This homemade Valentine’s card with its colourful, overlapping hearts is easy to make using a toilet paper roll and paint. Crimp your toilet roll into a heart, stamp a collage of overlapping hearts, and fill them in with watercolour paints or the medium of your choice.
Today’s craft doubles as a fun way for kids to make a homemade Valentine’s card and a fun and easy art activity. It’s also a creative way to make use of an empty cardboard roll, and if you’re like me, you have plenty of those stashed in your craft cupboard.
I’ve always loved an art activity that involves filling in overlapping shapes. I think it goes back to my fondness for Doodle Arts – you know those intricate drawings outlined in black, and you had to colour in all the little sections in different colours.
The other day, I was thinking about the toilet roll heart stamping activity we did several years ago, and I thought it would be fun to tweak it to make some Valentine’s cards.
When we made our heart-stamped art all those years ago, the kids dipped their toilet rolls in coloured paint, and stamped them onto a canvas to make a cool piece of art to hang in their bedroom. The results were really cool, so do check out that project and keep it in mind for a future art activity.
Planning and critical thinking:
This time around, we’ve used black paint for stamping our hearts, and we’ve filled in the hearts and their overlapping sections with watercolour paints.
The result is a vibrant and eye-catching collage of colourful hearts. The process is fun and easy, but there’s some critical thinking involved, as kids need to consider which colours to put where so they don’t end up with two of the same colours beside each other.
No watercolours? Here are some alternatives:
If you don’t have watercolour paints, don’t worry. Your kids can use crayons, pencil crayons, markers or pastels to colour their hearts. No matter what you use, the results will be colourful and lovely.
Fun for all ages:
This craft/art activity is great for kids of all ages. Older kids will enjoy selecting their colours and filling in their colourful designs, and the activity allows younger children to work on staying within the lines with their painting or colouring.
How-To: Overlapping Hearts Valentine’s Cards
Supplies:
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- white card stock (or watercolour paper)
- toilet paper roll
- tape
- paint pallet or small saucer
- paintbrush
- black paint (we used acrylic craft paint)
- watercolour paint (we love these liquid watercolours)
Instructions:
STEP 1: Press in on one end of a toilet paper roll and kind of squeeze the roll to shape it into a heart. Wrap a piece of tape around that end of the roll to hold the shape in place.
STEP 2: Fold your white paper in half to make your card.
STEP 3: Pour a puddle of black paint. Dip the heart end of the toilet paper roll into the paint and then press it to the paper to make your first heart- shaped print. Dip again to make a second heart print that overlaps the first. Repeat until you’re happy with the size of your overlapping heart collage.
STEP 4: Allow the black paint to dry, and then fill all the sections of your stamped hearts.
Overlapping Hearts Valentine’s Cards
Equipment
- paint brush
- paint pallet or small saucer
- card stock or watercolour paper
- empty cardboard roll
- tape
- black paint
- liquid watercolours (see notes for alternative mediums)
Instructions
- Shape one end of cardboard roll into a heart and wrap with tape to secure shape.
- Fold piece of cardstock in half to make greeting card.
- Dip heart-shaped end of cardboard roll in puddle of black paint and press to the paper to make a heart-print.
- Repeat, overlapping your prints, until your collage of hearts reaches the desire size.
- Allow black paint to dry, and then fill in the hearts and their overlapping sections with watercolour paints.
- Write a heart-felt message on your card.
Notes
Add a special message, and you have a lovely, colourful, heart-felt card to give for Valentine’s Day.
More Homemade Valentines Cards:
- Ribbon Heart Valentines Cards For Toddlers and Preschoolers to Make
- Puffy Paint Valentines Cards for Kids to Make
- Wax Resist Valentines Cards
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Scarlet
I love this art project. When my kids were smaller we did heart stamping with a TP roll too but we never thought to color them in. I love the idea of overlapping the hearts to create a chain and coloring the overlaps the way you did. It makes it a great art project for the whole family, younger and older kids!