Children's Valentine's Day cards

What with a baby coming in May, and the upcoming loss of my income due to said baby at the end of this month, I’m trying to train myself to be more frugal.  One of the things I read time and time again on some of the frugal blogs I follow is that it’s great how being thrifty can lead to being more creative.  I wholeheartedly agree!  

As I’ve mentioned, Spencer started preschool last month, and with that comes things like Valentine’s Day parties complete with card exchange for 12 kids.  I decided to make them this year out of things I could find around the house.  What I found was some ridiculous felt left over from Christmas, and that’s about it.  Sooo…

You Will Need

Some scrap paper (free)

1 12x8 sheet of red felt ($.29)

2 12x8 sheets white felt ($.29 per sheet, $.29 x 2 sheets = $.58)

1 marker (free)

1 ruler (free)

1 pair scissors (free)

1 large cereal box (free)

Glue (free)

Confession- I use most of my kid's "artwork" as scrap

On your scrap paper draw a heart that is smaller than 4”wide and 3 ¾” tall.  Cut it out.  Using your heart as a stencil, trace 12 hearts onto the red felt (on the back side if there is one so the lines don’t show).  Cut out your hearts and set aside.  On your white felt, cut out 12 rectangles measuring 4” wide and 3 ¾” tall.  Set aside.  Cut rectangles of the same size out of the cereal box.  Glue the hearts (marker side down) to the white felt.  Glue the white felt (marker side down) to the outside of the cereal box.  Allow the glue to dry pressed under a heavy book.  When the glue has dried, write a message on the brown paper side.  Done.

I bought the snake skin felt because shockingly, they were out of red felt at Christmas.

They’re not perfect, but they’re cute.  I did mention that they’re for the 4 and under set, right?  Now that the cards are ready, I’ll let Spencer draw on the brown side to leave his mark.  Were I to do it again, I’d see if I could find a less busy box, or maybe use a colored felt for the background because the Honey Bunches of Oats definitely shows through!

Happy Valentine's Day, kiddos!

Try It

$.87 for 12 Valentine’s Day cards.  Per card, if I actually bought the felt instead of having it left over without a valid receipt in sight, they would have been $.07/card.  As it stands, they were free (everything else is listed as free because it’s been around so long I don’t know where they came from- except the cereal box.)

Buy It

The price range seems to be $1 to $4 for 36.  The ones we would have bought were $2.50 for 36 Toy Story cards with temporary tattoos (side rant: what is with temporary tattoos?  Why is that cute?).  Per card, they would have been $.07/card.  But since I only needed 12, it would have actually cost me $.21/card.

Verdict 

So depending on how you look at it, I either saved nothing, $.14/card, or $2.50.  I see it as an easy craft project that took care of Valentine’s Day, and got me a little in the spirit.  I’m a little bit of a V Day Scrooge at heart, not going to lie.  Until Spencer is old enough to make or pay for his own, I’ll continue to Try It.

NEXT WEEK: Dijon Mustard!