18 Creative & Crafty Ways to Make a Valentine's Day Box

You helped them pick the Valentine's cards with their favorite cartoon character. Now it's time to help your child make their Valentine's Day box to collect all the sweet notes from their classmates. These easy decoration ideas will help you make a cool Valentine's box your child will love to show off. 

Use a Mini Mailbox

If you're looking for an easy way to make a Valentine's mailbox for your child, this is it. Grab a mini mailbox and some fun stickers so your little one can decorate and personalize their own box. You might also add their name, rhinestones, or paint to create a box they're proud to display. 

Related: Adorable Crafts for Kids on Valentine's Day

Add a Twister Mat

If you've got a lot of paint in the cupboard and a short amount of time on your hands, then one way to decorate your kids' Valentine's box is to look like a Twister game mat. Kids love weaving themselves into cramp-inducing positions during Twister, so most of them should recognize what you're going for with a quick glance.

1. Cover your tissue box or shoe box in white copy paper or construction paper.
2. Draw on a series of four columns with six circles each. One column of red, blue, yellow, and green.
3. Do your best to draw on the Twister logo and color it red at the top.
4. Cut out a slit on the side or where kids can toss in their cards.

Create a Kirby Box

Kirby continues to be a beloved video game character, and there's no better holiday to incorporate the all-consuming hero than Valentine's Day. Plus, it's so easy to make!

1. Color your Valentine's box black with construction paper or paint.
2. Cut out a large pink circle, just bigger than the size of the box (you want to cover the whole thing).
3. Glue the circle onto the top of the box and color in two large oval eyes, two pink blush marks, and a circular mouth.
4. Using a utility knife or box cutter, cut out the mouth hole as the mail slot for Valentine's Day deliveries.

Make Their Favorite Animal

Making your child's favorite animal as a Valentine's Day mailbox is a lot easier than you think and doesn't require a ton of crafting expertise. Here's what you need to do to create any animal your child likes.

1. Wrap a shoe box in tissue paper or craft paper the same color as your child's animal. Add markings like stripes or spots with a marker.
2. Use construction paper to trace and cut out parts of your animal. Generally, your animal will need ears, facial parts, legs, and a tail. You can also add any fun details like bows or hats if you like. 
3. Using the top of the box as the front of your animal, glue all the pieces on to create a crafty little animal box for your child.

Easily Decorate a Heart-Shaped Box

Whether it's a chocolate box from Valentine's past or a heart-shaped box from the craft store, this is a classic way for your little one to collect their classroom cards.

Use an exacto knife or scissors to cut a slot in the top for cards, and let your little one decorate the heart to their liking. They might cover their heart-shaped box with:

• Lace
• Faux flowers
• Stickers
• Craft paper
• Rhinestones
• Paint
• Sea shells
• Heart candies
• Washi tape
• Buttons

Make a Love Monster

A classic and easy design is the toothy, big-eyed monster. Take a tissue box, setting the open hole towards the front. Weave two pipe cleaners with an eyeball cut out of construction paper through the top. Then, glue some spikey teeth to its mouth that you cut out from some construction paper.

Personalize a Basic Bin

Here's an affordable approach to Valentine's boxes that you can make at the last minute. Check out your local dollar store and find a small to medium plastic bin. It can be any shape or color according to your child's preference.

Cover the bin in stickers, paint, and other craft items to give it a personal touch. Add your child's name, and this craft is done. 

Use Your Craft Skills on a Bag

No time to find a box or paint a bin? Try a paper bag craft for your child's card box. With construction paper, glue sticks, and a bit of creativity, you can make nearly anything you like. 

Make a Mario Bros. Pipe

Mario games have been around for decades, and there are so many fun characters to inspire a Valentine's Day box. An unusual one is the pipe that classic Mario would slide down at the end of every level. Cover an old grits or oatmeal container in green construction paper. Then, cut out a few strips of the same construction paper (evenly sized) and glue them on top of each other to create a thick rim for the pipe. Glue the rim to the top, and you're ready to go.

Craft the Cutest Giraffe Ever

If your little one loves giraffes, this is an easy way to make a Valentine's box with their favorite animal. 

Supplies

• Shoebox
• Yellow wrapping paper
• Brown craft paint
• Yellow craft paint 
• 1 sheet yellow craft paper
• 1 sheet brown craft paper 
• 1 paper towel roll
• 3 toilet paper rolls
• Scissors
• Black marker
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Instructions

1. Wrap your shoe box and top in the wrapping paper and cut a hole in the top for your cards.
2. Paint all of the paper towel rolls with yellow craft paint, leaving a 1-inch bare border on both ends of two of the smaller rolls.
3. Paint brown giraffe spots on the box and all the cardboard rolls. 
4. Allow all the paint to dry, then cut the two paper towel rolls with borders in half (these are your giraffe's feet).
5. Cut out 2 yellow ears and 2 brown horns for the giraffe. 
6. Use a marker to draw your giraffe's face on the remaining toilet paper roll.
7. Use a hot glue gun to attach the giraffe's face to the neck (the long paper towel roll) and the feet to the box. 
8. Once all of the glue is dry, your box is ready.

