DIY heart stamp

I’m not a crafty person. I consider myself creative, yes, but not DIY-inclined.

So when Levi’s teacher asked each student to bring in a decorated shoe box or bag for their upcoming Valentine’s Day celebration, I began brainstorming the easiest way we could complete this arts-and-crafts project together.

Knowing I’d be too lazy to cover a shoe box in construction paper and that Levi would be too distracted to decorate such a large container, I decided to use a plain white paper bag we already had in the house. My thought was that we’d use leftover paint from Halloween to make hearts and swirls and other pretty designs.

But Levi doesn’t know how to draw hearts. He is, after all, only 2-1/2. He also doesn’t have the attention span to finish a lengthy art project, so whatever we were going to do would have to be quick and simple.

Inspired by a painting of the Olympic rings Levi recently brought home from school, I created a DIY heart stamp using a toilet paper roll. It was so ridiculously easy that I almost feel silly sharing this how-to:

1. Flatten the paper roll to form two creases
2. Invert one of the creases
3. Slightly manipulate the cardboard on both sides of the inverted crease to create the curved top of the heart
   
4. Lightly wrap paper roll with rubber band to help keep its shape

So simple, right?

Levi was excited to “stamp, stamp, stamp!” the heart-shaped paper towel roll onto the plain gift bag — for a few minutes. Then all he wanted to do was mix different colors of paint onto the plate. But with a little bit of coaxing encouragement (and some literal hand-holding) he stamped all four sides of the bag.

We added polka dots with oversize paint markers (similar to these) to fill in some of the white space, and I later used a metallic Sharpie to write his name on either side.

Is it the prettiest bag for collecting Valentine’s Day cards? No, it looks like a toddler painted it. But that’s the point! Levi was so proud of his artwork, and I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with a quick arts-and-crafts project that involved minimal clean up. 

Classroom Valentine’s Day cards c/o Minted