It won’t be long before Valentine’s Day arrives, so my daughters and I are preparing with a few fun crafts. This week we are going to make a Valentine’s Day locket. The craft is very inexpensive, and a great way to recycle old bottle caps. As a parent or teacher, you may even want to work in a lesson on the importance of reusing items when possible.

Take two bottle caps for each child that will be creating their own Valentine’s Day locket, and place them on a sheet of newspaper. You should do this outside if possible. Give each bottle cap a coating of pink spray paint. Set them aside until they have dried completely.

While you are waiting for the paint to dry, print and cut-out two pictures for each locket. They can be pictures of your child’s beloved pets, favorite stuffed animals, best friends, or family members. Keep in mind that the pictures must be small enough to fit inside of the bottle caps.

Glue the pictures to the inside of each bottle cap. Create a necklace out of red or pink yarn. The length depends on the child, but should be long enough that it can be placed over the child’s head. Lay the necklace flat on the table. Now cut a piece of red colored duct tape in the shape of a vertical rectangle. Place the center of the necklace across the center of the duct tape. Attach one of the bottle caps to the top of the duct tape, and one to the bottom so that when you fold it over they close up like a locket.

Decorate the top of the locket with colored permanent markers. You can color a heart on the front, or write out your name. Perhaps you’d like to draw several little hearts. When you finish, you can go ahead and wear your new necklace.