In classrooms across southeast Michigan, when the calendar flips to February, kids eagerly anticipate Valentine’s Day parties and those piles of little tokens of friendship from classmates. If your school opts for decorating bags or the traditional Valentine’s Day boxes to hold those valentines, a few local moms share some cool inspiration.
Office workers even get in on the fun with design-off challenges with pun-filled boxes to high-tech QR code-enabled boxes! #ValentineBoxChallenge.
So, whether you’re a DIY enthusiast or prefer the convenience of a ready-made box (stores sell them!), the true magic of Valentine’s Day lies in the friendships shared.
Feel inspired? Share your Valentine’s Day boxes by emailing editor@metroparent.com.
Levi’s Post Services
Levi Post, a Macomb fourth grader, thought it would be funny to have a Valentine’s Day box that was truly a mailbox. So, he and mom, Dayna Ross, got to work.
“For the design, we used a cereal three-pack box for the main shape, while the top was born from a second cereal box. With love and a lot of patience, the mailbox came to life. We cut the door using a utility knife, assembled a little loop from a scrap piece of cereal box as the handle, cut a slit into the top and used a hot glue gun to keep it all together. We used basic craft paint for the entire box and a Sharpie for the design and outlines,” she says.
“The finishing touches were the “Pick-up Time: 2:14” and our official name, Levi Post Services.”
Powered by Jeep
Miraj Taufiq and his mom Anam, of Rochester, were inspired by his Jeep Power Wheels for his Valentine’s Day box.
“We used wheels from a toy truck he had and glued them on the sides. We started with a shoe box and added the doors, hood and trunk to mimic a Jeep using cardboard pieces! Instead of painting, we added construction paper on top,” she says.
“It was a hit!”
Pika-Perfect
When it came time to create her Valentine’s Day box, Harper Hansbro, of Rochester, went with what she loved, Pikachu, that electrical, adorable yellow creature.
Her mom, Kristy, says Harper, who was 9 at the time, made it all herself, wrapping a shoe box in yellow paper, cutting a hole for the Valentines to go in. She cut out the ears, tail and arms and glued them onto the box. Harper then cut out a heart and drew on it to look like a Pokémon Poké Ball complete with her name.
Dino-mite!
Chase Masters, 5, of West Bloomfield, loves dinosaurs so it was an easy decision to make a dinosaur Valentine’s Day box to collect all of his sweet treats, says his mom Tasha.
“We used a shoe box and wrapped it completely with craft paper in his desired color, green. Both the top and bottom of the shoe box were wrapped separately to allow for easy access once the celebrating was over. An opening was cut into the top for a fast way to add all of the special treats that he would be getting.
“Next we cut toilet paper rolls about 1/3 the length and added to the bottom of the box as legs. We then cut a hole in the top front with the same size of a paper towel roll to use as the neck.”
She says they bought a dino listing from Etsy and printed the character out on photo paper, then covered the toilet paper and paper towel rolls with it. “We cut and assembled the face and attached it along with the bow and tail.”
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