Quick Valentines
February 23, 2009
Valentine's Day has come and gone - I know. I wanted to share our valentines, though. I was in the midst of all the auction work and just assumed my children would want to buy their valentines. Was I ever wrong! So I came up with a good solution that didn't take too much of my time and that we could make a bunch of with relative ease. Notebooks!
To start, I cut a piece of 8.5" x 11" paper into quarters and gave two to each of the girls. They each drew a front cover for their notebook and Kate drew a back cover, too. I then scanned their art work into the computer and set up a document so that all four designs could print on one page. Does that make sense? Kate's artwork was on two quarters and Jane's was on one. The fourth quarter was left blank because Jane wanted her back cover plain. Once I was happy with the set up, I printed it out 25 times on card stock.
I took the card stock to FedEx Kinko's and asked them to cut the paper into fourths. I could have done this part at home, but I really wanted the cuts to be clean and even. I also bought a ream of copy paper and had them cut that into fourths, too. All said and done, it cost about $7. I took everything home and assembled notebook sandwiches - front cover, about 15 pages copy paper, back cover. Using a zig zag stitch on my machine, I sewed up one side of each notebook. The girls made name tags for their classmates and we were pretty much done. We put a pencil with each notebook which made for a perfect ensemble!
I think from start to finish (drawing time not included!), it took me about 2 hours. Not bad and certainly inexpensive. I had another parent tell me that they took theirs to a restaurant that night and his son used it to keep busy while waiting for dinner. Perfect. We have lots of copy paper left over so I am sure we will make these again just because. I think they would be great party favors, too.
All right, back tomorrow. Yellow week got me on a blogging roll. And yes, it was about time.
these are wonderful! so creative and personal. your blog and photos are inspirational.
Posted by: Annette | February 23, 2009 at 11:15 AM
once again, a terrific idea!
Posted by: TD wool design | February 23, 2009 at 11:45 AM
late is better than never. this is a great idea for next year! thanks
Posted by: v and co | February 23, 2009 at 11:47 AM
So darling! And I love the pencils you put in with them!
Posted by: caroline | February 23, 2009 at 12:10 PM
cute, and what a great idea! thanks for sharing!
Posted by: sarah | February 23, 2009 at 12:10 PM
the valentine's packages are wonderful! thank you for sharing! I also wanted to thank you for yellow week, erin! it came at the perfect time!
Posted by: Amy | February 23, 2009 at 12:46 PM
That rocks! I'm excited to get my sewing machine back!!! Great idea!
Posted by: Ashley | February 23, 2009 at 01:02 PM
Love 'em! Fun birthday party favor idea too.
Any special tips about sewing cardstock?
Posted by: Liz | February 23, 2009 at 01:18 PM
That is a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing it!
Posted by: Kim | February 23, 2009 at 01:23 PM
Hmmm. I could sure use something to get me on a blogging roll.
Cute idea for the valentines. I'll have to try and remember it for next year. Lola used her sewing machine for her valentines too but her stitches were purely decorative rather than functional.
Posted by: Sarah | February 23, 2009 at 01:31 PM
SO cute! I got those pencils for my students! It's funny how excited high school kids can get about a pencil. I thought most of the boys would pass but they snatched them up and are still using them.
Posted by: Julie | February 23, 2009 at 01:52 PM
That's a great idea.
Posted by: Yvonne | February 23, 2009 at 01:54 PM
I love it! I did valentines with the kids I nanny for and I was thinking of something similar, but they are in kindergarten and were more interested in another idea -- we dyed mini play silks. (in kindergarten, it is apparently all about getting your hands dirty :-) Maybe next year... especially now that I know some short cuts! Thanks!
Posted by: Louise | February 23, 2009 at 01:56 PM
What kind of needle did you use to sew through all of that paper? that's a great idea!
Posted by: Beth | February 23, 2009 at 02:02 PM
Great idea. I'll be stealing sometime in the future for sure! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: katy | February 23, 2009 at 02:19 PM
Is valentine's really ever over? What a nice idea, and so much more personal than those awful ones at the store. Thanks for sharing, even if it's a bit late!
xo, Amanda @ www.kiddio.org / www.housemade.org
Posted by: Amanda @ www.kiddio.org | February 23, 2009 at 02:20 PM
Cute! And yellow week was something I really needed. Thanks for hosting it.
Posted by: Ali | February 23, 2009 at 03:00 PM
what a great idea!!! - thanks for yellow week from my side again, i had a lot of fun!
Posted by: Dagmar | February 23, 2009 at 03:07 PM
What a cute idea :) I'll have to keep that in mind for the future.
Posted by: beki | February 23, 2009 at 03:14 PM
this is a cute idea! With your leftovers you could make some notebooks and use them for the end of the school year -- so the kids can sign them and exchange phone numbers for summer playdates!
Posted by: Linda | February 23, 2009 at 04:09 PM
What a great idea! I could imagine putting a binding on it (a la the small object) instead of sewing it, too. I tried it myself last September ( http://www.lisaclarke.net/2008/09/24/a-pad-for-all-seasons/ ), but I never thought of doing it as party favors or Valentine's gifts with the kids' artwork on the cover. Genius!
Posted by: Lisa Clarke | February 23, 2009 at 04:33 PM
They came out very nice! I'll squirrel it away for next year's V-day.
Posted by: Ellen | February 23, 2009 at 04:54 PM
I love this idea. Thanks for sharing it.
x
Posted by: Nanette | February 23, 2009 at 05:31 PM
Great idea. I'm going to have to remember this one for next year.
Posted by: Liz | February 23, 2009 at 06:26 PM
How cute! what a neat idea. I'll have to remember this for when my little one gets older.
Posted by: Stephanie | February 23, 2009 at 07:57 PM
adorable idea. of course!
Posted by: emily | February 23, 2009 at 09:54 PM
Hey, they're GORGEOUS!!!!
Posted by: Laura | February 23, 2009 at 10:02 PM
oh these are so cute!! I love them! They did a fantastic job. :)
Posted by: Kristin | February 23, 2009 at 10:28 PM
Those are a really cute idea.
Yes, Yellow Week got me posting again too.
Posted by: Nadia Lewis | February 23, 2009 at 10:37 PM
I think they are absolute brilliance!
Posted by: Account Deleted | February 24, 2009 at 12:19 AM
What fantastic valentines!!
Posted by: tiennie | February 24, 2009 at 12:27 AM
What a great idea! And I agree these would make great party favors!
Posted by: Gretchen Skovron | February 24, 2009 at 09:24 AM
great valentines, these would be so fun to receive!
Posted by: Lisa Q | February 24, 2009 at 09:31 AM
What a great idea. Very very clever.
Posted by: Teresa | February 24, 2009 at 09:55 AM
i loooove it! We (I) did the crayons that you melt into heart shapes for the boys, a covered button hairband for the girls. I put them into small paper bakery bag, stamped with a red owl. I think this would have been FAB with the crayons. Next year??
Posted by: Nancypancy | February 24, 2009 at 01:06 PM
Don't kids just love to see their own art in print! Great way to use it!
Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: dawn | February 24, 2009 at 03:40 PM
That is such a sweet and personal idea - I love it!
Posted by: carri | February 26, 2009 at 09:00 PM