We Love Because.....Valentines — Wendy Elliott Designs

I wanted to share a Simple, Fun and Meaningful Valentine's Day craft with you that you can make with your little ones. It's loaded with happy colors and will provide fun memories with your favorite little crafters. Go ahead, invite the neighbor kids over too. The clean up is easy!

To make We Love Because....Valentines, you will need the following items:

White tissue paper.
Red, orange, and pink acrylic paint (available at any craft store)
Tray for mixing paint
Flat paint brush
Stiff white paper (I used mixed media paper)
Mod Podge (waterbase sealer, glue)
Pencil
Scissors
Permanent marker
Paper hole punch
Ribbon

How to Make We Love Because...Valentines

Pour a teaspoon of paint on the mixing tray and add a few drops of water.

Paint a few brushstrokes on the tissue paper. FYI, the more transparent, the better the outcome because some layers of color will overlap.

Let dry. (Give the kids a snack and read Eric Carle's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, while you wait. Did you know, Eric Carle creates his picture book illustrations with painted tissue paper too!)

Once the paint is dry, make a heart template.

Use the template to outline the shape of the heart on the mixed media paper.

Using the flat brush, brush on a thin layer of Mod Podge on the heart.

Tear off a few pieces of the painted tissue paper and lay them down on the thin layer of Mod Podge.

Brush on a little more Mod Podge on top to seal the tissue pieces in place.

Repeat the last two steps until your heart is full of color!

Let your tissue paper hearts dry overnight.

Cut each heart out.

Use a paper hole punch at the top of each heart and run a piece of ribbon through to hang.

You can vary the look by using a big section of painted tissue paper rather than tearing off pieces. *Note-typically the bigger pieces get more wrinkles in them when the glue is brushed on. You can also mix your own colors and draw your heart shape freehand.

Are you wondering why they are called We Love Because... Valentines? Because of God's incredible love for us, we are able to love others.