Today’s Valentine was created by Bar Rucci.

Homemade Valentine’s are the best. Hearts, glitter, red & pink, what’s not to love? It brings me back to my childhood. There was nothing that made me happier as a kid than creating 20 matching (but varied) Valentine cards for my classmates. As a mom, my enthusiasm for this holiday begins the minute the Christmas tree is down.

This year, inspiration struck from the newspaper we had out on the table for a painting project. The aftermath looked so pretty, we decided to just keep going. We painted all the paper and hung it to dry. My mind was racing with the endless possibilities. What should we do with all of these beautiful pages? In the end, it just had to be hearts!

To make your own you’ll need:

- Newspaper
- Liquid Watercolor
- Brushes
- Heart Template
- Watercolor Postcards
- Scissors
- Rubber Cement

Step 1: Paint the newspaper with the liquid watercolors and let dry. Since we work at our dining room table (that was made by hand by my neighbor’s mother in Australia!), I always lay down a big towel underneath the newspaper. But these pages can just as easily be painted on the floor, on an easel, or outside! The liquid watercolor will seep through the newspaper a little bit, but it also dries quickly.

Step 2: Create a heart template. You can cut a heart out of paper and then trace it onto heavier cardstock or cardboard. (Just make sure the heart is sized to fit the postcard.) Next, use the template to trace the hearts all over the newspaper. Then cut out the newspaper hearts.

Step 3: Using the same template, trace hearts onto the blank postcards with a pencil. Paint around the hearts with liquid watercolor. Encourage your child to paint over the line just a little bit. This is good practice for them to focus and paint carefully. I mixed 4 colors in the red family and instructed the kids to blend the colors as they painted so that the effect, when dry, was like ombre. For smaller children, they can paint the whole page. Make sure to use a black pen rather than a pencil, though, to trace the heart so that you can see it underneath the paint.

Step 4: Using rubber cement, coat the back of the newspaper heart and then also coat the heart on the postcard with glue. Let them both dry, then carefully place the newspaper heart within the white space left on the postcard. This gluing method is a very good trick to use if you want the glue to stick forever!

We painted 4 sheets of newspaper and were able to get 65 hearts cut out! I’m sure you will be seeing them pop up in future projects, too (mind still racing).

Have fun!

 You can find more of Bar’s art projects at Art Bar Blog or shop her card shop (hello thank you cards) at Late Night Cake.