Valentine's Day Party

This past Friday we had our class Valentine's Day party. Having class parties is one of my favorite things to do with my kids in school since I love making the holidays special for my boys (and since it is like a day off for me). Growing up my Mom didn't make a big deal out of holidays. I think I have more than made up for it.

I always feel a little pressure though to make it extra fun, since I know that if my boys were in a real classroom, a lot of the fun would be from the interaction with other kids in class, and with homeschooling they just get boring old mom. It's a good thing kids are pretty easy to please.
I used the die cut machines at my local scrapbooking store to cut out these little paper bags. At the time I cut out quite a few in different colors so I could use them throughout the year for different school events. This time I stuck a pack of Bubble Tape in there. It was a hit.
I also blew up about 20 balloons for the boys to toss around. Why are kids so crazy for balloons? I am not crazy for balloons and I am ready to pop each and every one, but then I look at this kid's sweet face and can't do it. He won't let me give him a haircut.
We also decorated our paper bag mail boxes for our family Valentine card exchange. A tradition we've been doing for the last 4 years. I love creating these traditions and seeing how excited my boys get. I really can't remember any Valentine's Days from growing up, hopefully I'm helping to make some great memories for my kids.

Valentine's Day Banner Giveaway - CLOSED

I whipped up this little banner with my Cricut machine. I really liked how it turned out and thought others might too so I made two more to give away.
It reads 'HAPPY VALENTINES DAY' with hearts separating the words, and is strung with matching ribbon so you can hang it anywhere you like. I hung mine on the ginormous mirror in my living room.
Yes, that is a pink Valentine's tree. It has long been a dream of mine to own a pink Valentine's tree. Want to make something of it? I snagged it at Micheal's on clearance after Christmas. Here are the other two banners I made:
One's pink, the other brown and I think I like both of them equally. To be entered in the giveaway, just leave me a comment on this post. Your chances of winning are pretty high seeing as I usually have just 2 or 3 faithful readers (thank-you!) that leave me comments. Have I mentioned how much I love comments? I do. I'll close the giveaway Friday, and announce the winners (which will be chosen randomly) on Saturday. Thanks to all of my followers!

Valentine's Day Gifts

I don't think anyone (in their right mind) would turn down some chocolate. Especially some chocolate in a pretty package. With Christmas, birthdays, Mother's and Father's days around for lavish gift giving, I say keep Valentine's Day simple. And sweet.
I found these cute little decorative cups and bowls at Micheals for just $1.00 (although, I went to a different Michaels to get more and they were $1.29. What a rip off). Buy yourself a few bags of chocolate and you've got yourself a quick, cute, and inexpensive gift perfect for neighbors, girlfriends, sisters, moms, or your kids' school teachers (way better than just that "teacher" valentine card they put in the box sets). Or, if you happen to be mormon, it's perfect for your visiting teaching gals, just drop if off and call that month good ;).
I printed a little message, then glued them onto some Valentine-themed paper, and then onto craft sticks. Actually, my boys did that for me, they're such good little helpers, especially when there are piles of candy involved.
I think I would be quite happy to find this on my doorstep. Now all I need to do is keep everyone's little fingers out of these until I can get them delivered.

FYI, my next post features a giveaway.

Hanging Hearts

This was an incredibly simple craft. All it involves are some paper hearts and your sewing machine. I had a crazy amount of paper hearts from a time I went a little nuts with the diecut machines at the scrapbooking store awhile ago. I was partially inspired by my hanging cotton ball snowflakes. Here is what I came up with:
If you don't already happen to have an abundance of pre-made hearts you can cut them yourself, or your local scrapbooking store most likely has diecut machines you can use for a small price (or some places they only charge you the cost of the paper).
To make these, just sew down the center of the heart and at the end, lift up the foot and needle, pull the thread to your desired length, then start a new heart. All my heart placements and thread length were random, so no measuring needed.
Once you have a string of hearts you will need to trim one of the threads (the bobbin one, it picked up more slack when I made this and didn't look right when I hung it). It helps to use two different thread colors so you don't trim off the wrong thread.
It took me about 20 minutes to sew all of these so it goes really fast. Just hang them anywhere you like, I think they look especially cute hanging in a window. I suppose if you don't own a sewing machine you can just tape the hearts to a length of thread and achieve a similar look.

I have two packs of these paper hearts from Creative Memories that are just itching to find a new home. With one pack you will get more than enough hearts to create this craft (the only size not in this pack that I used is the smallest heart). The first two lucky ladies to request one in the comments section will receive a pack of hearts. Any takers?

Where have I been?

Christmas came and went so fast as usual. I did quite a few crafts with my boys but most of it failed to make an appearance here. Oops. Once I finished up Christmas orders for the old shop, and let the boys out on vacation from homeschooling my production level pretty much dropped. Oh well, here is a sneak peak at one of the many sweets I have ready for the shop - my conversation hearts. Also coming up, snow/winter crafts to do with your kids. Hope everyone had a great holiday season!