See how to make a DIY Valentine’s Day card box out of basic household items and a few fun embellishments!
Hop aboard the Love Train this February!
DIY Valentine’s Day Card Box: All Aboard the Love Train!
My oldest son, Rowan, is in kindergarten this year, and his teacher requested that all the kiddos make or purchase their own festive Valentine’s Day card box for their class party.
Since Rowan has been obsessed with trains for most of his young life (I even turned one of his toy trains into the cuuuutest DIY Christmas ornament), he of course chose a choo-choo for his desired theme…and it had to be ALL ABOUT LOVE.
Here’s what we came up with for his box!
Other DIY Valentine Box Ideas
Over the years since this post was originally published, I’ve ended up creating several more DIY Valentine card boxes for both of my boys.
We’ve covered Baby Yoda, a Creeper from Minecraft, as well as an upcycled animal cookie!
I’ve also shared LOTS of FREE printables, including a bunch of fun Valentine’s Day card ideas that your kiddo can pass out to all of their classmates and friends, so be sure and check out those too!
Train Valentine’s Day Card Box Supplies
One of the best things about this upcycled Love Train Valentine’s Day card box is that I only purchased a few inexpensive items specifically for this project (mostly from Dollar Tree), so it was about $5 of new stuff.
That’s it!
- Red gift wrap
- Red glitter heart picks
- Red and pink felt heart stickers
- Metallic pipe cleaners
The rest of the items I either already had in my craft stash or I found while rummaging through closets or the kitchen.
Sometimes it pays to be a hoarder. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Empty cardboard boxes and tubes
- Gift wrap tape & double-sided tape
- Glittery pink washi tape
- Styrofoam discs
- Aluminum foil
- Stuffing from a stuffed animal with a ripped seam (yep, sure did)
- Hot glue
- Jewelry wire
- Scissors
- Silhouette Cameo
- White vinyl
- White & silver polka dot gift wrap
Here are the main components of our DIY Valentine’s Day card box that I scavenged from around the house:
Valentine’s Day Card Box: Prepping the Train Parts
After cutting out a hole in the large box, I then wrapped both it and the smaller box in some red gift wrap, then covered all the edges with some glittery pink washi tape.
Next up came the cardboard tubes.
They were cut to size (and the larger one had a hole cut in it for the smaller one to fit inside), then both were also wrapped in gift wrap and embellished with washi tape.
After covering the six styrofoam discs in aluminum foil, all the main train components were ready for assembly!
I fired up my hot glue gun and then attached all the pieces together.
Now it was time to add some flair and accessorize this choo-choo.
Metallic pipe cleaners were added to cover rugged seams on the tubes, and some stuffing was added to give a fun steam effect to this steamie.
A little structure was provided with some jewelry wire, and the heart picks that would come later also kept it in place.
Some final lovey dovey touches were also added, such as:
- Vinyl decals that I whipped up with my Silhouette Cameo
- So everyone would know this was *Rowan’s* train
- Felt heart stickers
- A cattle catcher up front
- Just an aluminum foil-covered Bagel Bites box piece
- Two smaller front wheels
- Plastic caps from one of the cardboard shipping tubes
Rowan’s Final Train Valentine’s Day Card Box!
And here’s how Rowan’s Love Train Valentine’s Day card box looks after being fully assembled and accessorized!
Needless to say, he was pretty excited to take it to school for his class party and to also pass out his Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian cards for all of his friends. :)
An Upcycled Before-And-After Valentine Box
Not bad for a $5 upcycled school project!
If You Enjoyed This…
Make sure you check out my other fun school ideas and Valentine’s Day projects!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Jannet
Wednesday 16th of February 2022
Love your cute train!
Christine
Monday 23rd of May 2022
Thanks so much, Jannet!
Tyler
Wednesday 26th of January 2022
I love this valentines box!! What did you use the double sided tape for?? I’m attempting to make a similar one to yours so want to see what used all materials for so it stays together!
Hallie
Tuesday 8th of February 2022
@Christine, how did you get the boxes together
Christine
Thursday 27th of January 2022
Hi Tyler! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed this Valentine's Day project! I used the double-sided tape when wrapping the boxes and tubes in the gift wrap so no visible strips of tape would be seen on the final project. I used regular gift wrap tape where the elements would be joined and glued together since you wouldn't see that part anyways. I hope this helps! Have fun creating! :)