Valentine's Day Countdown: Yarn Hearts

Since Z isn't in school yet, we don't have to give out many Valentines. It's pretty much just grandparents and aunts and uncles at this point.

For the last couple years, we have been trying to come up with some unique and creative Valentine's ideas. :)

Last year, you may remember, we made pinwheels. Z and I had SO much fun making these and they seemed to be quite popular among our recipients, as well.

This year, we decided to make something I saw in the Family Fun magazine; Yarn hearts.


Supplies:
¼ C corn starch
¼ C water
*Yarn, cut into foot long pieces (you can use varied colors or just one color)
Heart shaped cookie cutter(s) (I used a couple different sizes)
*I don't have a specific measurement of yarn, because it's really up to you how much yarn you use for each heart, how big you want your hearts or if you use more than one color. I just cut up a bunch, and stored the leftover yarn pieces for the next project. :)

Of course, you must have a super-cute and highly enthusiastic assistant. Sorry, but this one's taken! :)




Directions:
Combine cornstarch and water in a small saucepan and stir until smooth
Heat mixture over medium heat, until it's thick and translucent
Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool to the touch

Place cookie cutter on parchment paper (I used my trusty Silpat).
Push piece of yarn into the glue to coat it, then run between your finger and thumb to remove excess glue (this job is great for the kids!)




Lay yarn inside the cookie cutter




Repeat process until the cookie cutter is filled (thin layer)
With clean hands, press the yarn flat (make sure to hold your cookie cutter in place while you're doing this; again great job for the kiddos!)
Remove cookie cutter and allow yarn to dry, at least a day. Or, if you're impatient like me; put them into the oven on 'warm' or lowest temperature and 'bake' for an hour or two.

Like I said, we're going to be using these for Valentine's (we haven't finished the rest of our project yet, so stay tuned!), but there are a lot of other ways you can use them...

This is about as simple as it gets...just set next to a picture frame!


Put them all in a fun bowl or container for display!


Glue a magnet to the back, and put it on the fridge!


Or, my favorite; put it on display in it's own picture frame! Cute, right? :)


And, that's it! This is a pretty simple little project and perfect for kids. I know my little guy gets so much satisfaction out of creating things, especially if he gets to then give them as gifts!