Express Your Love With a Yiddish Sweethearts Banner

Every February in time for Valentine’s Day, stores stock up on Sweethearts candy conversation hearts, those chalky confections with sayings printed on them like “Kiss Me” and “Be Mine.” They don’t taste particularly good, but they are fun to receive. And you know what would make these candies even better? If the messages were in Yiddish. 

In that spirit, here’s a festive idea for a Valentine’s Day decoration — a banner of hearts featuring Yiddish terms of endearment. I’ve used craft foam sheets, but you can use colored paper if you have that around the house. These hearts also make great individual valentines. And if you don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, you can save this idea for Tu B’Av in August. 

What you’ll need:
Colored craft foam sheets
Heart template
Pen
Scissors
Red marker
Hole punch
String

1. Draw a heart on a piece of paper to use as a template. This way, all your hearts will be the same size and shape. Place it on a craft foam sheet or piece of colored paper and trace with a pen.

2. Cut out the heart shape with scissors. Repeat with several colors to get that Sweethearts candy look. 

3. With a red marker, write your favorite Yiddish terms of endearment in the center of each heart. Full disclosure: I got some help from Google.

4. Punch a hole on the left and right edge of each heart and run a string through the hearts to create a banner.

Jonathan Fong is the author of “Flowers That Wow” and “Parties That Wow,” and host of “Style With a Smile” on YouTube. You can see more of his do-it-yourself projects online.