I love Valentine’s Day and love the fact that kids exchange cards at school. But I’m not at all gungho about all those kiddie cards that say “Be Mine” and “Will You Be My Valentine”. Sure I may be old fashioned but I would prefer to have a “Thankful you’re my friend. Happy Valentine’s Day” message or a simple “Happy Valentine’s Day” message.
Now don’t get me wrong, DaySpring and Veggie Tales does carry some cards that I do like but I wouldn’t want to spend too much on cards. And with a “no candy”, “no food” policy at the kids school, we can’t do any of the cute, food/candy-related ideas on Pinterest.
Our alternative?
Making our own, inexpensive Valentine’s Day Cards!
How to make inexpensive Valentine’s Day Cards
These are really inexpensive cards to make. For under 5 US$, you can make cards for 20 of your child’s classmates. I picked up the bee-hive cutouts (36 in a pack, for 1$) from our local Dollar Tree store and the card-stock confetti (24 in a pack, for 97 cents) and pencils (20 in a pack, for 1.97 cents) from Walmart.
The first thing I would recommend doing would be to cut a small slit in the middle of each confetti heart (to slip the pencils through)
and then slip a pencil through each slit , preferably having the eraser end in the front.
Now get each bee-hive and cut a slit near the upper left hand corner and one near the lower right hand corner.
(I like folding the paper gently to cut the slits. Do remember that the slits will hold the pencil, so try and cut at least 1 cm or so away from the sides.)
Now write/type your Valentine’s Day message on card stock, cut, center and glue it onto the hive.
(Our message reads- Buzzing by to say, “Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!“)
Now slip the pencil through the slits on the hive
And voila, there you have it, a super cute and unique Valentine’s Day card with a practical gift attached to it!
Best of all, you don’t need to be crafty to wing this one.
If you prefer to do something with butterflies, check out the Butterfly Valentine’s Day card we did last year.
Jennifer @TheRebelChick says
This is such a cute idea! I love how easy they are and they have that homemade touch to them too!
Ellen Christian says
I love the way this turned out. Great idea!
LauraOinAK says
Love this idea and reading this post just reminded me that my 5th grader might need a few dozen Valentine’s day cards this year since he’s attending school.
Jennifer @ My Sweet Sanity says
What a cute and inexpensive Valentine’s idea!
Digna D. says
These are so sweet! I used to make my own Valentine’s when I was a kid. This is a great deal and much more meaningful than store bought cards.
Marina says
I agree. There’s just something about homemade /semi-homemade cards that have that edge, right?
mel says
What a cute idea! I absolutely love it!!!
Donna says
How cute! I pinned it to share with some of my mom friends!
Sofia says
I love it!! Beats candy any day 🙂
Sara Phillips says
SUPER cute!!
Amber Edwards says
Oh my goodness! Those are such adorable valentine’s day cards! I love it! So cute and simple and very cost effective!
Beth says
I love how these use supplies you can buy. With three kids, crafting all of the Valentine’s from scratch would take too long!
Mama to 5 BLessings says
Those are adorable Marina! Love them, so creative! The Dollar Tree is one of my favorite stores!
brett says
those are really, really cute!! my kids get so excited for fun pencils
Ashley says
I got those hearts from Walmart too and I’ve been waiting on an opportunity to use them. These are adorable!
Jen says
These are adorable!! I love homemade Valentines.
Nicole Brady says
Cute and easy. Great combination! It’s nice to see a variety of home-created Valentine’s in the kids’ boxes. Shows thought and creativity… and gives the kids a sense of ownership in the whole process!
Michelle says
That is super cute! I love it!
Crystelle says
These cards are so adorable! And frugal is awesome: I admit…….
Joanna Sormunen says
These are so adorable! I really love the idea. They’ll make a great gift for Valentine’s Day. Thank you so much for sharing!
Melissa says
This is such a cute idea!
Shell Feis says
Those are the CUTEST! Love it!
Linette says
This is such a fun and cute idea! Handmade is always better!
Tammy says
Those are great – as a parent I appreciated when my daughter came home with cards like this!
Billie @ Rowell Reviews says
These are super cute! I love the bees.
Heather @ It's a Lovely Life! says
Those are adorable…. my daughter would love to get one of those and to make one for each of her friends.
tammilee says
These are so cute!
John says
These are great. So easy to make and cute for Valentine’s Day
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
You know, I wouldn’t have thought it worth the trouble to make them, but you proved me wrong because there’s no trouble!
Janel says
That’s really cute! I would have probably wrote “Bee Mine!” 😉 We’ve been coming up with some really fun ideas, too. I don’t know why I ever bought the store ones now that I’ve started brainstorming. So many fun ideas!
melissa says
How cute! I LOVE LOVE this!
Todd Lovessweeps says
How fun ! Thanks for the valentines day card idea
Jennifer (robbins) A. says
Aw. These are so cute! I love the idea of including a pencil with the Valentine’s card. I remember, when I was younger, my favorite Valentine’s Day cards to get that school day were the one with little “extras” attached. 🙂
Thank you for sharing!
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
That is a cute idea, but I bought valentines for my son for $2.50 and it involved zero work on my part 😉
Nancy @ Whispered Inspirations says
Wow, these are so cute. I wish I would have made these instead!
Lisa Bristol says
These are such a cute idea. I used to do something similar when the kids were younger.
Mama to 5 BLessings says
What cute suggestions. Very creative and frugal ideas too!