This year the kids' teachers got cute bags with assorted chocolates and these super sweet bookmarks, complete with a thumbprint cherry on top.
There is a perfectly blank spot at the top of the cupcakes that is just the right size for a little fingerprint. So use your little one's finger to stamp a cherry with a red or pink ink pad. Each kid wrote their own names on the back along with the teacher's name. You could write a note right on the front in the space between the text and the cupcake.
I laminated the sheets of bookmarks with my handy laminating machine and then cut out each bookmark along the lines. You don't have to do this step, especially if you've printed them out of good heavy card stock, but I love the resiliency of a well laminated paper product.
ALTERNATIVE TO LAMINATING MACHINE: Packing Tape. I've been doing this FOREVER. Seriously. I used to laminate EVERYTHING in high school and college this way. Cut strips to packing tape larger than the length of the bookmarks. Lay them vertically along the columns of bookmarks on the single sheet of paper you've printed with a 1/8" overlap. Then do the same on the back. Be sure to cover past the edges of the bookmarks. Burnish (or rub the tape down hard) with the back of a spoon or something smooth with no sharp edges. Then trim them out along the lines just as you would if it was laminated out of a machine. BOOM!
You could punch a hole at the top and then thread a tassel or ribbon through for a little extra fun. We ran out of time (translation: I was up until 2 in the morning laminating and trimming so I had to cut corners somewhere). We packaged the bookmarks up in some heart decorated goodie bags with heart shaped chocolates. A perfectly simple, quick, and personal Valentine for a book lover or teacher in your life.
Click HERE to download these printable Valentine's Day Fingerprint Cherry and Cupcake Bookmarks.
