I “heart” Valentine’s Day for one main reason. Pretty paper and cute cards! Almost always a staple of the simple yet sweet holiday.
My ten year old little lady is the only one that will need class valentines this year. Her only request was nothing too “mushy”.
Out of several random ideas, gnomes (“especially their cute noses”) made the cut . . .



We made our gnomes into magnets that are conveniently a clip. If you can’t find the large clips (I’ve linked them below), really anything solid yet lightweight can be used as the base to make your gnome magnet. The clip is just an added bonus.
To make your gnome magnet valentines. . .
Supplies Needed:
- Paper cutter or scissors
- Measuring Tape
- Hole Puncher
- Cardstock
- String
- Faux Fur
- Felt
- Small Buttons *optional
- Large clips / clothespins or wood rectangles
- Craft glue or hot glue
- Magnets
- Round wood balls or small felt balls would work too
- Printer and Valentine card pdf *optional
gnomevalentine



Directions:

Step 1 – Cut out a small piece of felt and fur. I cut and used a 3.25 x 3.25 inch piece of felt (for the hat) and then a piece of fur a little longer and just a tad wider than my clip. So if you are using something other than the clips that I used, cut your felt and fur accordingly. *Cut your fur a little longer than your clip or base so that you are able to trim and shape (your beard) later on.
Step 2 – Glue the fur onto your clip or base. Then fold about a quarter of an inch or so of the felt upward onto itself and glue down. Wrap your felt around the front portion of the clip only, and then overlap and glue onto the clip and then together in the back. (My hat went about a half to three quarters of an inch down onto the clip over the fur/ beard). Glue your overlapping felt together all of the way up the backside of your hat. Roll the top down once and glue and then once more and glue it again. I used hot glue for all of this (for fast drying purposes).
Step 3 – More Glue. Embellish your hat with a small button or felt heart (that you have cut from your scraps). Glue them onto the hat with either hot glue or craft glue. Lastly, glue your cute little wooden nose just underneath the hat. I used craft/ tacky glue for this so that I didn’t end up with hot glue in my beard. Once your glue has dried and everything has set, turn your gnome over and glue a small magnet onto the back of your clip or base.
Step 4 – Give your beard a trim. Ours ended up being all shapes and sizes.
Step 5 – Print and Attach. Print out the cards and sign (I have formatted the pdf so that you can print four cards onto a letter size piece of cardstock). Or simply use small blank pieces of card stock and write your own message to include with your gnomes. I have used a small hole puncher and attached mine with some string, but do as you wish here. Put the card and gnome in a small bag or simply clip the gnome onto the card.



The End!

In other news, we’ve had plenty of winter weather here as of late. School has been cancelled the past two days. Two kids have been at home with me watching the rain, snow and ice fall (while the other ventured to D.C. for a planned school field trip). It’s been all things cozy – especially potato soup and blueberry muffins + warm coffee. I’ve been enjoying it so (maybe a little too much) but I’ve also been missing some routine. High hopes that we keep some of the “cozy” while some shadow of a routine returns next week.



P.S. – Wander by next week for one more Valentine idea! 💌