Thursday, February 7, 2013

UPCYCLED VALENTINE'S MAILBOXES --- LEARN & LINK





Do you have an educational post that is about your child and you would like to share? It can be a craft, a lesson, sport etc. that your child learned this week. You do not have to be a homeschooler to LINK up below - happy to have you join us! Then come back every Friday and continue to share your learn and link post! Please do not link up educational reviews - thanks!

We have our Valentine's Day party with our homeschool group this Friday. The kids pass out Valentine's to all their friends. My kids and I decided to make Monster Valentine's mailboxes for their friends to put their Valentine's in.

This is a great way to upcycle tissue boxes, oatmeal boxes, cereal boxes, etc. and for your kids to use their creative juices!


Materials we used:
Empy tissue boxes and oatmeal box
Tempera paint
Tacky glue
Stickers
Elmer's glue
Poka Dot stickers
Left over almond milk tops, milk tops
Sharpie
Cardstock

Scissors, paintbrushes


1st peel off any plastic around the opening of the tissue boxes


Have the kids paint the outside of the boxes. When dry have them paint poka dots on the outside or they can use poka dot stickers which you can find at Office Depot in the office supplies section. For my 2 year old he didn't paint his box, I gave him a few sheets of the poka dot stickers and he stuck on his own poka dots.
With the cardstock, I just freehanded the teeth and we glued them to the inside of the tissue box and oatmeal openings with Elmer's glue. The kids used a Sharpie to make their pupils inside of the almond milk tops and then I glued on where they wanted them glued using tacky glue. Let dry overnight.
This monster mailbox was made by my 5 year old.
Made by my 7 year old.
Made by my 2 year old

My 3 year old daughter is so girly, she did not want to do a monster mailbox, she wanted to do a garden mailbox. So she painted her tissue box all pink. Then I gave her large flower and butterfly stickers which she placed on the box and then she painted grass and the flower stems and pedals on the flowers.





Mama to 4 Blessings is also linking this post up at:



Feel free to pin this by clicking the Pin It button below!



27 comments:

  1. These are really cute! I love that you have a family of them at your house. I am pinning this post.

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  2. what a fun project! My daughter would love this!

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  3. I love your variety of valentine mail boxes, Nicole. It's great that they reflect each child's interests! Thanks so much for hosting Learn & Link. Deb @ LivingMontessoriNow.com

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  4. so fun! a kleenex box looks perfect for this!

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  5. Very cute! My kids made similar boxes a few years ago- I wish I would have thought if the caps!! Great idea!

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  6. What a great idea! My 5 year old would love this craft idea. Thank you for sharing.

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  7. Oooooo neat idea - I've been looking around for ideas for our Co-Op valentine party. We need a box like this for our mailbox! Thanks for sharing & hosting.
    -Becca

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  8. I LOVE THIS! What an awesome project!

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  9. Those are adorable Upcycled monster Valentines boxes! Definitely a fun way to collect those cute valentintes that are coming next week!

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  10. Your Valentine's mailboxes came out really great. This craft is timeless, and I can even remember making these in grade school to collect our Valentine's cards from the other kids in the class. Such a super easy and great craft!

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  11. I love those Kleenex boxes! What a great way to teach environment responsibility as well!

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  12. I wish our homeschool group would do this. I know my daughter would love it. We may have to make one for Mama to put special things in:)

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  13. Great blog post! We just did something like this a couple weeks ago. I used some old boxes and toilet paper rolls to make a Transformers box. Such fun!

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  14. What a cute idea- thanks for sharing!

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  15. I LOVE these! What a fun idea! So creative!

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  16. Cute! So much cheaper and cuter than store bought ones!

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  17. What a great craft idea! This is so cute!! i want to try this!

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  18. Oatmeal boxes!! I would have never thought about doing this to an oatmeal box! I have like four boxes in my cabinet! I am so doing this with my girls.

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  19. These are perfect! We keep our empty tissue boxes to use as portable little 'trash cans' for tissues that have been used. How cute they would be as little tissue eating monsters!

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  20. Those are so cute..definitely trying this out one year!

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  21. Oh my these are too cute! I love things like this. Thanks for sharing on Share it Saturday!

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  22. Thanks for hosting! :-) I shared my John 3:16 Valentine's Day Craft. Hope you have a great weekend. Many blessings, Lisa

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  23. super awesome idea with the tissue boxes! & looks super easy for the kids too! must do it with my girls!

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  24. Those are brilliant and lovely to have something for Valentine's which isn't so girly.

    Thanks for linking to The Sunday Showcase.

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Nicole, the mama behind the Mama to 5 Blessings blog, is a mom to 5 children. Three boys: ages 8 years, 5 years, 2 years, a daughter 4 years and a new baby girl born April 19th 2013. She has been married to her husband Fritz for 11 years. Here at Mama to 5 Blessings you will find quite a variety of topics: recipes, crafts for moms and children, homeschooling, parenting, reviews and giveaways, thrifty tips and much more! Mama to 5 Blessings can also be found on Twitter @mamato3blessing, Facebook and Pinterest.