This year my toddler is really interested in Valentine’s Day! She requested to go to the store and buy her immediate family a Valentine’s Day card, about a month early. She also decided to make a gift for her dad, but we didn’t have any Valentine’s gift bags on hand. We did, however, have a few plain brown gift bags that I thoughts would look cute with some different color hearts. Let me break down how simple and fun this idea was for my toddler and I to create.
Supplies:
- Plain gift bag
- Paint (we used acrylic paint)
- Empty toilet paper roll
- Paper plate
- Tape
We started off by pressing down on the toilet paper roll on one side while stabilizing the other side to create a heart to use as a stamper. When we started, I thought it was easy to create the stamps and hold the toilet paper roll. My toddler grip strength wasn’t strong enough to continuously hold the toilet paper roll in the heart shape. So, I added a little tape on the top to hold the heart shape then, my toddler could easily stamp the hearts herself.
At times the hearts didn’t come out with the top aspect. Then I’d use a part of the heart stamp to add what was missing, easy fix.
We added stamps to both sides of the bags with red paint and then let them dry. Just in case, working with a toddler is not always predictable and it was a good amount of time for her attention span too.
Once the paint was dry, we made another toilet paper heart stamper and completed the process again with pink paint.
3 More Ways to Make DIY Valentine’s Day Gift Bags
Below are three different types of gift bags you can make- a heart-shaped bag, a striped bag, and a polka dot bag. These bags are sure to put a smile on your loved one’s face!
To make a heart-shaped gift bag, you will need:
Two pieces of red construction paper (or any other color of your choice)
- One piece of white construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Curling ribbon (optional)
To make the striped gift bag, you will need:
- Two pieces of red or pink construction paper (or any other color of your choice)
- One piece of white construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Pencil
- Ruler Curling ribbon (optional)
To make the polka dot gift bag, you will need:
- Two pieces of different colors of construction paper (we used red and green)
- One piece of white construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Pencil
- Ruler Curling ribbon (optional)
Once you have gathered all of your supplies, follow the steps below to make your DIY Valentine’s Day Gift Bag!
Heart-Shaped Gift Bag:
Cut a heart out of one piece of red construction paper. This will be your bag base. Cut a second heart out of white construction paper and glue it onto the center of the first heart. This will be your bag front. Cut two small hearts out of red construction paper and glue them to the top corners of the white heart. These will be your bag handles. Finally, cut a length of curling ribbon and tie it around the top of the gift bag to finish it off!
Striped Gift Bag:
Cut two pieces of red or pink construction paper (or any other color of your choice) that are each 12″ x 18″. Glue one piece on top of the other, making sure to match up the edges. This will be your bag base. Cut a white piece of construction paper that is 12″ x 18″ and glue it onto the center of the red or pink piece. This will be your bag front. Cut two small strips out of red or pink construction paper (or any other color of your choice) and glue them to the top corners of the white piece. These will be your bag handles. Finally, cut a length of curling ribbon and tie it around the top of the gift bag to finish it off!
Polka Dot Gift Bag:
Cut two pieces of different colors of construction paper that are each 12″ x 18″. Glue one piece on top of the other, making sure to match up the edges. This will be your bag base. Cut a white piece of construction paper that is 12″ x 18″ and glue it onto the center of the colored piece. This will be your bag front. Cut small circles out of red or green construction paper (or any other color of your choice) and glue them randomly onto the white piece. Finally, cut a length of curling ribbon and tie it around the top of the gift bag to finish it off!
This was a fun toddler craft with a good opportunity to teach our toddler about ways to upcycle our toilet paper rolls. Also, my daughter was proud of herself for creating the Valentine’s gift bags which was awesome to see.