Etched Pencil Valentines with Free Printable

My boys are still in elementary school, so every February we come up with fun class valentines for them to hand out. Last year we made these adorable chocolate snitches a la Harry Potter and they were a big hit! This year, we’re using Mommy’s new Glowforge to etch pencils and attach them to simple cards (free printable below!).

I’m a big fan of not giving candy. My kids have plenty of candy, sweets and treats, and with so many having allergies these days, it’s safer to give non-edible gifts anyway. What kid doesn’t need another pencil? And what kid wouldn’t love a pencil personalized with their name?!

I bought my Glowforge laser just a few short months ago. I worked it like a beast through the holidays! Haven’t heard of Glowforge? It is a laser that can cut and etch just about anything! Today, we’re going to etch some pencils for our class valentines. I found some blank white pencils on Amazon and they worked perfectly. Just had to have something hold them in place to keep them from rolling around. I intend to make a neat little jig for this task, but for now, my honeycomb pins do the trick.

I picked a cute font from my massive collection and sized it so the tallest name wasn’t more than .19″ tall. Anything more than that and it won’t really fit on the pencil! (Don’t ask how I know) I design in Silhouette Studio Business Edition because I was already familiar with it from years of experience with my Silhoutte Cameo. You do have to have Business Edition to save files as SVG, which is what you’ll import to the Glowforge. If you’re already familiar with Illustrator, Corel Draw, or another vector design program, you can use any of those.

While the video is a time lapse, the laser doesn’t actually engrave that fast! LOL, I wish! But these pencils only took a couple minutes to make.

Once you have your pencils, you need a cute card to give as a valentine! And what would Valentine’s Day be without a cute pun?! So I came up with a simple heart and the phrase “you’re just write!” with of course right being spelled wrong! LOL!

To download the jpg of this FREE printable valentine, just right click on the image below and save to your computer. You will have to cut this version out yourself. If you have a Silhouette Cameo and want the SVG version, just click here.

I cut my class valentines out on red paper. You could use pink, white or any color you like! Just let your child sign their name and you’re done.

If you don’t have a Glowforge, you can of course use these hearts with any store bought pencils and they’ll be (almost) just as cute! 😉 I’d love to see your creations, so please tag me on Instagram @amy.olszak or use #zooandroo

Remember, these printables are for personal use only.

If you’re in the market for a fancy laser to impress your friends with such things as engraved, personalized pencils, please use my referral code to get up to $500 off a Glowforge! Feel free to contact me with any questions!

Happy creating and Happy Valentine’s Day!