Friday, February 10, 2012

Make This: LEGO Accessory Valentine Tutorial

Yeah, I'm a little late in delivering this valentine tutorial to you.  So sue me.  It has been a week of many extra homework projects around here--dioramas, book reports,  a 100 days of school poster, and then of course, the usual spelling word practice, math story problems...blahblahblah.  The point is--here is a valentine tutorial for you, just a little later than intended, okay?  If you have some of the supplies around your house already--great--go to it, you can make this right now--if you don't, well, you will probably have to wait to make it until next year since it may require ordering some special LEGO pieces.  So just know that and deal.
But LEGO + jewelry + valentine's cards = a pretty cool project for the kiddies for Valentine's Day.  This is like accessory playtime--jewelry meant to be kept, worn, and played with over and over using the extra LEGO bits.  Necklaces and rings that can be endlessly redesigned--out of sheer boredom, or just to match that special outfit of stripey tights, plaid shirt and a hot pink tutu your kid showed up at the breakfast table wearing this morning.
It's pretty damn easy to make too once you have assembled all the required pieces--although, personally, I would not recommend letting the kiddies do the work with the uber-strength craft glue or you may end up with  LEGOs permanently bonded to his or her body.  Sure, it might be cool for a day or two to have LEGO pieces attached to your hands ("Look at the colorful LEGO tower I built on my hand, mom!"), but it would start to impede simple tasks like eating, bathing, using toilet paper--and that would be not so cool after a while.  
The best thing I discovered through the process of sourcing our LEGO bits was that there is a WHOLE WORLD of used individual LEGO parts to be found out there, in every color, shape, size--and most to be had for 3-10 cents.  BrickLink is pure genius, I tell you.  There is more about that in my tutorial.
Here's the link to my downloadable tutorial and printable templates:
And if you are interested, I have some other Valentines ideas from years past you can have a look at here and here and here--none of which require ordering special LEGO parts and probably could realistically be made between now and Valentine's Day.

18 comments:

Rose said...

This is brilliant! Love it!

JanetK said...

go Legos! Those are awesome and we sure have a lot of legos around here!

Hey, I also wanted to let you know I gave you a "Versatile Blogger Award" on my blog today! entropyundone.blogspot.com

cpcable said...

Very cute!

Anonymous said...

What a neat idea! :)

Ana said...

You rock! I love this!

Bournonville said...

so cute... i<3 it

Michelle, Queen Behind the Lens! said...

This is brilliant & adorable! And, well, my goodness don't I have enough materials to make these for every child I ever meet for the rest of my life?!

Calico Hen said...

Love this!

MammaLill said...

Oh LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!

Yopie said...

These Lego kits are SUCh a sweet idea! Love the ring - might have to go raid the Lego box today...

Ellen said...

How sweet is this? Very sweet. Of course, I don't think my boys would like to wear a necklace or ring, but I would. I'll have to squirrel this away for next Valentine's day. Thank you.

Auntie Kenny said...

Fantastic-I'm taking this idea next year....remind me! ;-)

nikki/WhiMSy love said...

Thanks so much for such a fun crafty project! My 2 girls & I made these yesterday as part of our goal to do something fun every day for summer vacation.
http://www.whimsy-love.com/2012/05/summer-diary-day-3-lego-rings.html

Anonymous said...

Such a cute idea. I love this so much.
xx Tanya
http://aciddreamsandsugarhighs.blogspot.com/

Cassie said...

Is there any chance you remember the names of the parts you used for the flowers? I found the flower stems but haven't figured out what you used or the flower buds. If so, could ou email me at stinemetz3atcox.net? Thx.

Holly said...

Cassie, these parts are usually listed in the plant section and are typically called a a "plant flower rounded 2x2 open stud"--or something like that. You can find them in many of the Bricklink shops that have a larger stock of Legos. Hope that helps.

Unknown said...

These are amazing! What a great alternative to those hokey store bought ones...

Kristi L (Digital Cake) said...

I love this project so much! One of my favorite Valentine's projects I've seen! I featured it on my blog today http://digitalcakecrafting.blogspot.com/2013/02/shout-out-sunday-5.html