Make A Puzzle Valentine Card

 I like to make items for the kids. It has really helped them learn an appreciation for time and thoughtfulness.

Cards are one of those things that I have a hard time spending money on too since they are often discarded and sometimes not even read by the recipient, but I notice people look at a homemade card a little longer and they may even hold on to it for a while.

 I thought it would be fun to make the kids a puzzle valentine card. Not only would it have a message, but it became a toy too.

You could easily make your kids a puzzle out of any paper/cardboard item.

For this one I chose to use the paper doilies we had from our valentine playdate. I used double stick tape to stick the smaller heart on top of the larger heart and to stick the larger heart on to the construction paper.

 I wanted to make them a little sturdier so they could be played with several times, so I "laminated" them using clear contact paper. Usually contact paper is smoother looking but this was the last bit of my roll and the roll was smooshed.

To add a little flair to it, I sprinkled glitter on the contact paper before placing the card down on to it.

 Then I places another piece of contact on the back side to seal it and make it waterproof.

Next I cut out pieces of the puzzle

 If you used multiple layers like I did, you will want to seal the edges with tape. That will make this project take significantly longer . If you have a single layer, you will not need to do this step after cutting out the pieces.

Here is the stack of 2 puzzles, one for each kid. I used a different background color & marker color  for each one in case they mixed them altogether (which I could totally see happening.)