Kids' Personalized Valentine's Day Display
Instruction
This Valentine's Day display is a perfect way to get kids involved in creating a meaningful gift for someone special. It offers two design options, both featuring a picture frame and a heart that can showcase either an engraved handwritten note or colorful handprints. Your child can personalize the display by painting it, making the process fun and interactive. While ideal for kids, this display is also perfect for adults. You can write or type a heartfelt love note for your significant other, then paint or stain it to suit your style. I hope you enjoy creating this Valentine's Day project!
This project was inspired by a Christmas gift my 7yo son made for his dad. He wanted to create a painted excavator for his dad’s desk and came up with the idea for the display, including a handwritten note to be engraved on the base. I helped bring his idea to life, and he painted the piece. It was such a sweet and thoughtful gift, and it inspired me to create something similar for Valentine’s Day.
I designed a heart-shaped frame that can hold a photo of your child. For the engraved note, I added another heart to the display, where your child’s message can be engraved and easily seen. This gives the note a more prominent place in the display instead of on the base.
Your child can paint the hearts as desired in addition to their written note. However, I realized that not all children are old enough to write (like my 2yo). So, I included an additional design option for handprints instead of a note. There’s a heart display where you can place your child's handprints. I then added the I and U so it too would create a special love note from your child. The frame itself can be decorated with their fingerprints or thumbprint hearts.
The XCS file has a canvas for each display.
If using canvas 2 then you do not have to do anything prior to cutting your material. If using canvas 1 then you will need to add your note and place it in the heart with “note goes here”. Be sure to delete that text prior to starting your project.
Have your child write a note with a black marker on a white piece of paper. Take a picture of the note and import the image to the XCS file. Edit the image and remove the background. Be sure to select inside each letter as well. If you need to adjust the note to fit in the heart, outline the image selecting 0 for the offset. Delete the original image. Select the note and release compound, then select each word and make compound. Now you can move each word individually to make it fit as desired. Be sure to select the entire note if you need to adjust the size so the scale stays the same. Once it's placed in the heart make sure it is set to engrave.
Cut your material. I used the 3mm basswood settings for cut and score. For the engrave, I changed the recommended settings to make it a little darker and deeper.
Have your child paint as desired before assembling each piece. For canvas 2, I painted a base layer before adding the handprints and fingerprints. I used acrylic craft paints and a dark stain for the base. Let everything completely dry.
Use the heart frame as a guide to cut your picture. Make sure it is smaller than the outside but bigger than the inside. Glue all the pieces together (except the frame) using the score lines as a guide. For the frame, I cut small pieces of mounting tape and placed on the very edge of the back of the frame. Only place these on the bottom half of the heart. The thickness of the strip provides just enough of a gap to make it easy to insert a picture. Once the frame is assembled you can slide your picture in to see if you need trim it to fit. Glue all the pieces into the base to secure them in place. Once assembled, slide your picture into the frame. You are done!