Handmade Butterfly Valentines

 I love Valentine's day for the simple celebration of friendship.  I can't resist paper doilies and have such fond memories of making Valentine boxes for school.  So, with a little one now in school herself, what fun to help her create some wonderful tokens of friendship, and hopefully warm memories as well.

Here is what we did:

1. gather materials - heart-shaped paper doilies, glue stick, felt sticker hearts, construction paper and Tootsie pops

2. fold one piece of construction paper in fourths (half and half again) - use plastic packaging from doilies to trace heart (this makes the heart just a bit bigger than the doily)

 3. cut out heart on fold

 4. glue on doilies to hearts - you'll need two hearts for each Valentine
     it is MUCH easier to smear the glue on the construction paper heart rather than the doily!

 5. make lots of hearts

 6. place two hearts right sides together and sew a line across the pointed end - just a bit off straight up.

7. sew lots in a row!

 8. open and press seam open at back - see your butterfly emerging?

 9. make two snips from the back through all layers as shown below.  We found the bigger, the bettter.  Otherwise, the lollipop stick would stretch the stitching too much.

 10. open butterfly again and slide lollipop stick through slits.  Stick on hearts to embellish wings.

11.  we made labels that said "Happy Valentine's Day from your friend E" because writing them out would have been torture!  We stuck them on the back of butterfly (which helped hold down the points and secure the lollipop a bit). 

Wishing you friendship this Valentine's Day!