These DIY Seed Paper Hearts are a great eco-friendly craft for kids to make for Valentine's Day. Super simple to make, they're a great gift to share with friends. What's more, once planted, these little hearts will grow wildflowers for bees & butterflies. Here's how we made them.
Love only ever grows when it's shared, right? Well, these little hearts are packed full of love, not only for the recipient but for the wildlife too. How cool is that! What's even more wonderful is that these hearts are made from scraps of leftover craft paper, wrapping paper & mail, so nothing is wasted.
We attached our Seed Paper Hearts to these cards, ready to spread a little love on Valentine's Day. You can print your copy of the card here - All Things Grow With Love Valentine Card
To make the Seed Paper Hearts, you'll need:
Food blender (but not necessary - see below for more info)
Metal sieve/splatter guard
Cooling rack
Mixing bowl
Teatowel
Small heart-shaped cookie cutter
Scraps of paper
1 packet of wildflower seeds
2 cups of hot water
How to make Seed Paper Hearts in 5 simple steps:
1. Add your paper scraps to a bowl & soak in hot water for about 10 mins, making sure all the paper is submerged. You can add as much paper as you wish, we used a mixture of colours & around the equivalent of 3 A4 sheets, which made 10-12 hearts.
2. Once the paper is saturated, add the wet mix to the blender & blitz until you have a pulp. This only takes a few seconds. Switch off the blender. Add your chosen wildflower seeds & carefully stir them into the pulp with a wooden spoon. We found the smaller wildflower seeds worked best. It's tempting to add more seeds, but if you add too many the flowers won't grow so well. (Cornflower seeds, Nigella, Poppy, Foxglove, or a wildflower mix would be perfect to add.)
No blender? No problem! Simply cut or tear your paper into small sections so it absorbs the water more quickly. Add the paper scraps to a bowl & pour over the hot water, but leave for a couple of hours or overnight. To create the pulp, mix with your fingers or a fork & then add your chosen seeds.
3. Place a tea towel over a bowl & pour the seed paper pulp into the centre. Wrap the towel around the pulp & slowly squeeze some of the water, allowing it to drain into the bowl. Make sure you don't squeeze all the water out, as it will make it harder to form the heart shape later.
4. Place your sieve/splatter guard onto a dry tea towel & place your cookie cutter on top. Take a small amount of the seed pulp & push it into the cookie cutter with your fingers. Push to the edges to release as much water as possible. When you've removed the water, carefully push out the heart shape & place it on a wire rack. Repeat the process with the remaining seed pulp mix.
5. Leave your hearts on the cooling rack to dry overnight. We left ours in an airing cupboard & they were completely dry the following morning. Once dry, you can add them to our printable Valentine's card or share them as they are.
Print two of our Valentine cards on one A4 sheet of cardstock & you'll have the perfect-sized card to stick your seed paper hearts to.
This is a fun, eco-friendly activity to share with children & a great way for them to encourage others to care for nature & wildlife in their area. If we all planted a few wildflower seeds in our neighbourhood, we'd certainly be making the world a more beautiful place, not only for us but for wildlife too.
