Our Annual Valentine's D.I.Y. Project {how to craft with a 3 year old}

Every year since Sonja has been a year we sit down and craft Valentine's Day cards to send to everyone we love. Granted I usually forget someone, or lose an address, but for the most part we get them to our friends and family.  This year was cool because it's the first time she's had a lot of friends and she has so much more creativity and communication skills so the cards are really what she wants with my help.  I love these kinds of moments as a mom and am excited for Vera to start creating with us as she gets a bit older.  Anyway, here's what crafting in my home looks like, unedited with the chaos of a toddler as my crafting partner...

First, I gather ALL the supplies, I want to get as much done as quickly as we can!

Start with a simple base {we used this scallop pink paper from Paper-Source}

Then, I let Sonja add all her customizations, including but not limited to sharpie, marker, stamps and/or watercolor.

After she's done, I complete the cards by addressing them legibly... 

After Sonja drew her pictures and stamped her stamps I added white on top of her pieces to make the cards look finished and complete.  She picked out which cards with which doodles were supposed to go to which person.

I also added hand painted watercolor borders to the envelopes.  I'm all about upcycling and reusing so I just keep any unsealed envelope for these kinds of projects, for these size cards I found both white and craft paper envelopes.

Sometimes the art teacher in me cringes when I use my $10 brush in .99 cent paints, but work with what you got, you know?

Sonja's tools.

While she ran off, after she was done, I snuck a card in there for her too.

This is the chaos I'm talking about, markers left open, cucumbers half eaten and random alphabet magnets thrown in the mix.

I used Dr. Ph Martin's White with my pen from Charvin {but it's not on their site} and these pink scalloped cards from Paper-Source Sonja picked out while we were at the store.

Finally, adding the finishing touches of left over glitter and sequins. I'm excited to send these out to friends and family {although we did run out of pink cards, so don't be offended if you get one slightly different than pictured above}.  Hope you're inspired to create something with love this Valentine's Day.  Happy Crafting!