Puzzle Heart Valentine's Day Craft

Here's a fun craft I will be doing with my evening Storytime kid's in a couple weeks.  It's great for Valentine's Day and it uses some old puzzle pieces I saved years ago.  

With a little prep work this craft can be done in a short amount of time.

What you will need:

• Popsicle sticks (12 each)
• Puzzle pieces
• Cardstock cut into hearts (about 3" big)
• Ribbon
• Paint
• Hot glue gun
• School glue
• Ribbon
• Permanent marker

I made the popsicle frame ahead of time using hot glue.  This is also a good time to add a piece of ribbon to the back of the frame for hanging.  

Hint:  Glue the puzzle pieces onto the heart and paint them before gluing to the frame.  My first attempt above was glued to the frame before I painted it.  It was a disaster.  

Use school glue to attach the puzzle pieces on the heart and then paint them.  Once the painted heart is dry (I will be reading a story during this time) use the glue to attach it to the front of the frame.  With a permanent marker write: "Love You To Pieces".  I'm going to let the kids write it out on their own-it will look so much better than mine!

Enjoy!

Blind Date with Books!

I was inspired by some other displays similar to this one that I found on Pinterest.  I thought since February is coming up that I would make this display loaded with hearts and give it a Valentine's Day theme.

Here's what the display looks like:

Each book is wrapped with a copy of the barcode taped  to the front.  The sticker has a silly phrase enticing people to take it on a "date".  Take it home, show it your favorite spot so read, share it with your friends...  At the bottom of the sticker there is a line that reads, "This book seeks_____ lovers."  On the blank line I wrote the genre of the book.

My director also decided to do this for the adults.  We created a book review sheet that patrons (teens and adults) can fill out and be entered in a raffle at the end of the month to win a $15.00 Barnes & Noble gift card.