Plantable Valentine’s Arrows

Today, I have a little DIY for you: plantable valentine’s arrows! In some ways, I feel like “Slap a heart on it” ends up summing up Valentine’s Day items, but I am a self-professed lover of hearts. Have you seen my logo up there at the top of this page? It’s actually a stamp that a friend made for me when I lived in Japan. It’s one of my most prized possessions. She carved my name into stone in the style of a traditional Japanese stamp called inkan. I was so excited when she included that heart. Inkans, fyi, are used to stamp official documents in Japan and serve as your signature and is always in Japanese. Artists also use it to sign their work. So making an inkan in English with a heart is sort of a wink-wink-nudge-nudge thing. But I digress.

Anyway, I’ve been enamored with all the sweet and clever Valentine’s ideas floating around, but I wanted to try something a little different.

I got this awesome paper at one of my fave stores, and the idea is that wildflower seeds are embedded in the paper so you can plant the paper and get lovely blooms in a few days or weeks (depending on the weather, of course). Brilliant, right?

K got very jazzed when she saw the arrows; she asked that I also make a bow so that we could shoot the arrows into planters. Not a bad idea…Since we had no bow, we manually planted one of hearts, as a test to see if it would work. It might be too cold still, but we shall see.

And not only are they super cute, they’re very easy to make. You can see the supplies I used up there (minus the glue – Elmer’s just looked too clash-y with the other items). Here’s what you’ll need:

Plantable paper
Skewers (I used 6-inch and 10-inch skewers)
Tissue paper
Tape (I used washi, but you could use any old tape)
Glue
Pens/markers to decorate the hearts (optional)

1. I created a heart template here and printed it onto the paper using an inkjet printer, but you could hand-draw any shape you’d like and customize your message. Decorate your hearts if you’re so inclined – this would be a fun activity with your little one.

2. Cut out heart and attach skewer to the back using tape. Washi is nice because it comes off easily for planting. If you’re concerned about the sharp point of the skewer, it can be snipped off with a pair of scissors.

3. Fold up your tissue paper so that you have several layers, place a skewer on top and draw the shape of the “feathers” to your liking. Cut through all the layers, then cut into the sides to create fringes. You’ll need two per arrow.

4.  I placed a thin line of glue on the back-side of the skewer and placed it one top of one of the feather shapes. Then I added glue to the top of the skewer and gently placed the another feather shape on top, sandwiching the skewer between the two pieces of tissue paper shapes.

And that’s it! Easy-peasy. I’m planning on trying a different design for the grey plantable paper, and wouldn’t these be so cute with some illustrated instructions on how to plant them? Want to see my round-up of Valentine’s inspiration? Check out my Pinterest board!