For food-allergic kids, Valentine’s can feel like a minefield of forbidden chocolate. But now they can get their hearts into the day too – with Allergic Living’s creative crafts.

Is Valentine’s Day is all about chocolates and candy? No! Valentine’s Day is about expressing your affection for others. What better way that to create something far more personal than a store-bought goodie?

Just let your imagination go. So gather up those craft supplies, like ribbons and wadded up tissue paper, and pull out your cookie cutters. There’s no telling what you might make.

My daughter and I spent a wonderful few hours creating the following. We hope they will inspire your own creations.

Heart-Shaped Crayons

Materials
- wax crayons
- muffin tin or silicone pan

• Preheat the oven to 270° F
• Break up crayons into small pieces about ½-inch in length or smaller and place pieces in a heart-shaped muffin tin or silicone pan.
• Put the tin into the oven for 7-8 minutes until the wax has melted. Be careful!
• Remove and let cool completely before taking the crayon hearts out of the pan.

Tip: If you use bright-colored crayons, you will end up with sensational-looking hearts to give to friends.

Heart People

^[1]Materials
- scissors
- heart-shaped cookie cutters
- glue
- craft foam
- 8 ½ x 11-inch paper
- googly eyes

• Using various sizes of cookie cutters, create your people by cutting several different sized hearts out of craft foam. Glue a medium-sized one onto a larger one to create a frame effect.
• To create the arms and legs, cut 8 strips of 8 ½ x 11-inch paper lengthwise. You’ll need two strips per arm or leg.
• Apply glue to a small section of the end of one strip of paper and attach another strip in a right angle position to form an “L” shape. Fold the first strip over the second; the second over the first and so on so that you end up with a stack of accordion-like squares.
• Finish each of the arms and legs by gluing a small heart-shaped foam piece to the bottom.
• Add glue to the top of 2 legs and attach them to the bottom of the heart. Do the same for the arms, attaching them to the towards the middle of the heart.
• Googly eyes and a smile complete the look.

Love Bug

^[2]Materials
- glue
- toilet paper tube
- red or pink tissue paper
- googly eyes
- craft foam
- party picks
- paper (for banner)

• Cover a toilet paper tube with red or pink tissue paper. Now glue on some googly eyes.
• Use craft foam to create wings that can be glued onto the back of the roll.
• Antennae can be made from party picks.
• Add a banner with a sweet or funny Valentine’s message.

Tissue Paper Heart

^[3]Materials
- scissors
- heart-shaped cookie cutter
- white glue
- pencil
- cardstock paper
- tissue paper (various colors)

• Trace around a heart-shaped cookie cutter on cardstock paper and then cut out the heart.
• Get tissue paper of various colors and cut into 1-inch squares.
• Now place the point of a pencil into the center of your first tissue paper square and twist the tissue paper around it. Dip the point of the tissue paper/pencil into some white glue and press it gently onto the cardstock heart.
• Remove the pencil and repeat until the entire shape is covered with tissue.

Next: More great craft ideas

“Stained Glass” Window Hanger

^[4]Materials
- scissors
- hole punch
- glue
- wax paper
- tissue paper (various colors)
- cardstock paper
- ribbon or embroidery thread

• Spread glue onto the waxy side of wax paper and cover the wet glue with bits of tissue paper (use different shades), overlapping the wax paper’s edges so that there are no gaps.
• Once the glue is dry, peel off the collage of tissue paper, separating it from the wax paper.
• Take a piece of cardstock paper and cut out a heart shape from the center to create a frame. Apply glue to back of the frame and press the tissue paper against it.
• Punch two holes near the top corners and run ribbon or embroidery thread through the holes for hanging.
• Hang it on a window using a suction cup hook.

Cute Caterpillar

^[5]Materials
- sewing needle
- embroidery thread
- pompoms
- googly eyes (optional)
- party picks

• Thread several colorful pompoms together, and end with a larger pompom for the head.
• Either use the embroidery thread to create eyes or simply glue on googly eyes.
• Use party picks to create the antennae.

Heart-Shaped Pillows

^[6]Materials
- scissors
- sewing needle
- embroidery thread
- an old towel
- cotton batting or cotton balls

• For each pillow, cut up an old towel into two hearts.
• Sew the pieces together leaving a small opening about 1½ inches along one side for stuffing. You can use different embroidery stitches if you’d like.
• Stuff with cotton batting or cotton balls – you could even use flannel or any scraps of fabric.
• Sew up the remaining opening of the hearts.

Tip: We used the blanket stitch for one pillow and a basic running stitch for the other.

Last of all, have a lot of fun making these crafts. We hope they will delight your friends and loved ones on Valentine’s Day!