Arrow Pencil & Heart Pocket Valentine {Tutorial}

For classroom Valentine’s this year, I wanted my son to have something unique and not-too-girly to share with his friends.  I started out planning non-candy Valentine’s, but in the end I found a way to incorporate some sweet stuff.  This tutorial will cover both a non-candy version and a candy version.

This project was inspired by a pack of foam hearts I found at Target.  I loved that they included green and white hearts.  I found them near the office supplies and as I gazed down the pen/pencil aisle it struck me how cute it would be to use pencils as arrows through the hearts.  I created 16 Valentine’s for about $15 (not including candy) and have foam hearts and 8 pencils leftover.

Supplies:

• Foam Hearts (Target Office Supply/Kids Craft area) – 1 heart per non-candy Valentine, 2 hearts per candy Valentine
• Natural Wood Pencils (also available at Target) – 1 per Valentine
• Feathers (Michaels) – 1-2 bags of medium size
• Permanent Markers (Sharpie Colors, Sharpie Metallic in silver)
• Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue (I used a low-temp glue gun)
• Xacto Knife
• Sewing Machine and Contrast Thread (for candy Valentine’s)
• Candy (for candy Valentine’s) – I used flavored tootsie rolls and kisses

Arrow Pencil and Heart Candy Pocket Valentine’s How To:

1.  Use Sharpie markers to color bands on pencil near tip.  I used two color combinations for my pencils, one color to coordinate with the feathers applied later and a contrasting color.

2.  Create arrow feathers.  Start with a complete feather (a).  Use scissors to carefully cut along the shaft to remove the barbs on one side (b).  I cut off the side with shorter barbs.  Cut off the quill (c).  From the remaining feather create 1″ pieces by cutting through the shaft (d).  I only got 2 useable sections from each feather.  If desired, trim the edge of the barbs to an even length (e).  Your feathers are ready to be attached to the pencil (f).

3.  Apply a 1″ bead of hot glue on the pencil starting just below the eraser.  Press the shaft of the feather into the glue.  Turn the pencil 1/3 and glue on another feather.  Turn the pencil again 1/3 turn and apply the last feather.  The pencils I purchased had a hexagon shape, so it was easy to apply the feathers on every other plane around the pencil.

4.  Prepare the top heart.  Use an xacto knife to cut two x-shaped slips large enough for the pencil to pass through.  I cut the slit on the left side lower and the right side higher, so the pencil would point upward when inserted.

5.  Stitch the top heart to another foam heart leaving an opening at the top.  I used my sewing machine and did not bother to backstitch.  Trim the loose threads.

6.  Write messages on the heart with permanent marker.  I used a Sharpie silver metallic marker.

7.  Carefully insert the pencil through the slits on the top heart.  If you are not careful, the pencil may draw on the foam.

8.  Fill the heart pocket with individually wrapped candies.  We had fun sorting our candies by color and then filling each heart with coordinating candies.

Arrow Pencil and Heart Valentine’s (Non-Candy) How To:

We made all candy pockets, but I know some schools have restrictions.  Here is the modified steps for a non-candy Valentine that still has the fun arrow pencil.

1.  Follow steps 1-4 above.

2.  Omit step 5 or stitch all the way around individual heart for a decorative embellishment

3.  Omit step 8, there will be no pocket to fill with candy.

Do you think the kids will like these?  My son seemed pretty excited to help put them together and even more excited about sharing them with his friends.

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