Photo + glow stick = Star Wars Light Saber Valentine

Photo credit: Holly of Stitch/Craft

Another brilliant variation on the Lollipop Illusion Valentine! Rachel brought this to my attention:

We tried the giant lollipop trick last year but after we finished the pictures we received a reminder from school that candy can't be sent in. Adding stickers instead of lollipops was disappointing. This year my kids are going to be Jedi (thanks to Holly at Stitch/Craft)!

Photo credit: Holly of Stitch/Craft

There are so many things to love about this clever homemade Valentine:

• No candy
• Glow-stick light saber
• Cool optical illusion
• Star Wars LEGO variation with a free printable template!

Holly used 8-inch mini glow sticks in this project -- the kind that come with little plastic connectors so you can turn them into bracelets.

Holly was originally inspired by Meg of Brassy Apple, who came up with her own Star Wars Light Saber Glow Stick Valentine! The beauty of the Internet...and the creative "circle of life." Thank you for the heads-up, Rachel!

For more detail + a link to Holly's printable Valentine template, read the original post at Stitch/Craft: Forceful Valentines.

Valentine sanity check a la Minimalist Parenting: Clever homemade Valentines are wonderful...if you love doing this sort of thing. If you feel the stress or "pressure to perform" ratcheting up, remember that a box of store-bought Valentines is not a sign of "slacking," it's a choice to focus on other things you care about more.

More: Best of Parent Hacks: Valentine's Day (so many more great ideas)

Comments

[Rachel]

I love playing with photo-editing, so this project was right up my alley. I appreciate your sanity check, too. My kids love using the store-bought Valentines from friends as bookmarks throughout the year, so know that those are appreciated!

[Katherine]

This looks like a lot of fun! And three cheers for the sanity check. I'm 8 months pregnant and definitely planning for the easiest possible Valentines this year - but when I thought about it, I realized getting child to write her name on 36 store-bought Valentines is itself a lot of effort. Doing a little bit of Picmonkey work and printing out 36 Valentines with her name already on them will be a lot easier. That's certainly not true for everyone though; I imagine it depends on your child's age and willingness to participate. (Not to mention class size. We have separate morning and afternoon classes to contend with.)

[discount pharmacy]

That's certainly not true for everyone though; I imagine it depends on your child's age and willingness to participate. (Not to mention class size. We have separate morning and afternoon classes to contend with.)

[A]

Personally, I hate the Valentine's Day thing. It's wasteful and doesn't make any sense to me. My son told me last year he thought it was silly and I couldn't argue with him.
And I really feel for the kids whose parents don't participate (for whatever reason). It's hard to be the odd one out.