Make a Cute Leopard Valentine Box This Valentine’s Day
If there is one thing that makes many moms cringe…it’s the school announcement that it is time to make a Valentine box for the class Valentine’s Day party. Depending on the year, sometimes we go all in and other days we take the easy way (purchased kits, bags, etc.) This year, the fourth grade class had a Valentine’s Day box contest so we had to go all in, of course! Read on to see how Harper and her dad made this leopard Valentine box! It’s a cute box that your kid can make, too!
Harper Says…
Even though a leopard Valentine box wasn’t the original plan I had in mind, it did come together pretty well.
To be honest, we waited to the last minute to even think about making a Valentine box. That is how this leopard Valentine box even came to be. We were thinking out what supplies we had on hand that we could use or repurpose. We had a big roll of leopard print wrapping paper…so a leopard Valentine box it was.
When I grow up and become a mom, I’m not going to wait to the day before Valentine’s Day to have my kids write their Valentine’s cards and make their Valentine box! – Harper
Supplies for Making a Leopard Valentine Box
If your kid is going to make this animal Valentine box, you need to gather all the supplies ahead of time. We keep a craft box in the garage so we had google eyes, foam hearts, and pipe cleaners. Of course, you need to have a cardboard box. And don’t go too small. I’ve had a small Valentine box before, and it was overflowing at my school party.
- Cardstock for drawing a face
- Empty paper towels or toilet paper tubes for the legs (or wooden dowels like we used)
- Empty cardboard box (we used a hand vaccuum box from Christmas)
- Empty wrapping paper tube
- Thin but sturdy piece of cardstock for the chest/neck/face
- Pipe cleaner for whiskers and collar
- Google eyes
- Heart foams for the ears
- Clear packing tape
Steps for Making a Leopard Valentine Box
We looked online for ideas of a leopard Valentine box. We found a few, but neither had instructions. So we did our best to recreate it making our own twists along the way. After all, you should never just copy something exactly! Make it your own!
Luckily, Dad is pretty handy with making things. So he guided me on what to do. But I did most of the actual work. He remember he had some thin dowel rods in the garage so that is what we decided to use for the legs. The main thing he helped me with was the saw. He stood over me and showed me how to carefully use it. Because…obviously…kids shouldn’t be left alone to use a saw!
- On the piece of cardstock, draw out a face for the leopard with the ears.
- If you are using empty paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls for the leopard’s legs, you can wrap those now with the leopard wrapping paper. If you are using wooden dowels, now is the time to have a grown up cut them to the size of leg you want. We left the legs about 8 inches. The wood dowel legs need to be wrapped also.
- Measure the width of the box that will be the front of the leopard. Now, cut the thin piece of of cardboard to the same width. This will be the chest and neck which extends up to the face. The height just needs to be tall enough to look sensible for a leopard neck/face.
- Trace the card stock paper at the top of the thin cardboard so you can shape the leopard face with the ears sticking up.
- Wrap the chest/neck/face with more leopard wrapping paper, taping around the back of it.
- Using the leopard wrapping paper, wrap up the empty box like you would wrap a Christmas present. Be sure to keep the tape on the bottom. (We didn’t wrap the box until the end, but it is fine to do it at this point.)
- Have a grown up cut four small round holes in the bottom of the box so you can insert the legs. The tighter the holes the better. You will still want to tape around the legs/holes on the bottom of the box so the legs don’t fall out.
- Have a grown up cut a slit in the front of the box – going the width of the box (the chest area) so you can insert the thin piece of cardboard down inside the box. It needs to slide down inside the box so it will stay upright.
- Have the grown up cut a slit at the back of the leopard (the booty area) so you can slide in the tail. You will have to flatten the tube at the bottom so it will slide into the slit.
- Wrap the tail (long wrapping paper tube) in leopard paper.
- Slide the tail back the slit at the back of the leopard body, pushing it as far down as you can so it will remain stable.
- Remove the chest/neck/face piece and add google eyes/foam heats and pipe cleaner for the facial features. It is best to have a grown up help you with hot glue for the face pieces. (Our hot glue gun was not working so we had to use clear tape.)
- Slide the chest/neck/face piece back into the leopard Valentine box to complete the leopard.
- If desired, use more pipe cleaner to add a collar/necklace. We added a heart-shaped charm to ours that said “Harper is Wild for You” because we love a good theme!
More Holiday Posts from Arkansas Girls
If you enjoyed learning how to make this leopard Valentine box, read on for more fun ideas!
