For the past few years I have been making the best Valentine cards for my kids to hand out at school. No boxed valentine’s for this gal! You won’t see another card like this in your kid’s valentine box. Keep reading to find out some great ideas and inspirations to help you make the best Valentine cards for kids.
If you are going to go to this kind of trouble and effort, you must prepare yourself for the inevitable, though. Your card might get glued to a poster board, or even worse, thrown away. That’s okay, because my kids and I still have fun making the cards and some of my favorite photos are from these valentine photo shoots.
I also send them to friends and family, because more than likely I didn’t send them a Christmas card. You know how busy December can be. I certainly have more time in January and February to spend on sending cards than I do in December.
Making these cards every year has been a photo shoot deadline for me. I always intend to take more photos every year, but I know I’ll get my valentine shoot in no matter what. After Christmas is put away, the kids and I start looking on Pinterest and trying to come up with our ideas. A lot of the time we manage to use our Halloween costume, but last year I was out shopping for Star Wars ensembles in January.
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST VALENTINE CARDS FOR KIDS
STEP ONE: CONCEPT
Come up with a concept. For the past two years I was able to get my kids to agree to complimentary characters like Batman and Catwoman and Finn and Rey, but this year it looks like we are going in different directions. That’s okay. If we don’t have a concept in our heads already, I usually check out Pinterest for inspiration.
STEP TWO: PHOTO SHOOT
Do a photo shoot. Once you know what your concept is, you can do your photo shoot. I usually shoot indoors in my office. Sometimes it’s super quick.
STEP THREE: EDIT PHOTOS
Edit your photos. I’m sure you will want to edit your photos and select the best ones for your card. Here is a really easy Photoshop tip if you happen to be working with a black background.
STEP FOUR: DESIGN YOUR CARD
I use a Professional Photographer’s online lab, but I am betting you could do this on Shutterfly or Mpix.
STEP FIVE: THE TREAT
Decorate your envelope and/or include a treat. Of course, you have to include some sort of treat with your valentine these days. Last year I made about 50 little light sabers and hid pixie sticks inside. The year before that, I added chocolate hearts to my Batman and Cat Woman decorations. This is where glue dots are super handy.
MY PAST VALENTINE CARDS FOR INSPIRATION
Here are our cards from the first year we did photo valentine cards.
Now we have our Cat Woman and Batman cards.
Here are our Star Wars cards featuring Rey and Finn.
This year we are going to attempt to do a photo shoot with our cat, Mittens and you have already seen the photos hoot with Darth Vader. I think more light sabers might be in my future. Check back to see what cards we put together this year and instructions on making your own lightsabers.
Pin How To Make The Best Valentine Cards for Kids Using Photography here!
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