Hearts and blue elephants!

I have recently become extremely addicted to a website called Pinterest....www.pinterest.com.  There is a wealth of info on this site....everything from food, to travel, home decor to crafts!  My favorite is the section on crafts.  As I was browsing thru that section earlier today I began to remember all the library story times and the crafts I came up with for my children.  One was a paper elephant made in heart shapes.  I pinned this craft to this website but then decided that those of you who haven't discovered this yet I'd put it in my blog!!!  It's adorable and can easily be made from leftover scraps of scrapbooking paper or even just some gift wrap.  Gabe made it out of typing paper and colored the hearts.  The children in story hour made theirs from card stock I printed out. Here's that cute little elephant!  Go to www.dltk-kids.com for the template.  Go into Holiday Crafts, then Valentine's Day, then Heart Animal Paper Crafts and finally Heart Elephant Paper Craft!!!! You'll find the templates at the bottom of the instructions.

DLTK's Holiday Activities for Kids Heart Elephant Paper Craft Read a bit about DLTK's Grow With Me Craft Concept to get some ideas on how this basic craft idea can be used with different materials to make it appropriate for everyone from ages 2 thru 82!

Tip 1:  Include the message "Wishing you a ton of fun on Valentine's Day!"

Tip 2:  Glue the heart animal to the front of a folded over piece of construction paper or a doily to make a cute Valentine's Day card.

Tip 3:  Purchase fancy paper from the scrapbooking store and print the B&W version onto this for an extra fancy Heart Animal.

Tip 4:  Scotch tape a straw or popsicle stick to the bottom to make a puppet

Tip 5:  Glue a small piece of sandpaper on the back to make a felt board character

Tip 6:  Cut construction paper into 4 inch wide strips as long as you can make them.  Tape two together to make even longer.  Measure around child's head to make a construction paper 'crown'.  Glue Heart Animal to front of the crown to make a Valentine's Day hat.

Materials:

• paper
• glue
• scissors

Directions:

• Print out the template of choice.  I like printing the B&W version on colored paper.
    
• Color (where appropriate).
    
• Cut out the template pieces.  (the pieces on the template are at about the angle they will be on the finished craft.  That should help you sort out which pieces belong where)
    
• Glue pieces together:
    

Glue large upside down heart so it overlaps medium upside down heart to form the body
Glue curved piece onto the medium upside down heart to form the tail.
Add the second large (right side up) heart (the one with the eyes and trunk on it) so it overlaps the body to form the head.
Add the smallest heart on the tip of the trunk to form the nose.
Glue the ears onto the head so the points are overlapping the head and they are sticking straight out.

Option for mass-producing - young children:  Print out the B&W template.  Trace the pieces onto stiff cardboard (back of paper pads works well) or margarine/ice cream container lids.  Cut out to make permanent templates.   Allow the children to trace these permanent templates onto different colors of construction paper to make their animal

Option for mass-producing - older children:  Omit the templates.  Let the children cut out heart shapes in various sizes from colored construction paper (show them how to fold paper in half and then cut to make a perfectly symmetrical heart).  Let the children create their own animals by putting together hearts of different sizes (you can pre-make a few example animals to give them some inspiration).

 

My kids loved this project....your children, grandchildren etc will too....no matter their age!  With Valentine's Day just around the corner these would look so cute on a child's wall.

That's all for this time!  Keep coming by for a visit....there's a while lot more to come.  By the way...if you think you;d be interested in pinterest give a holler and I can invite you to become a member....it's free and a load of fun.  You can spend hours prowling thru the different sections liking and re-pinning to your hearts content.

Live each day to the fullest....life has no guarantees!!!

God bless!