For the boys: You are DYNAMITE Valentine!
I found these great balsa cylinders at Michaels. I had DH drill a small hole in one end of each (thanks DH!) and then painted them with craft paint I had on hand. I went with red on the body of the dynamite stick and silver paint followed by a light coat of glitter paint on each end.
Make sure you let dry well before painting each segment...this is not a Valentine project to pull off the night before. When everything is dry, thread two pipe cleaners through the hole. Bend the end of pipe cleaners in the body of the dynamite in an L shape so they don't pull out easily. I used only 1/3 of the length of a pipe cleaner for the fuse for each dynamite stick. Before twisting them together, I added the Valentine card on a ribbon between the two. The heart shaped cards were purchased at Target from the dollar bins. I printed the message on them myself using my home printer. Print whatever message you want on a regular piece of printer paper. Then take one of the cards and line it up over the printed message on the paper. You can hold it up to a light to see exactly where to place it. Place a small piece of tape on each of the two curves of the heart to hold it in place. Place the paper back on top of the printing paper and press the print button again. Go slow when removing the tape and make sure you leave at least a two inch top margin to allow the paper to get set properly in the printer. If your tape is too close to the top, sometimes it is slick for the rollers and it prints crooked. Also be cautious as the ink takes a couple of minutes to dry completely, especially if you are using cards with a glossy finish.
The opening on the dynamite stick is a wodden button and elastic closure.
When you open it to get your treats, there is a big BOOM! sticker on the inside.
For the girls: I have SPACE in my heart for you Valentine!
I found clear plastic ornaments in halves at Michaels. They have a small plastic O on each that can be easily nipped off with a pair of scissors. Glue dots are essential for this project to keep it clean looking and simple. I put three googley eyes on a lime green puff ball alien. Some of glue on one edge of an eye keeps the alien stuck to the side of the clear dome. You want the kids to be able to see the alien straight away when they pull this valentine out so they understand what it is. There will be valentine candy under the dome as well when they get it. I stuck the dome onto a CD with two more glue dots. On the underside I printed out a large sticker with "There is SPACE in my heart for you Valentine!". I wanted to have the classic You Are Outta This World Valentine but my daughter wouldn't go for it. That's it! Very simple. I understand that some of the party supply stores have small glow in the alien figures that could be substituted for the puff ball alien. I went with the puff ball ball version as these are for the girls in the class and I wanted them to look cute rather than scary.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
