Watercolor Valentine's Card

Little princess loves to do crafts while her big brothers are at school, so one day we made a Valentine's card.

Soldier Valentines

Last year I thought it would be fun to give some different Valentine’s to my husband. I loved the idea I saw on Pinterest, pinned from this store. I went to the dollar store and found some very large Army men in a pack of four. I cut out some hearts and tied them to the soldiers with the following quotes from love songs:

• “Love is a Battlefield”
• “I’d catch a grenade for you”
• “I can’t fight this feeling anymore”
• “Fight for this love”

I think my favorite soldier is the one holding the grenade promising to “catch a grenade for you”. These are just a simple, fun way to express your love for the ones that mean the most in your life. They would also be cute for boys to give out at school or to their crushes.

I’ll be linking up to…Clever Chicks Blog Hop

“I Mustache You”…

If you’re looking for a cute Valentine’s Card idea for your loved one, I mustache you to try making this one…

I took Homemaking with Monica’s card and simplified it a little :).

Just glue a googly eye on the top and cut out a mustache from felt.

On the inside, you can say something like “to be my Valentine?” or anything else.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine Sugar Cookies

If you’re taking treats to your kids’ Valentine’s parties at school, consider taking these adorable heart shaped sugar cookies:

These are super easy to make, and my 3 year old loved helping me make them. All you need is a set of heart shaped cookie cutters…I bought a set of 6 at Walmart for less than $1.50.

Handy Valentines

Last year, my 5 year old helped make this Valentine’s Card for my husband…

You just trace your child’s hand and cut out two handprints. On one of them, write (or have your child write) “I love you…”

Then you take a long strip of paper and fold it accordion style; one section for each letter and one space of the words “this much” and have your child write the letters. Then when the recipient of this cute card opens it, it’s like having the child spread their arms out wide to express how much they love you.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Thanks Happy Clippings for the cute idea! I'm linking up to We Made That.

Valentine’s Crafts Round Up

Can you feel the love in the air?! Here’s a few fun crafts for you and your little ones to get all geared up for Valentine’s Day!

Make bacon roses for the meat lover in your life…

Dress up any outfit with these awesome heart earrings from a paper clip!

Felt Fortune Cookies

Ok, so Chinese New Year is coming up…Sunday February 10th. If you’re planning on celebrating, and if you’re looking for cute table decorations (or if you just LOVE fortune cookies…), try making these felt fortune cookies! These little cookies are also perfect for putting little love notes in for your significant other for Valentine’s Day this year!

They are super simple. Just cut out circles of felt. Mine were 2 1/2 or so inches across (I traced the lid of a mason jar directly onto the felt.

Handprint Valentines

My boys are growing up so fast and I feel like I’m constantly trying to find some way to preserve the way they are now…handprints and footprints seem to be one of the best ways to serve as a reminder of how small they were. Last year my boys made these adorable handprint Valentine’s for their Daddy and I really appreciated how simple they were to make, but also the simple yet powerful message they conveyed…

All you do is trace and cut out your child’s hands. Have them write or draw a message on it. The hand on the left was traced by my 4 year old and he wrote the little I “heart” U Dad on it. :).

Then take the two middle fingers and wrap them around a pencil. This will curl the fingers down making the handprint say I Love You in sign language.

I so wish I could remember where I found this idea!

I’ll be linking up to…

Bacon Roses

If the father in your life is anything like my husband, and by anything I mean obsessed with meat, give the bouquet that will go straight to his heart…through his stomach. That’s how you’re supposed to catch a guy right…through his stomach?!

I made these for my hubby for Valentine’s Day, but this would also be a fantastic Father’s Day or birthday gift for that special guy. I got the idea from Instructables but changed a few things and this is how I made my bacon rose bouquet…

You will need: bacon, fake flowers (I bought a bunch or two from the dollar store), foil, and an oven.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope that you have felt loved by those closest to you.

This year, I asked my husband to get me something creative for Valentine’s Day instead of just flowers or something of the like. Last night as he was out shopping he happened to be listening to Delilah who just happened to say that you don’t need to buy fancy flowers or jewelry, to just be creative. He called me asking if I was in cahoots with Delilah :).

After sequestering himself into our extra bedroom for quite a long time, this is what he presented me with…

This is definitely the most creative thing he has ever given me and as promised, I am featuring his creation here on my little blog. Each of the items is part of the card…such as the part where it says that due to my “culinary craft” I have given him a “Jelly Belly” referring both to St Nick in the back ground and the monstrously huge bag of Jelly Bellys.

So…even if you have a limited budget, be creative. The thought will likely mean much more than a bouquet of flowers someone else assembled or jewelry. Have fun today with the ones you love!

Paper Heart Chain

While we were making paper strip hearts, it only made sense to continue on and make heart chains with the rest of the strips K helped me cut! I love the look of this chain and it was super easy to make…

Just take a bunch of strips of Valentine colored paper. Mine measured about 4 1/2 inches by 1 inch. Line up two strips and staple one end of them.

Paper Strip Hearts

Is anyone else in denial that it’s February? Is anyone else also in denial that it’s warm enough to be April in some states?! The snowflakes that I had made with my boys just were not fitting the weather so we had to make some cute hearts out of paper strips…
I first found the inspiration on Pinterest but since the link there was dead, I found instructions at The Crafty Blog Stalker and adapted it to make these with my son.

Heart Earrings from a Paper Clip

Since getting my ears pierced, I’ve started looking for ways I can add to my earring collection without breaking the bank. When I saw Evie S’s earrings I knew I had to make my own version…heart shaped earrings from a paper clip. These are perfect for Valentine’s Day coming up or just for a fun accessory on a random day :)

The best part of these earrings? They are made from a paper clip and thread…things almost everyone has lying around!

Valentines Card

I sure hope my parents enjoy handmade (by 3 year old) cards, because they tend to get a lot of them. This year, we made a mosaic type card and K was so excited to do the glue himself :).

I cut out a heart on the front panel of a card. On the inside front of the card, I traced the heart.

Rag Heart Wreath

During the Christmas season I saw so many adorable hand-made wreaths that I talked my husband into buying a wreath hanger so I could make some too. I did, just a month or so after Christmas :)

These are simple and dirt cheap to make because all you need is a wire hanger and rags.

Stained Glass Hearts

Living in an apartment greatly limits how much stuff we can store, and how much stuff I care to move when the time comes. One of the things that is extremely limited is holiday decorations. I love decorating, but I can't stand the thought of moving them, so we make our own.

Last week K and I made Stained Glass Hearts, which I found at Skip to My Lou and they were so fun to make!

All you need is wax paper, pencil sharpener, crayons, an iron and scissors!

K helped me find all the broken crayons with Valentines colors and I shaved them in a pencil sharpener. We then sprinkled the shavings on the waxy side of a sheet of wax paper, and covered it with another sheet of wax paper (wax side down). It's best to have blank paper, or a brown paper bag under and on top of the wax paper to prevent making a mess of your iron and ironing board.

Then you iron. It only takes a few seconds, so make sure you check often.

Let it cool and cut out into heart shapes. Older kids can trace the hearts and cut them out, but K was content to watch and count the hearts as I cut them out.

 

K was so excited to go through and show off all of the hearts! He insisted on my taking a picture of all of them, and how can I refuse such a face?

We hung some up with red thread and the rest are on our back door, allowing the sunshine to show off the pretty colors. The first night after we made them and I closed the blinds K cried until I promised that the hearts would come back out the next day.