Valentine Cards for "In-Be-Tweens"

The perfect Valentine's Day craft for tweens. 

Valentine's Day for tweens is fraught with uncertainty. They are slightly too old to buy packaged Valentines to give to their classmates and yet, still want to be involved. They are slightly too young to have a real relationship with the opposite sex but find themselves attracted to a few. They do not want to miss out on the holiday but this is an awkward age where there is not much for them. We discovered this card idea on the Martha Stewart website and it not only solves their issues, it allows more creativity. 

The Martha Stewart website has more than 40 homemade Valentine cards. Some, like the one featured here are super simple and there are some really good ones that take a bit more time. We picked this one because our child had a short attention span and this allowed him to create several before he got bored with them and moved on. The fact they can be personalized is a big draw. 

Simple Supplies

This is an easy craft that does not require an expensive trip to the store. Wrapping paper works well for these cards but construction paper works too. To close the envelope, heart stickers are a nice touch but any sticker will do. If you don't have stickers, scotch tape works just as well. You can use colored pencils or markers but even they are not necessary. A pen or pencil also works. The point is that your tween can create them any way they want. After all, it comes from the heart. 

Cut out the heart

This is the easy part. The heart pattern came from a website that is no longer active but just type in heart pattern. You can find any size you desire. We decided to use a piece of pink paper but the possibilities are endless. Trace the pattern and cut out the heart. 

Fold in the sides

There is a learning curve here. The fold should be just to the outer side of the center of the top curve of the heart. Make sure that the sides are parallel. After a few tries, it becomes easier.

Fold the top down

The top should be folded just about the middle. It if is folded too far down, the tab will not cover.

With that done, the tab to close the envelope is the last fold.

We didn't have stickers so it is not finished. We found a sealing wax kit on Amazon but we decided to use a candle and make our own. Although I didn't photograph it, it's just plain fun. In case you want a sealing kit, the one we liked is below.