Valentine's on the cheap!

The other day I was working on making some cards and had a little extra piece of cardstock left. I knew it would be useful for something, so I laid it aside and continued with my cards. While working I had the thought that they would be cute little "covers" to Valentine's suckers.



So, here's how to do it, it you want to SAVE some money this year on your kid's valentines. Gather some cardstock, patterned paper, glue, hole punch, suckers, paper trimmer and bone folder {or something to make a nice crease in your paper}.

Cut your cardstock into 6" x 3" rectangles. Then score them in half and fold. Now make a tiny lip on each end of the rectangle.



This is where you will glue it together later.



Punch a hole in the backside of the cover. This is where you will insert the sucker stick.



I suggest decorating the front of your cover before finishing, but it's up to you. I used a scalloped circle punch and a heart die-cut from my Cricut for the front, drew a pen line and handwrote the sentiment. I curled the scalloped circle around a pencil and only put glue in the center to attach it, giving it some dimension. Then I attached the heart with foam adhesive to raise it up a bit for more dimension. I also inked the edges of the cardstock with a light pink ink. I thought that a little cirly for the boys, so I used a square punch and a star die-cut in blues and greens. Who says valentine's have to be pink?!



Insert you suckers and apply a thin line of glue to one lip. Press the lips together to seal your pocket.



{After I took this picture I decided that a glue stick was a better alternative and was ulitmately faster. They are going to get taken apart anyways, right?}

Now if my sucker sticks were a little longer I was going to tie a tiny piece of ribbon around them, but these are short and the ribbon just made them look too out of proportion.



And there you have it...valentine's on the cheap! I spent a total of $1.60 for two bags of suckers and about an hour of my time putting them all together! You can't beat that...plus they are done! Well, almost. I will have Preston write his to's and from's on white sticker paper and then we will punch out with my square punch and attach to the back.

So, how can you get creative and save a few $$ on your Valentine's this year?