Create an eye-catching centerpiece with your little loves this Valentine’s Day. Follow these easy steps to make memories and beautiful table art.
Valentines Tree
STEP 1: Gather your littles for a branch-gathering field trip. Walk around the block or hike your favorite trail, kids love to collect sticks anywhere! Challenge your kiddos to also hunt for leaves and small stones shaped like hearts.
Tips & Local Ideas: Try Platte River Park, Roxborough Park, or Chatfield State Park for beautiful scenery and stick collecting, ground finds only! Paint branches with chalk paint, acrylic paint, or leave au-natural. You can even add glitter or paint in unconventional colors.
Level Up: Try tightly wrapping yarn around a few of the branches (a glue gun is your friend).
STEP 2: For the base, repurpose a mason jar, painted bucket, cleaned out paint can, or remove the wrapper from a large, canned pantry item.
Tips & Local Ideas: Huge baked bean cans work great. Paint the base with chalk or acrylic paint, or use a glue gun and cover with your favorite fabric, wrapping paper, jute, twine, or yarn!
Level Up: Paper mâché and then paint once dry.
STEP 3: Place foam or stability contents inside your main base, drop in branches, top with moss, then proceed to ornament creation.
Tips & Local Ideas: Instead of moss, try shredded paper, marbles, hand-picked small rocks, pine needles or sand.
VALENTINE’S ORNAMENTS:
If you are a minimalist, create simple ornaments by cutting out heart-shaped felt pieces, gluing two together, and adding ribbon or string in between for hanging. If fancy is your name, proceed directly to next level hand-crafted ornaments.
Use photographs or homemade drawings to create heartwarming décor for your tree. Craft foam, felt, or painted cardboard (from all your amazon purchases) work great for homemade ornaments, with or without photos. Spice it up by repurposing baby clothes, towels, other sentimental pieces, or leftover fabric. Cut, wrap, and glue around cardboard or foam for one-of-a-kind ornaments.
Tips & Local Ideas: Use heart shaped leaves and glue to each side of the ornament for a great 3D nature inspired ornament. Oven bake clay like Sculpey is a fun, no-mess way to create their very own ornaments for the tree.
Level Up: Cut heart shaped fabric and hand stitch inside out, turn right side out, and stuff with foam scraps, pillow filling, or recycled fabric pieces – stitch closed. Prepare to dazzle any visitors.