Make it Monday: Friendship Bracelets, Flower Pens and 20 other Non-Candy Valentine’s Treats for Kids and Teachers

Joanne February 12, 2018

Happy Monday!

Valentine’s Day is just two days away and while couples are making restaurant reservations, girl friends are celebrating Galentine’s Day with cocktails and others are buying chocolates, most parents are busy buying treats for their kids classes, because let’s face it, it’s really our job when they’re as little as Dahlia. And honestly, Dahlia would rather play with her toys than help me out the entire time, but to give her some credit, she did help me cut out string, glue paper and put the gifts together, which did help me out in the end. Here are items I made this year for her preschool classmates and teachers and some other cute ideas I may use for years to come. Enjoy!

Friendship Bracelets for Kids:

I got the idea from Dandee Designs and put my own spin on things.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

  • Craft String (I bought a pack at Michael’s a long time ago that I used for a string art project and had so much left over. This is initially what prompted me to do this project. I love using items I already have around the house.)
  • “Thanks for Your Friendship” Paper Template (I used PowerPoint for the template. You can easily make your own using a circle or heart)
  • Cardstock Paper (Instead of cardstock paper, I actually used some of Dahlia’s artwork she recently came home with that way I could reuse it and make it more personable)
  • Hole Puncher
  • Binder Clip or Clothespin
  • Gluestick
  • Pattern Scissors (Optional)
  • Non-Candy Treat (Optional)

Here’s What You’ll Do:

Step 1: Gather six – 12 inch pieces of string (various colors) and tie a knot at one end with all the string.

Step 2: Clothespin or binder clip the end to something sturdy (like the cardstock paper) and take 2 pieces of string each to separate into three sections. Braid together and knot at the end.

Step 3: Print out your paper template and cut out.

Step 4: Glue your circles onto your cardstock and use pattern scissors or regular scissors to cut out leave 1/4 in. border.

Step 5:  Hole punch two holes on the left and right of each circle.

Step 6:  Weave your bracelet through the holes and you’re done unless you’d like to attach an edible non-candy treat.

Step 7 (optional): Staple or tape your non-candy item to the back.

Flower Pens for Teachers:

What adult doesn’t love flowers on Valentine’s Day? I got this idea from my mother-in-law who loves giving these as gifts and also taught me how to make them.  I thought it would be the perfect gift for all the preschool teachers at my daughter’s school. It’s not only functional, but super easy to make!

Here’s What You’ll Need:

  • Twine
  • Fake Flowers (I always have a bunch leftover from different projects, so I just used whatever I had)
  • Floral Tape
  • Plain Pens
  • Wire Cutter (Optional; depends on what kind of fake flowers you buy)

Step 1:  Cut your fake flower leaving about 2 inches from the top. (May need your wire cutters for this or you can cut the plastic part of the flower to the wire and bend the wire until it breaks.

Step 2:  Take your pen and floral tape and start binding the remaining stem of the flower to the pen. Be sure to cover all the pen with the floral tape. May need to go over a couple of times.

Step 3:  Cut a small piece of string and tie a bow at the base of the flower where the floral tape begins and voila, you’re already done!

To package the flower pens, I bought little notepads I found in the discount bins at target and placed one in a cellophane bag with the pen and some paper shavings.

In addition to these items that I made, here are some other awesome non-candy treats for Kids:

Here are some useful ideas for Teachers that are non-candy as well:

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