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You are visiting: Home » Decorating/DIY » Create Your Decor » Cute and Easy DIY LifeSaver Valentines + Free Printable

Cute and Easy DIY LifeSaver Valentines + Free Printable

by Lindsay Ballard on January 14, 2013 60 Comments

When I was in elementary school, one of my favorite days was the one that I got to exchange valentines with my classmates.  It was such a thrill to go to the grocery store with my mom and pick out a box of Care Bear or Rainbow Brite themed foil valentines.  I’d rush home and carefully tear them apart.  Then, I’d spend hours addressing them to my friends, taking extra care to make sure that each one expressed the perfect sentiment for each friend.  After we traded them at school, I’d treasure the new valentines I brought home for months.

So when Zack started preschool (what seems like ages ago), I reverted back to my elementary school ways.  I was giddy to choose a box of Tonka Truck (his then obsession) valentines for him and was delighted to address them to his new friends.  These valentines even came with stickers as favors to include, which I thought was perfect for his little class of 2-year olds.

On Valentine’s Day, Zack came home from preschool with a paper bag he had decorated, and it was full of valentines.  Where they simple foil valentines like I had sent?  Oh, no.  Y’all, I had fallen victim to my first experience with mothers trying to out do one another.  There were homemade baked goods, handmade paper valentines and “bouquets” of lollipops.  Apparently, my cute Tonka truck valentines made me look like I was just phoning it in. Gah!  What a stress for a first-time mother.

When did preschool Valentines become such a big deal?  At the time, I blamed Martha Stewart.  But now that we are in the age of Pinterest, creative handmade valentines are all the rage.  Zack is now in elementary school and Emma is in that same 2-year old preschool class.  As I’ve matured as a mother, I no longer feel the pressure to produce the class’s best valentine.  But as a sometimes crafter, I can’t help but want to try…

DIY LifeSaver Valentines with Free Printable | Makely School for Girls

This year, I’m ahead of the game with our valentines finished a month before Valentine’s Day.  Write this in your calendars, folks, because I am NEVER early with anything!  I designed a cute little valentine for both of my kids to hand out to their classmates.  It is unbelievably quick and easy to assemble, and it is inexpensive to boot.

I came up with the sweet sentiment of “Your Friendship is a LifeSaver” and created a little folded tent card to fit onto a snack sized baggie.  The back of the card says “Your Friend,” so that we could fill in either Zack’s or Emma’s name.  I left a space on the back left side of the card so I could go back and label each one with a classmate’s name once our teachers send the valentine list home.

DIY LifeSaver Valentines with Free Printable | Makely School for Girls

I bought a few bags of wild cherry flavor individually wrapped LifeSavers (because they were red) in the candy aisle of our grocery store.  The candy was less than $2/bag, and I used about three bags to fill 30 valentines.  I put five LifeSavers in a snack size baggie – I used Ziploc brand, but I think all brands are basically the same size.  Emma had fun helping me fill the bags, and we got a little counting lesson out of the task, too!

Then, I printed on white letter-size cardstock the printable that I designed and cut each one out on the thin black lines.  The printable below is available to you as a free download by clicking here.  Please be sure to let me know if you have any trouble with the download – I uploaded it as a Zip file to save you the download time, but you can double click the downloaded zip file to open it.  Zack wrote his name on his valentines with a red felt marker, and I did the same for Emma’s valentines.

DIY LifeSaver Valentines with Free Printable | Makely School for Girls

I folded the zippered part of the baggie over so that the bag wasn’t so tall, and stapled a tent card on each side over the zipper.  The result is quite adorable, if I do say so myself!

DIY LifeSaver Valentines with Free Printable | Makely School for Girls

You are welcome to use the above printable and make the same valentines for your child to take to school this year.  I’d love to hear if you use this idea!

Have you thought about school valentines yet this year?  What kind of cute things have you done in the past?

About Lindsay Ballard

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.

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Comments

  1. Michelle Leader says

    January 14, 2013 at 9:11 am

    Those valentines are so cute and I love that they are inexpensive. I have 4 kids in school and the treat giving at Valentine’s day can get expensive. We may be making tons of those. Thanks for the great idea!

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      January 14, 2013 at 9:33 pm

      You’re so welcome, Michelle! I bet all the treat giving does get expensive with 4 kids – it’s bad enough with just my two!

      Reply
      • Tammy Thompson says

        March 1, 2023 at 2:40 am

        I was trying to print this project out. I am a Sunday School Superintendent and would love to use these for my teachers. Can you send me a link to print these? Thanks again ❤️

        Reply
  2. jo says

    January 14, 2013 at 2:07 pm

    these are clever, simple and heartfelt! i intend to make them for my good friends — all of us long, long out of pre-school! thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      January 14, 2013 at 9:35 pm

      Oh, that’s sweet, Jo! How nice to think of your friends on Valentine’s Day.

      Reply
  3. alisha says

    January 14, 2013 at 6:26 pm

    thank you so much! these are perfect for my 11 year old daughter’s classroom valentines!

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      January 14, 2013 at 9:35 pm

      You’re so welcome, Alisha! I hope she likes them!

      Reply
  4. kole says

    January 15, 2013 at 10:09 am

    These are awesome! I am for sure making some!

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      January 18, 2013 at 8:45 pm

      Thanks, Kole! I appreciate it!

      Reply
  5. Allyson says

    January 15, 2013 at 11:03 pm

    These are great! I am going to make these for my fellow teachers that have helped me so much this year! (My first year back after an extended hiatus staying home with babies. :o) ) Thank you for sharing them.

