Valentine’s Day Crafts
Valentine’s Day is a wonderful opportunity to show how much we love someone, whether it is our children, our parents, or a special someone we share our life with. Naturally, we want to decorate our homes, have a special dinner, or give a gift that expresses our love. There are a lot of things we can do with crepe paper and tissue paper on this special day.
For instance, we can make crepe paper roses that are beautiful and will last for years. You’ll need green pipe cleaners, red crepe paper, green crepe paper, sticky tape and scissors. Cut a strip of red crepe paper about 2” wide and then cut it into rectangles. Wrap one piece around the top of the pipe cleaner and secure with sticky tape, keeping the petal end (top) free of tape. Now attach the next rectangle to the base, on top of the first piece of crepe paper and angling the top out a bit. Keep building with subsequent rectangles until you have several layers, which you can pull out gently into a rose shape. Use green crepe paper rectangles around the bottom to make the bud. You can make a bunch of roses this way and wrap the stems in metallic tissue paper for a beautiful bouquet.
Tissue paper carnations are another fun craft for kids and adults. You can use any color tissue paper but pink, red, or white go very well with Valentines Day. You’ll also need pipe cleaners for the stems, ribbon to tie them together, and scissors. Cut a small piece of pipe cleaner and set it aside then take two rectangles of tissue paper and lay them atop each other. Cut ½” wide slits along the long edge, about halfway up the tissue paper. Place a pipe cleaner in the center of the tissue paper rectangle with the slits at the top then fold the tissue in half over the pipe cleaner, like a greeting card. Holding the pipe cleaner in place, roll the tissue paper around the pipe cleaner and hold it in place, wrapping the small piece of pipe cleaner you cut around it below the slits. Now you can fluff the “petals” of the carnation to your liking. Make as many as you want for a bouquet and give them to a friend or use them in a vase as a centerpiece.
If you’re having a party you’ll want to decorate and floral pom-poms suspended from the ceiling are a beautiful way to brighten a room. All you need is tissue paper, floral wire and scissors plus string to hang them with. Stack eight 20”x30” sheets of tissue paper atop each other and fold them like an accordion, about 1 ½” wide. Slip a length of wire over the center of the tissue and twist to hold the paper in place. Use your scissors to cut the ends of the tissue paper into rounded or jagged shapes. Then separate the layers, pulling each one away from the center. You’ll have big, beautiful pom-poms to hang above your table, from a doorway, or outside that will put everyone in a festive mood!
Party favors are always popular, especially when they are tasty. You can cut out small hearts and glue them to toothpicks. Insert the toothpicks into Hershey kisses; you can write someone’s name on them to serve as place cards or place them on dinner plates or in small dessert dishes.
Crepe paper and tissue paper make beautiful decorations and gifts and will make Valentine’s Day special for both the recipient and the giver.
