceless. It did not cost the sender anything except maybe some paper, an envelope and a stamp but the letter will be treasured forever.
- Bake – we love to cook in my house and since the weather is planned to get bad next week I think we are going to start making some homemade bread for people to give out as gifts and maybe some tamales. Cookies are also great to make for gifts. Some X and O's and some hearts are all you need.
- Wood – do you have any scrap wood in your house? (We have tons of it). If you have scrap wood or if you can make it out to a home improvement store and purchase som of the odd and end pieces (just ask) you can do various crafts with the wood. It is not that difficult to make window boxes or little plant stands. Here are some simple directions for some wood crafts
What crafts do you do with the your family for Valentine's Day?