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      January 18, 2013 at 8:46 pm

      Oh, what a sweet thing to do. That’s nice of you, Allyson! I’m sure they’ll enjoy getting those from you.

      Reply
  6. Lisa says

    January 16, 2013 at 3:52 pm

    My husband are teachers at a small Christian school in our little town of London, KY. I am going to make these for our students. Thanks for the free download!

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      January 18, 2013 at 8:47 pm

      That makes me as happy as I know your students will be, Lisa! 😀

      Reply
  7. Lisa says

    January 16, 2013 at 3:53 pm

    *and I* :):):):)

    Reply
  8. Kim says

    January 16, 2013 at 5:24 pm

    We’ve been using the store-bought boxed cards for 4 years now, and I must say, I am ready for a change 🙂 This is the perfect Valentine gift idea, it works for both girls and boys, so my 8-year old doesn’t have to stress about giving a boy a “mushy” Valentine! Definitely going to use these this year!

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      January 18, 2013 at 8:48 pm

      Yes, I definitely can relate to the mushy boy valentines. LOL My son is almost 7 and he would be horrified if someone gave him a mushy valentine. HAHAHA!

      Reply
  9. Kristin says

    January 23, 2013 at 11:26 am

    Simply adorable!

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      January 27, 2013 at 10:16 am

      Thanks, Kristin!

      Reply
  10. Amy says

    January 23, 2013 at 2:53 pm

    Awesome toppers! I didn’t even know Lifesavers came in individual wrapped packages!

    The kids here mostly come home with store bought Valentines. Maybe a couple homemade ones in preschool but not many at all. And in preschool we don’t even have to write the names of the receivers on the tags. The teachers say it is easier for the kids to just put one in each bag rather than the teachers/parents trying to sort and bag all of the treats!

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      January 27, 2013 at 10:18 am

      Oh, that’s nice, Amy! I think that it would be easier to do it without names! Last year in Kindergarden, my son had to write the names, but I think it was to get some more writing practice in. I guess we’ll find out soon about 1st grade!

      Reply
  11. Susan says

    February 4, 2013 at 12:45 pm

    Linsay, these are inspired! I’m way older than elementary school mom age, but some projects have multiple applications. As a few of your other commenters have said, these can also be given to adult friends. Also, there’s no reason they have to be only for Valentine’s Day. They’d be cute for a mini surprise or thank you for a friend at any time! If you didn’t need to keep to a Valentine look, other Life Saver colors could be used, too. I intend to make some to keep on hand at home and in my desk at work. I’ll be brightening some days with them. Thank you so much for this clever, inexpensive idea and printable! You’re the best!

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      February 6, 2013 at 3:08 pm

      That’s a cute idea, Susan! I love the thought of you keeping some on hand just to brighten someone’s day. If I knew how to type that little heart symbol on my keyboard, I’d do it right now. 😀

      Reply
  12. Melissa Frances says

    February 6, 2013 at 6:41 pm

    Thanks so much for the download!!

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      February 6, 2013 at 9:03 pm

      You are so welcome, Melissa!

      Reply
      • Tammy Thompson says

        March 1, 2023 at 2:36 am

        I just came up on your post for the bag topper that says, “Your Friendship is a Lifesaver.” I can not get it to open. I am a Sunday School Superintendent and I would love to give these out. Is there any way that you can send me a link to make these. It would greatly be appreciated. Thank you again!

        Reply
  13. Robin says

    February 12, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    thank you forsharing the neat idea!

    Reply
  14. Carmen Lucero says

    January 10, 2014 at 3:33 pm

    Thank you! Nice way to say thanks to your friends 🙂

    Reply
  15. Ash Aucoin says

    February 6, 2014 at 9:35 am

    I am the Mom to Teenagers! My daughter told me last night of some girls going thru a lot, the teenage years can be stressful. Your Friendship is a Lifesaver meant to me she can care and be supportive of her friends at school. I totally love it and am grateful we can do something positive in kids lives! Thank you so much. Ash Aucoin

    Reply
  16. Kim Vij @ The Educators' Spin On It says

    February 9, 2014 at 10:50 pm

    Lindsay I’ve featured your Lifesaver treat at MSN Living in the Family and Kids Section! Thanks for sharing your adorable idea on Pinterest!

    Reply
  17. Wendy says

    February 12, 2014 at 9:05 am

    Thanks so much for this I needed something for church and this works great for everyone.

    Reply
  18. Ssusan says

    January 28, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    Thanks so much!

    Reply
  19. Angie C says

    February 12, 2015 at 3:31 pm

    Thank you SO much for sharing this! My daughter loves crafting Valentines, but this year became a HUGE issue with making sure she didn’t have anything “lovey” for the boys since they are just her friends and she DOESN’T like them.

    You have been my lifesaver!! 🙂

    Reply
  20. web hosting offers says

    March 10, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    I’ve got master good quality information in this article web hosting offers. Absolutely value book-marking for revisiting. My spouse and i astonish how the bunch try out you placed to produce any such excellent informative internet site.

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  21. Leann says

    January 31, 2018 at 11:35 pm

    Hi… I love your “Lifesaver” valentine for kids. I tried doing the free download but it says it is no longer there. Is there somewhere else I could print it from?

    Thanks!

    Reply
  22. Brigitte says

    February 8, 2019 at 1:54 pm

    i tried to download the printable but it leads me to an error drop box page. is there any chance you can upload the file again. id love to craft this with my daughter

    Reply
  23. PTB says

    February 9, 2019 at 5:58 pm

    Hi, I tried the link to the printable and it didn’t work. Would you be able to repost? Love this idea! Excited to use for my son’s classroom. Thanks!

    Reply

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About Makely

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.


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