Valentine's Day Classroom Gifts You Can Make with Your Cricut Machine
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I’m a lover by nature, so anything Valentine’s Day related gives me all the happy feels. :)
What breaks my heart, however, is that we parents spend an outrageous amount of cash on classroom Valentines that just get a quick glance and then end up in the trash can. What a waste, right?
I decided that I wanted to come up with some Valentine’s Day Classroom Gifts that would actually be useful and might stick around for a while. So, I pulled out my Cricut Explore Air 2 and created some interactive Valentines that the kiddos can actually use…and they turned out pretty darn cute!
Take a peek below for two easy Valentine’s Day DIY Gifts that the kids will love!
Valentine’s Day Tic Tac Toe Game
What You’ll Need:
- Cricut Cutting Machine (I used the Cricut Explore Air 2)
- This project in Design Space
- Mini drawstring bags
- Stones (You'll need 10 per game. Bags of stones can be found very inexpensively at the Dollar Store and Walmart)
- Black Everyday Iron-on
- Red Premium Vinyl
- Weeding Tool
- EasyPress or Iron
- Red Cardstock
- Black Cricut Pen
- Patterned Paper
- Twine or Ribbon
To begin, open this project in Design Space and click “Customize.” Click on the heart tag that has text in it and click “Detach.” Click on the name text, backspace to delete, then enter your child’s name, resizing, if necessary. Select the heart, “love,” and your child’s name then click “Attach.” Click “Make It.”
We will be cutting three different types of materials for this project, so it’s important to pay attention to which boards are selected before making each cut. You will move the Smart Dial accordingly. My machine prompted me to cut the Tic Tac Toe board first. This portion of the project is iron-on, so I set my dial to “Iron-on” and then cut. Next up was the vinyl for the stones, so I changed the dial to “Vinyl.” Lastly, set the dial to cut the paper for the gift tags.
When it’s time to cut the gift tags, Design Space will prompt you to load the pen into Clamp A. The machine will write all of the text, then go back and cut out all of the shapes. This is my favorite part…it’s so cool to watch the pen in action!
Use the Weeding Tool to peel away all of the negative vinyl from your Tic Tac Toe board and stone decals. Apply the iron-on to the drawstring bag. The EasyPress Mini is the perfect size for this! You could also use any other EasyPress or an iron, depending on what you have available to you.
Peel the “x” and heart decals away from the carrier sheet and apply them to the stones. Be sure to rub them onto the stone’s surface well so they get a good adhesion.
Tuck the playing pieces inside the bag (ten pieces per bag, five of each design), pull the drawstring, and tie the gift tags on using ribbon or twine. So cute, right? These are bound to be a classroom favorite!
Valentine’s Day Sewing Activity
What You’ll Need:
- Cricut Cutting Machine (I used the Cricut Explore Air 2)
- This project in Design Space
- White Kraft Board
- Black Cricut Pen
- Yarn
- Kid's Sewing Needles
To begin, open this project in Design Space and click “Make It.”
The base paper for this project needs to be fairly sturdy, so we used Kraft Board. Set the Smart Dial on your machine to “Custom,” then on your computer, scroll down the materials list to select “Kraft Board.”
Prior to cutting, Design Space will prompt you to load the pen into Clamp “A.”
Once you press the blinking “C” on the machine to begin, the machine will do all of the writing for the card, then will go back and make all of the cuts.
Have your kiddo sign each card, then fill a clear snack bag with yarn & a kid’s needle and attach it to the back of each one. So cute!
I hope you’ve been inspired to make some of these cute Valentine’s Day Classroom Gifts for your own kiddos to hand out at school. If you have, please share a pic and tag me on social media using one of the methods below. I absolutely love seeing what y’all make!
Happy Valentine’s Day! Xoxoxo, Jen :)
