overhead photo of many hand painted red, pink, and white rocks with Valentine's Day messages

Crafts

Valentine Rocks (for your Neighbors)

Remember the kindness rocks we made for essential workers and neighbors and friends? We decided to make them again for Valentine’s Day?!

Sounds like fun to us! Last time we used paint pens to decorate our rocks. This time we used acrylic paint. They both work well.

Here’s what you’ll need:

smooth white rocks (we used these ones)
acrylic paint (level 2 works best) in Valentine colors (please use safely in a well-ventilated area)
paintbrushes (be sure to have a wide tip and a fine tip for detail work)
spray varnish (for adult use, safely in a well-ventilated area)

You can paint anything you like on the rocks. Pink hearts, red hearts, loving words… it’s all fun and good!

Just think of what you’d like to say to a stranger on Valentine’s Day and pay it forward. Make sure to let each layer dry before moving onto the next, and then let your rocks dry before moving onto the next step: varnishing.

Varnishing is a little trick we learned last time we did this craft.

Painted rocks can fade when they are left outside in the weather. If you add a thin coat of polyurethane they stay shiny and last forever (or nearly forever, so far ours are a year old and they look great!). It’s imperative to spray your varnish outside in a well-ventilated area and protect your surface with paper. This should be handled by an adult. Spray varnish can be smelly and sticky. You don’t want to accidentally spot-varnish your patio.

Once the rocks are varnished, let them dry well. We let our’s dry overnight. Then the next day we set out into the neighborhood to leave them for our neighbors and friends. It’s kind of like an Easter egg hunt but for your community!

Spread a little love around your neighborhood! Leave some Valentine Rocks in a friend’s garden. Keep a few for yourself because everyone needs some cheer these days, even you!