The Valentine’s Day Talking Bookmark is a simple and fun project to share with your kids.

Learn about their friends as you help them decide which friend gets which bookmark. Discuss what makes a good friend. Share the love.

Gather:

Watercolor paper – size 9.5 in x 12.5 in

Crayons

Watercolors + Brushes + Water

Ruler

Cutting Tool – X-Acto Knife or Scissors

Printer

Step One: Measure and Trim Paper

You will be using your printer, which most likely only accepts paper that is 8.5 inches wide. Grab your paper, a safe cutting surface, and your X-Acto knife. If you don’t have a X-Acto, you can use scissors, but it may be less exact. Keep your paper 12.5 inches tall, but trim the 9.5 inch side down to 8.5 inches. Each page holds 8 bookmarks, so trim as many pages as you would like to print (for 16 kids, you’ll need two sheets).

Step Two: Add Some Color

First, use crayons. Choose light colors so that the printing will show up later. Then get the watercolors out and make a splash. Notice how the wax from the crayons keeps the watercolor from being absorbed into the paper. Cool, ehh?

Let your paper dry. If it is all curled up, you can iron it. Place it waxy side down and iron quickly so that you don’t transfer the wax onto your ironing board. If this makes you nervous, you can lay down some paper towels between the watercolor paper and your ironing board to protect it.

Step Three: Download and Print Template

Download the template front and back (click on the words below to download).

Valentines Bookmarks front and Valentines Bookmarks back

Feed your paper into your printer. Open up the Valentines FRONT file and choose PRINT. Preview the images before printing. Make sure you choose a custom paper size if it isn’t automatically done for you. Change the paper size to 8.5 in x 12.5 in. If the image still looks like it doesn’t fit, choose FIT TO SCALE. Now that all the techy stuff is out of the way, print your image. Note how your paper feeds so when you print the back, it matches the front. Now print the Valentines BACK following the same instructions.

Step Four: Cut Pieces and Fill in the Blanks

Use your X-Acto or scissors to cut the pieces into individual bookmarks. Help your child address the bookmarks to their pals. Who makes them smile? Which friend is an awesome artist? Which friend is especially kind? This is a great way to talk about the qualities we love in our friends and families, and also how to be a good friend in return. Let your child make their own “signature” or help them with their lettering.

Step Five: Share the Love

Give these out to friends and family members as a way to show your joy in knowing them. It feels good to get compliments. But it also feels really good to give them.

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Nicole Maniez is an acupuncturist, herbalist, yoga teacher and childbirth educator in the Boston area.  She is lucky to get to combine multiple loves into one sweet career, doing what she loves and helping people move closer to health and wholeness.  She is also a momma, an art maker, and an out-of-tune music maker.  Hoping that she will never lose the ability to laugh at her follies (and yours), she cultivates her curiosity in an attempt to keep life entertaining.  She loves mail.  Send her something inspiring www.nicolemaniez.com.