Milk Carton Valentines Houses are a fun and easy Valentines craft for kids to make. All you need are milk cartons, paint and some crafty odds and ends, and you can create a whole village of Valentine’s houses to display at home or in the classroom.
The inspiration for these Valentines houses came from the milk carton gingerbread houses we made at Christmas. The kids in my daycare made them last week, and I’m in love with them. They’re so whimsical and pretty, and they look so cute lined up on our dining room window sill.
Every time we walk through the room we stop and oooh and ahhh over them.
Kids of all ages will enjoy making these Valentine’s houses. My 3 year old made several one morning, and later that day, Miss 8 year made a couple of her own. Over the weekend, some in-between aged kids helped me make a few more, and everyone (myself included) loved the process.
If your kids love crafting with pretty ribbons, glitter, gems and jewels, they’ll adore this project.
Let me show you what you’ll need, and how to make some of these pretty houses with your kids.
To make your Milk Carton Valentines Houses, you’ll need:
- empty milk cartons, washed and dried
- red and pink paint
- paint brush
- primer (i.e. Gesso) – optional
- tin foil, coloured paper
- yarn
- sequins, buttons, gems,
- doilies
- glitter
- ribbons
Making your Valentine’s Houses:
We started by painting our milk cartons. I set out several shades of pink and red acrylic paint for the hooligans to dip into and blend as they painted their milk cartons houses.
I had primed a few of the milk cartons with Gesso before-hand but you don’t really need to do that.
The primed houses only required two coats of acrylic paint to cover up the print on the milk cartons. The cartons that weren’t primed required three 3 coats of paint.
Let each coat of paint dry before adding the next. You can use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process. I love that trick. That way, you’re painting your second coat minutes after applying the first. 🙂
When our acrylic paint was dry, we added our decorations.
We cut windows out of tin foil, and doors out of card stock.
We glued lengths of yarn around doorways, and around the bases of the houses.
I think one of my favourite things was the doily rooftops that we added.
To make our doily rooftop, we cut a doily in half, and then we glued those halves to the top sides of the milk cartons, and we tucked any leftovers up under the edges on the sides of the carton.
We glued buttons and sequins and sparkly gemstones all over the walls of our houses,
and we finished with a dusting of glitter!
Of course! What Valentines house would be complete without glitter?
Who knew a milk carton could be so beautiful?
I hope you and your kids will be make some Valentines houses this year too!
Feel free to use whatever odds and ends you have on hand to decorate your houses with if you don’t have what we used.
Some suggestions: ribbon, paper strips, fabric scraps, stickers… Whatever you use, your houses are sure to be beautiful, and your kids will have enjoyed another fun round of crafting and creating for Valentines day.
Looking for more easy Valentines crafts? Check out:
Stamping Hearts with Cardboard Rolls
No-Mess Glitter Tea Light Luminaries
Tissue Paper Stained Glass Window
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
