valentine's day craft

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching many kids of all ages will be bringing little cards and treats to hand out to their friends at school, some classroom teachers help their students make little envelopes to hold the cards they receive. What about making a little mailbox?

I did this craft with my toddler in mind because we will be celebrating Valentine’s Day together as a family and she will be receiving a couple of little gifts from us. What kid doesn’t love checking the mail to see if they have received something for themselves. Making their own mailbox to have in the house is a fun way to include it in creative, and imaginative play.

The supplies you need are a little box, some masking/packing tape, scissors, a glue stick, and washi tape.

Directions:

  1. Find the seam of the box and tear it open so that the cardboard lays flat. On the rectangular sides of the box trace a curved line as seen in the below photo, and trim the corners. This gives the box the curved appearance of a mailbox.
  2. Refold the box, and glue it back together. The box I used had printing on the outside, so I made sure this was on the inside of the box so that it would not be seen. You may want to reinforce it with a bit of tape. Fold together the flaps of the box and tape it shut.
  3. For the top of the box where it is meant to curve I bent the small portion of the box carefully so that it took the same curved shape, and then taped it down. The whole box will end up having tape along all of the seams to help hold it together.
  4. With scissors carefully cut a slot at the top of the box for items to go into, such as little treats, or cards. Also cut an opening at the back of the box so that there is easy access to the items inside. You can also glue an extra piece of cardboard onto it so that it is like a handle on the door. I just taped it shut with a little bit of washi tape when we decorated it.
  5. Cover the mailbox in the washi tape colours of your choice. I used gold and bright pink. I covered the whole box in pink and then outlined it in gold. I also made a simple heart design on the front out of the washi tape. Using washi tape is very easy, and forgiving. If you do not like how something looks you can easily pull it off and relay the tape down again. Once you’ve done this the mail box is complete and ready for Valentine’s Day.

I cannot wait for my daughter to come downstairs on Valentine’s Day and to see her little mailbox in the living room waiting for her. How darling would these be on the desks of students in school too?

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Happy Valentine’s Day!!