Color Your Heart Out Valentines!

Valentine's Day is coming up!  It's one of my favorite holidays.  I miss the days of passing out Valentines at school, which I was doing until just a few years ago with my first graders! Luckily now my girls are old enough to start taking part in the tradition!  Last year's Valentines looked like this, with some candy attached.  I went with a candy free option this year mostly because these little crayon packs are so cute!  You could put so many other coloring related things inside here as well!

 



 

 

 

You can have these too!  Download the file by clicking HERE.  To assemble, print the Valentines onto white cardstock and cut out.  Use plastic treat bags like these, insert coloring related gift, and possibly cut some excess plastic from the top. Fold Valentine in half and place over the top of the bag.  Staple near the bottom edge of the cardstock. 



Happy Almost Valentine's Day!

  Linking up to...

Daddy's Valentines

The girls and I made a sweet Valentine's Day gift for their daddy.  I wish there was video of this photo shoot, because I'm pretty sure it would be hilarious- Camille erasing whatever I wrote on the chalkboard, Lila jumping out of the chair each time I plopped her down, me making strange monkey noises to get their attention... so much fun. :)  Love how it turned out though!

Here are some outtakes...



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Blue Cricket Design

Valentine's Day Gifts for the Neighbors

We have some really sweet neighbors who were extremely welcoming to us when we moved in. I've been meaning to drop off treats for each of them for, oh, about 6 months. I'm not a procrastinator. ;)  So this is it! Valentines for our neighbors. :)

I designed this in Photoshop Elements and printed a few copies on sticker paper.  I adhered them to candy boxes I bought at JoAnn's.  My daughter has a bumblebee game she plays all the time... I wonder where I got the inspiration?

Let me preface this by saying I am by no means a baker.  I guess since these are No Bake Cake Batter Truffles, it doesn't really matter, but I am completely uncomfortable in the kitchen either way.  I don't like cooking, baking, or preparing food, and luckily for me my husband loves it and does all of it, so I can do none of it. :)  However, I liked the idea of making 'bee' cake batter truffles to go with the cute box.  When I showed the idea to my husband I was kind of hoping he would offer to take over like he usually does, but he didn't.  Boo hoo.  So here are my truffles, made by me, with two toddlers running around, yelling, and dismantling the kitchen while I worked.

I used this recipe from Chef in Training, dipped them in yellow candy melts and drizzled on melted chocolate chips.  The dipping was tougher than I thought it would be, because the candy melt goo was thick even when I reheated it over and over again.  It wasn't that hard, but you'll notice I haven't included any pictures of the process, and that might be because there was yellow candy melt carnage all over my countertops.

Here are my cute little helpers sampling the remaining dough.

This is how my almost three year old was dressed.  She's quite the fashionista. :)  

I hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day!

Linking up to:

Photo Valentine



We wear a lot of tutus in our house.  And by we, I do mean all of us.  Dress-up is quite popular here.  So when I was thinking about what to do for my 2 year olds valentines it was almost a no-brainer.  I LOVE the lollipop in the fist photo Valentine, but I knew there was no way I was going to get my 2 year old to do that in a picture.  I'm lucky if she even looks at the camera!  There's a lot of bribing when I take her picture which may or may not involve a lot of candy...  Anyway, one thing I do not have to bribe her to do is wear a tutu, which is how I came up with this.  Now I can't stop thinking of adorable dress-up valentine ideas.  Have a bee costume lying around?  Bee Mine!  Kiddo was an animal for Halloween?  I'm Wild About You!  Apparently I need to stock up on costumes! 

This card was very easy to make in Photoshop Elements.  I just opened the picture and added the words.  I'll have them printed at Costco, although I could just as easily print them at home.  I took 85 pictures to get this one, by the way.  85!!  Thank goodness for digital photography!

Linking up to...
Tatertots and Jello
Six Sisters Stuff
Serenity Now
Homemaker in Heels
Positively Splendid
I Heart Naptime
Michelle Paige
The Grant Life
Craft-o-maniac
Decor Chick

Adorable Felt Hearts

I love Valentine's Day!  Actually, I'm not sure if it's the day itself or just the hearts, but I've always loved making hearts!  I also love any sewing project that doesn't require the use of my sewing machine (because it scares me!) so this project is perfect!  The idea for these came from a tutorial for a partridge ornament I made at Christmas. I used a blanket stitch to sew these together, but I am by no means a blanket stitch pro, so there will be no thorough tutorial here.  There are a few vague pictures though, so maybe that will help.  Otherwise, if you are unfamiliar with the blanket stitch you should probably google it. :)

Supplies:

- felt

- fabric

- cardboard heart stencils (I cut mine from a cracker box)

- embroidery floss and needle

- Heat n Bond lite and iron

- scissors

- poly fill

- buttons and/or ribbon for embellishment

This is what I started with:

After cutting out the hearts, I ironed on the fabric so it would stay put while being sewn.

I stitched on the fabric heart, buttons and ribbon before sewing the two hearts together.

Here's what a blanket stitch looks like.

If you have a little helper, you can let them put in the stuffing. 

After stuffing, finish stitching and voila!  Adorable Valentine's decorations!  I added the ribbon in case I wanted to hang them somewhere, but the I kind of like them in the basket. 

Linking up to...

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Homemaker in Heels

Lolly Jane

Six Sisters Stuff

Mama Mia's Heart 2 Heart

I Heart Naptime

Michelle Paige

Decor Chick

Valentine's Day Burlap Banner

I can't get enough of the pennant type banners, or buntings if you prefer. Not to be confused with baby buntings, which is what I thought a bunting was until recently.  Anyway, I made one for Thanksgiving based on this inspiration, so I decided to make a similar one for Valentine's Day.  It's easy, doesn't take long to make, and is so cute!

Here's what I used:

Burlap

Triangle Stencil

Pencil

Scissors

Printed Letters

Red Paint

Paint Brush

Glue Gun

Hemp Rope

Use a stencil to trace the triangles and cut them out of the burlap.  Use the printed letters as a guide to paint the letters onto the burlap.  Once the letters are painted, glue them to the hemp rope.  Easy!

Linking up to ...

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Homemaker in Heels

Positively Splendid

Hoosier Homemade

Uncommonly Yours