With Valentine’s Day coming soon I thought I’d share a fun idea for homemade valentine’s that your kids can get involved with. My girls and I made these last year, and we really enjoyed it! Plus their classmates thought they were pretty cool, too.
First I took photos of my daughters with their fists outstretched as if they were holding a sucker. I set my camera at a lower aperture (f/10 +) to allow for a larger depth of field so both my daughters’ faces and their hands were pretty well in focus. A higher aperture (lower f/stop) will allow you to blur either the fist or the face. You can play around with your camera’s aperture and see what look you like best.
Then I added a border, embellishment, and sentiment in Photoshop before I sent them to the printer. Once I got the prints, I used my craft knife to cut slits at the top and bottom of the fist in the photo so that I could fit a sucker stick through.
After making chocolate covered marshmallow pops with my girls (recipe found here) I covered them with small clear candy bags (found at craft stores in the baking section) and tied them with baker’s twine. You could also use store bought suckers and save yourself some time.
Then I gently inserted the sucker sticks into the slits in the photos and voila! A variation on this project that I’ve made is to photograph yourself or your child as if you were holding a gift card with two hands, and then cut slits at both hands and insert a real gift card. I hope this fun photo project has inspired you, and I wish you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.
Bonus download: if you’d like to make your own photo valentines you can download a free photo frame here. Simply open the file in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, drag and drop your photo onto the frame, and make sure the photo layer is underneath the frame layer. Flatten the image and save it as a .jpeg. Then you can print it!
Be sure to link us to your valentine's creations too! We will be looking to feature some right here on Thursday!
~ Aly Dosdall
super cute project-the county I live in has a "NO FOOD/CANDY" policy AT ALL so we are never allowed to bring treats and I know kids get sick of getting pencils :)
Posted by: kate blue | February 07, 2012 at 10:16 AM
Very cute idea!!
Posted by: Chris C | February 07, 2012 at 10:29 AM
love this idea. I am doing it today!
Posted by: Trish | February 07, 2012 at 10:32 AM
CUte idea!!! I see many possiblities!!!
TO help out KATE BLUE... Put a stick of some sort with a hanging heart on it or the school's logo/mascot or a flag, etc. It may get too expensive to put a toothbrush in the hand. There could be a rolled up message put thru the fist- kids like to hear nice things said about them - write a compliment for each student.
Hpoe these ideas will help?!?!?
Posted by: Jude | February 07, 2012 at 11:04 AM
That is really cute. Fun idea!
Posted by: Ange | February 07, 2012 at 12:02 PM
Great idea. Thanks for the aperture tip.
Posted by: Bunnyfreak | February 07, 2012 at 12:10 PM
Such a cute idea!
Posted by: Toni K | February 07, 2012 at 12:26 PM
Awesime idea:)
Posted by: Gisele | February 07, 2012 at 12:28 PM
jude, great ideas! kate blue--pin wheels might also be another fun thing to substitute for the suckers.
Posted by: Aly Dosdall | February 07, 2012 at 12:37 PM
WHat a creative idea!! Love it!
Posted by: Tracey | February 07, 2012 at 02:03 PM
Wow what an awesome idea!!
Posted by: Sharon Peele | February 07, 2012 at 02:05 PM
this is a super cool idea...would look neat with a pin wheel too for the no treat schools...
Posted by: Deena | February 07, 2012 at 05:07 PM
Wow...very very nice idea and editing.
Posted by: Sample Letters | February 07, 2012 at 05:41 PM
C
O
O
L
TFS
Posted by: {vicki} | February 07, 2012 at 06:29 PM
I seen these on pinterest and that is what I did too! Such a great idea. thanks for the tips
Posted by: Creative Mine by Maria G. | February 07, 2012 at 09:14 PM
how cute! very cleaver idea, gotta try it!!
Posted by: Phyllis | February 07, 2012 at 09:20 PM
Very pleasant and exceptional. Keep this up.
Posted by: Sample Letters | February 08, 2012 at 01:21 AM
Such a cute idea for a teenager's Valentines to friends. I will try to remember this when my grand kids get older. TFS the idea.
Just A Pac Rat
http://circlebenterprises.com
Posted by: JustAPacRat | February 08, 2012 at 04:02 PM
It's excellent!!! Love this idea!
Posted by: Agata | February 08, 2012 at 04:55 PM
This is soooo cool!!
Posted by: Maria S ' Sweden | February 11, 2012 at 07:03 PM