Chattering Robins: Valentine's Day can be a circus

Call me crazy, but to me, there's few things cuter than a sweet little elephant on Valentine's Day. Then again, I might be biased since by now you know I'm a wee bit partial to anything circus related.

Happy February! Betsy Skagen here from Paper Calliope, and today I thought I would share these sweet little Valentine ornaments I made.

Tutorial: How to make Valentine elephant ornaments

How to make a Valentine pipe cleaner body

Step One
First make your pipe cleaner figures. There's more than one way to do this, and I encourage you to play around and find a style that you like. For each figure you will need one or two chenille pipe cleaners with bumps and one tinsel pipe cleaner. Cut a three-bump chenille pipe cleaner so that two bumps are in one section and a single bump in separate. Repeat for the second pipe cleaner.

Step Two
Fold both two-bump sections of the pipe cleaners in half to form V shapes. Holding one V section downward, to create the legs, twist the second V around the top of the leg section a few times to create the arms.*

Step Three
Shape a tinsel pipe cleaner into an oval, with a stem. Twist the stem around the body where the arms and legs intersect. This creates the halo/hanger that will support your Valentine's head. .

Step Four
Bend the feet and hands upward.

*Another option is to make the arms shorter by using just a one-bump section for the arms.

How to make the Valentine clown collar

Cut a strip of Spring Stripe Glitter Cardstock. Cut one edge with decorative scissor. Score a vertical line every 1/4 inch. Fan fold. Glue together to make circle. (For more detailed instructions on how to make a rosette, please refer to this tutorial.) Slide tinsel halo portion of pipe cleaner body through center of circle. Flatten circle to make rosette. Squirt hot glue into center and hold in place until dry.

How to make the Valentine shirt

Fold a small piece of Brick Wall Cardstock in half. Cut a rectangle with decorative scissors. Hot glue front piece to body. Flip over and lining up edges, hot glue back piece of shirt in place. Add decoration.

How to make the Valentine skirt

Cut a circle from Valentine Hearts Cardstock with a decorative scissor. Using a scissor with a straight blade, cut out a triangular shape from it, as it you were cutting out a piece of yummy Valentine pie. Mmmmm.... Dang. Now I'm hungry. If you care which way the hearts are facing on the skirt, it is important to pay attention to where you cut the triangle from in the circle. On my first go-round I discovered that the hearts were completely upside down.

Moving away from the food imagery, after the piece is cut out, you might notice a resemblance to Pac Man. Pies. Video games and crafts. Can life get any better?

Cut a small circle within the circle at the apex of the triangle. Slide the pipe cleaner body into this circle. Wrap the skirt around the body of the Valentine, below the shirt. and hot glue in place in back.

How to make the Valentine Dew Drop Dress

Using Classic Roses Cardstock, follow the same technique that you used for the Valentine skirt, except cut the circle with a straight-edged scissor. Before gluing the dress together, lay it flat on your work surface, and apply vinyl glue to part of the the outer rim. Adhere the Silver Daughter Mini Dew Drops and Clear Pansies Mini Dew Drops to the edge. Fill the rest of the dress in with Pink Regency Mini Dew Drops and Pink and Clear Two Lip Tear Drops. Because the glue dries quickly, make sure you apply the glue to only small portions of the cardstock at a time. Make sure you work in a well-ventilated area and follow the directions on the glue that you use.

Finishing your ornaments

Fussy cut heads from vintage valentines. Hot glue them above the pipe cleaner bodies to the base of the halo/hangars. Add stickers, vintage ephemera, glitter and doo dads. Enjoy!