48 Valentine’s Day box ideas for keepsake cards and letters.

Cute Valentine’s day box ideas for school and at home.

What is a Valentine’s Day box, exactly? There are many possible answers. You can use a Valentine's Day box in a classroom so everyone can deliver cards and letters in confidence. Kids can also make individual Valentine’s Day boxes to collect cards and tote them safely home.

Valentine’s Day boxes can be a DIY craft at home, too. They can double as gift boxes, and even adults can make them. They’re fun and crafty to make, and just as much fun to gift.

Try your hand at these Valentine’s Day box ideas and you’ll add something special to this Valentine’s Day.

Fun Valentine’s Day box ideas for school.

Valentine’s Day box ideas for school can be classroom boxes (for all children to drop their cards in one pot), or as individual boxes for each student to carry their cards home. Most classroom Valentine’s Day box ideas are made with larger boxes to accommodate more cards. Valentine’s Day box ideas for boys or girls can be interchangeable, too, depending on the interests of the children in question.

Whatever Valentine’s Day box ideas strike you, each can be made with the kids in your life. The activity will add extra magic to the giving of cards on the big day.

Monster Valentine box.

Making a monster box can be as simple as painting a shoebox green, adding googly eyes on the top, and turning the slit for the cards into the monster’s mouth.

“Love train” Valentine box.

Lots of kids love trains, and a shoebox — or two, or three — can be easily turned into train cars.

Game console box.

Choose your game console wisely, depending on what the kids in your life like to play. Then, with a little paint, a shoebox can be turned into a game console from just about any maker.

Robot Valentine box.

The square and rectangular shapes of shoeboxes and cereal boxes lend themselves to robot-making, too. Paint a robot onto a box with a big smile that doubles as the slit for the cards.

Fox Valentine box.

Use some cardboard or construction paper for the triangular ears, then add construction paper rolled into a cone for the snout.

Hogwarts Valentine box.

Turn a shoebox into a Hogwarts-inspired castle or a trunk with faux leather and gilded nail studs.

Treasure chest Valentine box.

With brown paint and some gold glitter, plus a clasp made out of an old belt buckle, you could have a mighty fine treasure chest Valentine’s Day box.

Unicorn Valentine box.

Valentine’s Day box ideas for girls tend to favor brighter colors (and more of them), like this creative unicorn box made with papier mâché horn.

Rainbow Valentine box.

Paint a brilliant rainbow across the sides of a box and turn the lid into a cluster of fluffy white clouds.

Ladybug Valentine box.

Paint a box red (especially a round hat box, if you have one), add black polka dots, and stick on some black pipe cleaners for the antennae.

Superhero Valentine box.

Choose a superhero then paint its characteristic costume features onto a box. If the character wears a cape, add one made out of a real fabric clipping.

Toy Story alien Valentine box.

Of all the characters in the Toy Story movies, the claw-machine aliens make great Valentine’s Day box ideas since they’re fairly square. This idea is easy to make with paint.

Funny Valentine’s Day box ideas for kids and adults alike.

If Valentine’s Day is taken too seriously for your liking, make a lighthearted joke of it with these funny Valentine’s Day box ideas. Kids will get a giggle, and even adults fatigued by the commercial side of Valentine’s Day will feel their hearts warmed by these creative and crafty ideas.

Besides, what better way to say “I really like you” than by making your special someone laugh?

Popcorn bucket Valentine box.

Paint the sides of a shoebox with the characteristic white and red stripes of a popcorn bucket, then glue real popcorn to the top.

Bumblebee Valentine box.

With some paint for the buzzy body and cardboard or construction paper wings, this box will say “bee mine” in the cutest way.

SpongeBob SquarePants Valentine box.

SpongeBob SquarePants is, as his name suggests, an easy character to paint onto a square shoebox or even a cereal box.

Pirate ship Valentine box.

If the treasure chest Valentine box wasn’t pirate-y enough for you, consider turning a shoebox into a ship with bruschetta skewers to hold up the sails.

Dinosaur Valentine box.

Just like a shoebox can turn into a monster’s face, you can also turn a shoebox into a dinosaur head. Don’t forget to glue or paint on those extra sharp teeth.

Spaceship Valentine box.

Wrap a box in silver foil and cut out round pieces of paper to glue on for the windows. Glue on some flame-like paper at the bottom and prepare for takeoff.

Cupid’s Valentine mailbox.

Cover a shoebox in hearts, bows, and arrows, and make a “you’ve got mail” flag out of cardboard. Attach the flag with a brad if you want the flag to move up and down.

Emoticon Valentine box.

Choose your favorite emoji and turn a round hat box into the face.

Fishbowl Valentine box.

This is another idea that works well with a hat box. Cover it with blue paper, paint on some fish, and add glitter to mimic the shimmery water.

Treasure map Valentine box.

Take a cereal box and paint a map on it, adding an X where Valentine’s Day letters and cards can be dropped in.

Pizza Valentine box.

Use a round hat box to paint a pizza, or paint a square one as the pizza box fresh from delivery.

Minions Valentine box.

Minions are a good subject for Valentine’s Day box ideas, too. Paint a showbox in yellow and blue and add googly eyes.

Cute Valentine’s Day box ideas for all those sweet cards.

