Target Valentine Mailbox Dupes
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I remember the days when I would wander the halls of Target. Ahh, I can smell the Starbucks and hear the children in other carts screaming now.
However, I haven’t stepped foot into Target for nearly a year - a feat that my husband and wallet are proud of, but makes me cringe. While I hope to return to the mothership soon, I have been coping by browsing their site and app endlessly. Recently I was looking for some Valentine’s arts and crafts ideas for preschoolers, and I came across these adorable mailboxes by Sprtiz.
I was able to exercise some restraint before hitting ‘add to cart’, and I realized that I could make these for my kids and personalize each to them. Of course I’m sure they would be happy with a racecar mailbox, but nothing rivals the love my son has for elephants.
How do you make Valentine's Day special for kids?
I wish with my whole heart that my sons could be in the classroom, experiencing Valentine’s Day with classmates. They would likely be writing their names on paper bags with little doilies and getting and receiving sweet treats with Valentine’s that come in those flimsy paper boxes with perforated edges - every kids’ dream!
But this year is different - we will be celebrating Valentine’s Day at home. The best way to make the most of that in my eyes is the go all out! We will be celebrating all the love we have within our home.
And that means personalizing it to our love. That’s where the valentine’s crafts come in to play - in the form of Target Valentine Mailbox Dupes. Inspired by the Spritz brand of Valentine mailboxes, I decided to mock up three mailboxes (one per child) in the shape of something that they love. I have two preschool age boys so we landed on a shark and elephant for them. I also have a one year old daughter who can’t exactly express affection outside of slobbery kisses, so we opted for a unicorn for her.
Once complete, the mailboxes will be set out and we will make and deliver valentines to each child. I also plan to leave the mailboxes at the front door so that our nearby grandparents can leave goodies for the kids too.
Target Valentine Mailbox Dupes - Instructions/Supplies List
I scoured my house for every single thing used in this valentine’s craft. Generally speaking, look first at the overall shape you want for each item OR the items that you have to use around the house. I personally had an old Greek yogurt container, some boxes, and a 2 liter bottle.
Unicorn
The main structure of the unicorn is the old Greek yogurt container. I wrapped it in white paper and hot glued that together. I left the top exposed as I knew I would have to add elements to the top. I used the tassels from an old banner for the mane, tissue paper for the bangs, old faux flowers for the crown, and a piece of foam paper was rolled to be the horn. I cut and colored more white paper for the ears and drew the eyes with a Sharpie.
On the top I used an Exacto knife to cut a hole to fit the valentines.
Elephant
The elephant is made of a medium sized Amazon box. I made sure that all the seams were taped shut before I got to work covering the box in blue construction paper. Once the box was completely covered with blue construction paper, I drew the shape of the trunk on the paper. I followed that line to slice the box (and the attached paper). I also detached the bottom of the trunk from the edge of the box so that the trunk lifts up to allow a spot for the valentines. After that all that was left was freehanding and attached some ears and drawing the finishing touches with Sharpie.
Shark
The shark is made of a 2 liter bottle. I initially tried to paint the bottle with acrylic paint, but that did not adhere well. I opted to attach foam paper in a dark blue shade for the body. One large sheet was enough to cover the top of the bottle in a way that I would be able to cut the paper into a pointed shape instead of having to use the Exacto to chop the bottle. I did however have to use the Exacto to make the mouth, which doubles as the opening for the valentines. It looked a bit bare, so I added the lighter blue for some details and two fins. The teeth and the waves from which the shark is emerging are once again plain white paper.
What can I do for Valentine's Day on a low budget?
If you’re looking for a low to no budget idea for valentine’s crafts, this is it. Like I said, I spent $0 on each of these. I used things I had around the house for every single piece of these mailboxes. This is a great opportunity to get creative!
First consider the overall shape of the object you want for your mailbox - maybe a leftover Amazon box will work for an alligator. And an egg carton could be used to make scales on his back.
If you don’t have green construction paper to cover the box , no worries - use the kids’ craft paint or markers or old wrapping/tissue paper. This kind of find + seek game could be fun for older kids. For example, pose the question “Can you find something X shape?” or “First person to find something green gets a high five!” (High fives are accepted currency in my house - use whatever you’ve got!)
It doesn’t quite compare to the bliss of mindlessly wandering Target, but I was pretty proud of these little guys. And My kids are already excited for them too! I’d do just about anything to impose a sense of normalcy on them, so this was a win-win!
