modern thrifter

[ VALENTINES ]

The kids and I have been making handmade valentines for classmates for several years now, and we always have a great time getting crafty together. This year I came up with the idea to make little spinner cards. If you never made something like this, the concept is separate images glued on each side of a stick. When the stick spins, the images combine like a very simple animation.

We decided to draw a heart on one side, and the arrow on the other, then glue them to sucker sticks that I purchased at Michael’s. When spun, the arrow appears to be going through the heart. 

To make these a little cuter, I typeset the words with a rubber stamp printing kit that I found last year at the thrift store. This tool has been really handy, though changing out the letters can be somewhat frustrating. The kids each stamped their names on all of the cards, and then I made the mistake of letting them play with the stamper for a while. This is what the case of letters looks like now:

I had hoped that the kids would be able to do several of the steps involved in making these cards. But honestly, they turned out to be just a little too much for them to tackle. Instead, I’ve spent the last two days assembling fifty of them for their classmates. Not to worry though, I get plenty of enjoyment out of making things like these.

Happy Valentine’s day everyone!