Cute Valentine’s Day box ideas lean into common sources of joy. From colorful pom-poms to big-eyed puppies, these DIY boxes might be so sweet that they’re kept for next year, and the next, and the next.

Remember, most of these are Valentine’s Day shoebox ideas, so start saving those shoeboxes ahead of time.

Lego Valentine box.

Either make a box out of Legos or turn a box into one giant Lego.

Bunny Valentine box.

Of all the cute critters out there, bunnies are among the cutest. Make a bunny Valentine box with white paper, cardboard ears, and a pom-pom nose.

Tiered cake Valentine box.

Take three shoeboxes of different sizes and cover each in colored paper as “frosting.” Add some paint dripping over the tops of each for that frosting look.

Pom-pom Valentine box.

Cover a box entirely in colored pom-poms or use them to create a design.

Tennis shoe Valentine box.

Paint a box with someone’s favorite tennis shoe design and glue on real shoelaces.

Camera Valentine box.

Start with a black shoebox and paint on the lens, some buttons, and the flash.

Puppy Valentine box.

Another cute animal that will make Valentine’s Day even sweeter is a puppy. Cover a box in brown paper and attach floppy ears and a tongue.

Ice cream Valentine box.

Turn a shoebox into the paper cup and add the ice cream on top with papier mâché and plenty of paint.

Donut Valentine box.

Can you think of how to make a doughnut from a box? A hat box would be useful for this one. Don’t forget to add plenty of sprinkles.

Fruit basket Valentine box.

Since fruit baskets aren’t a common Valentine’s Day gift anymore, but they’re still sweetly nostalgic, turn your Valentine Day box into a fruit basket this year with faux fruit from the craft store glued on top.

Mickey Mouse Valentine box.

Start with a black shoebox, add red shorts, glue on gold buttons, and make the big ears out cardboard.

Jigsaw puzzle Valentine box.

Construct a jigsaw puzzle and glue the pieces onto the box, wrapping around it as you go.

Easy Valentine’s day box ideas to save time (or stress).

If this is your first time looking up Valentine’s Day box ideas, or if you’re unsure about your own craft capacity (or those of the young ones accompanying you), these DIY Valentine’s Day box ideas are all on the simple side.

Easy Valentine’s Day box ideas focus on lots of paint and familiar shapes. Since they’re all fast to make, you could even try a few.

Spinning heart Valentine box.

Cut out a big paper heart and attach it to a box with a brad so it can spin.

Hot air balloon Valentine box.

Use a fruit basket as the basket of a hot air balloon, then make a paper cutout of the balloon itself. Attach it with yarn for the ropes.

Sandcastle Valentine box.

Draw on the turrets and battlements and spray with aerosol paint before sprinkling on some real sand.

Kitten Valentine box.

Cover a box with gray construction paper and add a pink triangle nose. Glue on googly eyes and black pipe cleaners for whiskers.

Race car Valentine box.

Paint a box in bright colors like a racecar then add paper wheels. Don’t forget to draw the racer’s number on the doors.

Candy bar Valentine box.

Candy bars are shaped kind of like shoeboxes, too. Paint a box with your favorite bar’s label.

Book Valentine box.

Any bookworm will appreciate this. Paint a box like a stack of books with your favorite titles on the spines.

Painter’s Valentine box.

Paint your Valentine box any way you like to let your abstract artist out.

Valentine gift bag.

Instead of a box, you can decorate a Valentine’s Day bag, too. Just about any of these Valentine’s Day box ideas could be put on a bag instead.

Envelope Valentine box.

Fold some cardboard into an envelope shape and decorate it with as many hearts as you can.

Flowerpot Valentine box.

Decorate the box itself like a pot, then stick plenty of faux flowers in through the top.

Felt squares Valentine box.

Cut felt squares in multiple colors and cover a box with them.

Tips to get even more from the best Valentine’s Day box ideas.

Whatever you do use your Valentine’s boxes for, the best Valentine’s Day box ideas can be used for more than the delivery of cards and gifts. Look at your Valentine box as a photo-op and imagine using it in other Valentine’s Day ideas, like:

• Posters or banners announcing a Valentine’s Day event.
• Photo collages of all the Valentine’s Day box ideas a classroom thinks up.
• Flyers, invitations, social media banners, and announcements with the details for a Valentine’s Day card exchange.
• Social media posts turning your Valentine’s Day box into a digital memory forever.

Exercise: How to hunt for craft materials.

These Valentine’s Day box ideas can each be more engaging for kids if you make a point of hunting for craft materials first.

Take these steps to get everyone engaged in the process:

1. Help children brainstorm the materials they might need.

2. List the tools you’ll need, too (like scissors and glue).

3. Search the house or classroom together for materials, using prompts like “find something you can cut into shapes” or “find something shiny” to add even more materials to the mix.

4. You can explore outdoors in nature, too.

Adobe Express can help.

Adobe Express has templates and customization tools to put your favorite Valentine’s Day box ideas to work. If you want to use Valentine’s Day box ideas in cards, letters, posters, banners, photo collages, flyers, or other creative projects, Adobe Express makes it as simple as picking a template and personalizing it, or making your own idea with easy-to-use tools. Whatever message you want to transmit, Adobe Express brings it to life, no experience required.

Design with your idea