Make DIY Heart Stamps Faster Than You Can Say "I Love You"

I was a Resident Assistant (R.A.) in college—and it was a weird and also wonderful gig for a variety of reasons. Chief among those reasons: I got to do kindergarten-level crafts with burnt-out 20-year-olds who wanted a low-engagement break from their psych papers and problem sets, on a regular basis. (Easier than it sounds.)

Once a week, I'd sit in the lobby of the dorm with a sheet of butcher paper and pack of markers, or Bananagrams, or some kind of seasonally appropriate activity. (I did say kindergarten crafts, didn't I?) A universal favorite was Valentine's Day heart stamps, made from pencil erasers.

Good for college students and anyone else who writes Valentines (or has feelings), the stamps only cost a few dollars—less, if you already own non-mechanical pencils and a pair of scissors—and take about 5 minutes to put together, and then you can stamp tiny hearts all over your love notes, gift bags, place cards, postcards, and grocery lists to your real heart's content.

Ready?

What you'll need:

• As many pencils with fresh, pink erasers as you want (or, if you'd prefer larger stamps, standard pink erasers)
• Pen
• X-Acto knife
• Stamp pad

Let's do it:

1. Draw a heart onto your eraser.

2. Very, very carefully use an X-Acto knife to slice away the bits of eraser surrounding the heart you drew. Be careful with your grip, making sure that the sharp side of the knife is pointing down, and watch your fingers! Those X-Acto knives are sharp. If you're nervous (or are, in fact, doing this craft with small children), you can also snip away at the eraser's sides with a pair of scissors. You don't need to cut all the way down to the pencil; you just need the heart to be raised.

3. Ta-da! There's your stamp.

Now, grab your ink pad and stamp away—on anything and everything.

Do you send Valentines every year? Tell us about yours in the comments.