Make It Something Sweet

Represent the sweet holiday by turning a Valentine's card box into a wrapped piece of candy. Color the box whatever shade feels sugary enough, and cut out enough colored cellophane wrapping to leave some over the edges. Bunch up the ends of the cellophane like you'd find on a peppermint, and twist them closed with some ribbon or twist ties. Make sure you leave a small sliver open in the middle for people to drop their cards in.

Use an Elegant Basket

If boxes and bags aren't your vibe, reach for an elegant basket. For older kids, this is a simple and understated approach to the traditional Valentine's box. If you're feeling extra crafty, add your child's name in stitching. 

Make a Magical Unicorn Valentine Box

Unicorns are all the rage among the little ones, and they're extra magical full of sweet Valentine's Day cards. Make this easy Valentine's box that doubles as a whimsical unicorn. 

Supplies

• White card box or shoe box
• Multicolor cardstock
• Scissors
• Glue 

Instructions

1. Use white and pink card stock to cut the outer and inner portions of the unicorn's ears. Cut two large, rounded triangles in white for the outer ear and two smaller ones in pink for the inner ear. 
2. Cut two thin semi-circles in black for the eyes.
3. Cut one large sem-oval for the nose. You can use pink, purple, or black for this portion. 
4. Use various colors of paper to cut long, thin triangles for your unicorn's mane. 
5. Use a piece of orange or yellow paper to roll a cone for your unicorn's horn.
6. Attach all your pieces to one narrow end of the box with the unicorn's mane facing up toward the top top of the box.

Paint Your Heart Out 

Skip the crafts and go straight for the paint with this simple approach to a Valentine's box. Grab a hinged wooden box and let your creativity guide you in painting a fun Valentine's box. Once your box is painted, add other decorative items to make it stand out. 

Dress It Like Spiderman

Thankfully, the Spiderman costume has an easy-to-follow pattern that you can replicate onto your own tissue box. Cover the sides of the box with blue construction paper or paint them blue. Then make the middle of the box red with paint or paper. From there, you can draw a web-like grid down the red section in black marker or paint. Top it off with the iconic abstract spider symbol on the chest. Bonus points if you get some webbing from your Halloween decorations and glue it so it's sticking out of the card hole.

Make a Jurassic Box

Using a cheap set of plastic dinosaur pieces you can find in any toy aisle, some fake moss, and a little glue, you can bring the dinosaurs back from the dead. If your kid is dead set on becoming a paleontologist, one way to support their interests is to create a quick and easy Dinosaurland-themed Valentine's box.

1. Cover the base of the box in brown construction paper and the top in green.
2. You can spray glue some moss on to add texture.
3. Then, using hot glue, glue the plastic dinosaurs and the vegetation that comes with them on top.
4. If you want to get really creative,  glue on dinosaur bones in the 'dirt' layers beneath the dinosaurs on the side of the box.

Go Retro With a VHS Player

Kids today don't know the wonderful tactile experience of putting in new VHS tapes in your player and hearing the satisfying whirring as they unwind them. Bring back this old-school electronic that every kid wanted in a new craftable form.

1. Start with a shoebox, tissue box, or other box that's wider than it is tall.
2. Cover the cardboard with gray construction paper using a glue stick or hot glue.
3. Once it's fully covered, draw a rectangle 6 or so inches wide and 2 inches tall in the center front.
4. Cut out the right, left, and bottom edges of the rectangle using a craft knife. You should end up with a piece that's only connected to the box by the top edge.
5. Carefully, bend this piece back and forth a few times to loosen it up because this is where Valentine's Day cards will go.
6. Now comes the fun part. Cut out little squares of white or black construction paper and draw various electronic symbols on them. A triangle for a play button, a square for a stop, and arrows for rewind. Glue these on either side of VHS slot.
7. Bonus points go for writing a popular brand across the front or top of your VHS box (like Pioneer or Sony).

Make an Old Flip Phone

Give your classmates and neighborhood friends the satisfaction of clacking closed a flip phone by transforming your Valentine's Day card box into one.

1. Cover a tissue box in any color construction paper you like.
2. On the top, draw the buttons 1-9 like an old flip phone.
3. Cut out a circular slot on the top or bottom of the phone to slip cards inside.
4. Cover a toilet paper roll in construction paper or paint it black, and carefully glue it to the top right or top left corner of the box.
5. Cut a piece of construction paper (the same color as the phone base) the same size as the tissue box. On one side, draw and color a screen.
6. Glue two small rectangle pieces of construction paper halfway hanging off the bottom of the page. You should glue it down to the side the 'screen' is on, and half of the rectangle should hang off.
7. Fold the rectangle in half, and glue that side onto the top of the tissue box, making the top part of your flip phone.

Items Around Your Home to Use as Valentine's Boxes

If you don't have the usual craft supplies on hand or you want to be extra creative, try using one of these common household items for your Valentine's box.

• An empty coffee canister
• A small tin bucket
• An empty cereal box
• A trick-or-treat bucket
• Plastic storage container
• A gift box or gift bag
• Chinese takeout box

Make a Box They "Heart"

The key to a fantastic Valentine's card box isn't making a perfect and flawless box. It's all about making a box your child loves and can be proud of. Get them involved in all the fun and help them make a box they'll remember for years to come.