DIY Girly Monster Valentine’s Day School Classroom Box

I happened to catch sight of this amazing unicorn Valentine’s Day classroom box on Pinterest. The amount of work that went into that sucker, I just cannot imagine.

Creating the perfect box to catch all of those cartoon character-covered Valentines was a big deal when I was a kid, but nowadays it looks like they hire a designer to create them anymore. So I decided to set about making something nice but not over the top. Something cute without being terribly expensive or taking up tons and tons of time. And that came together as a monster… a love monster, perhaps?

The one I made is girly but this can easily be made any way your kiddo pleases. To make this I essentially grabbed a photo box from Michael’s and a bunch of Valentine’s Day “stuff” off of the racks. I got foam sheets, stickers, ribbon, pipe cleaners, washi tape, rhinestones, pompoms, you name it. Then I sat down and put something together that is very fun, super cute, and won’t take a full business day to complete!

For this project you will need:

• Valentine’s Day box or photo box
• Craft knife
• Foam sheets
• Ribbon
• Yarn
• Glue

Using a craft knife cut out the mouth of your monster on the front. Since I used a photo storage box I cut mine out from the lid. You can also add a mail slot at the top of the box if you’d like.

Cut out circles and hearts and other shapes to create eyes, a nose, ears, teeth, fangs, or whatever you please! Glue onto the box.

I made some braid/horns for this box using yarn and some red floral wire I found in my stash. To do this I cut 12 pieces of 20-inch yarn and one piece of floral wire. Fold over the yarn and wire to meet in the middle. Use a scrap of yarn to tie this together. Using tape, stick your tie together onto your table or work surface.

Hideaway the wire inside of the yarn and create a simple braid. Tie off the end with another scrap of yarn. Trim the wire end and fold over to prevent any accidents. Trim the braid across the bottom for a nice, uniform look.

Cut an X into the top of the box and use a pen or other round item to rout out a hole.

Push the tail from the top through the hole and pull some of the braid and wire into the hole as well. Use glue (hot glue works quickest and best in this case) and glue it into place. Use wrapped yarn to cover up any ugly glued areas.

Little embellishments like hair bows, glitter, and rhinestones can finish off a more personalized monster. Not sure how to make a bow? Learn how to make a simple bow without tying here.

This little project will make for one of the cutest Valentine’s mailboxes in the classroom, for sure! It’s simple, cute and inexpensive, and totally doable by just about any craft level! Grab the craft stash and the kids and see what kind of monsters they come up with!

Allison

A crafter since her earliest years, Allison spends a little time every day making something. She crafts, sews, paints, glues things onto other things, and is a firm believer that a life spent creating is a life worth living. Visit Allison’s blog, Dream {a Little} BIGGER.