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A colorful owl-shaped craft with a red bow, made from layered paper in yellow, pink, orange, and red, sits against a wooden background.
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Owl Valentine Box

If you’re on the hunt for a Valentine box that’s cute, creative, and easy to make, this Owl Valentine Box checks all the boxes. Made from a cereal box and bright craft foam, it’s a fun classroom-friendly project that’s perfect for Valentine exchanges.
Keyword Owl Valentine Box
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 1
Author Lisa O'Driscoll

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Cover the cereal box in white construction paper. This keeps it from being distracting if the box peeks out through the feathers at all. Use an Xacto knife or box cutter to cut a hole in the back for the valentine cards to go in. (This is best done by a parent).
    1 cereal box, 2 pieces 12"x18" white construction paper
    A closed plain white box sits next to a scattered pile of red, orange, and yellow paper hearts on a white surface.
  • Cut the flowers apart so that each piece has two "feathers". There will be a single petal left over from each one but don't toss them. You will use those later.
    20 foam flower cutouts
    Assorted foam cutouts in the shapes of flower petals arranged on a white surface.
  • Take the pieces that have two "feathers" and glue them in a row across the bottom of the box. Add another row, overlapping the row below it just enough to hide the box. Keep adding rows to the front of the box, until you are slightly more than halfway up.
    A box is partially covered with overlapping foam heart shapes in pink, orange, and yellow, with more foam shapes scattered nearby.
  • Use a large piece of yellow craft foam to make the head, attaching it with hot glue. Leave the sides unglued at the bottom for now, so you can add more feathers later if needed.
    1 each craft foam - yellow, white, blue, black, orange
    A rectangular object covered with overlapping heart-shaped pieces of foam in yellow, orange, pink, and red, with a yellow foam sheet partially wrapping the top.
  • I'd used the flower petals on this side but had just a little space left at the top. I glued on one of the single pieces, cut off the extra part and glued the yellow foam down over it. Some of the "feather" should still be sticking out though.
    Colorful paper hearts in pink, orange, and yellow are arranged along the edge of a white surface.
  • Now, grab the single pieces from the flower and glue three of them together to make a wing. Repeat the step to make a second wing.
    Two sets of colorful teardrop-shaped paper cutouts, each set arranged in a fan shape on a white background.
  • Trace two large white circles, two medium blue circles, two small black circles and tiny white ones for the eyes. You'll also want to cut out a small orange triangle for the beak.
    Note: You can make the eye pieces by finding things around the house that are the right size (which is what I did when I originally made this - yogurt cups, drinking glasses, spice jar lids, etc). I've since created a printable template that you can cut out and trace if you'd prefer.
    printable template
    Two layered circular shapes resembling eyes and an orange triangle below them, arranged on a white background to suggest a simple face, possibly of a cartoon bird.
  • If you have any of the white box peeking through, you can cut some of the spare pieces and add them where needed.
    A rectangular box decorated as an owl with colorful foam cutouts for eyes, wings, and feathers in yellow, orange, pink, and red.
  • Cut two large triangles and two smaller triangles for the ears, rounding them off at the top. I had extra foam scraps from another craft so I used that for the inside ear, but you can use any color you'd like. Glue the ears on top.
    Yellow triangle ears for an owl craft against a plain white background
  • Use the template to trace the bow on red glitter cardstock, then use a black marker to add the details. Hot glue the bow to the owl and your Valentine's Day craft is complete!
    red glitter cardstock
    A colorful, handmade owl decoration made from paper with large blue eyes, a red bow, and layered feathers, standing on a wooden floor against a white plank wall.

Notes

  • If you are using a larger cereal box, especially a family sized one, you will probably need a 12"x18" piece of yellow craft foam. You can still use the smaller sized craft foam for the eyes, nose and bow. You will also need more than 20 flowers.
  • If making this with a little boy, feel free to leave off the bow. You could also change up the color of the feathers by using pairings like blue/green or red/orange. The newer packets include more colors.
  • When making this with younger children, you may want to use regular craft glue instead of a glue gun.
  • Depending on the age of the child, this may not take a full two hours to complete.