Posts Tagged ‘Valentine’s Day’

This will actually be the first year since I’ve been married that my husband will actually be home to spend Valentine’s day with us.  In the past 5 years, though, he has been gone and I have turned Valentine’s day into a hugely overdone ordeal for my P’s.  Although my husband will be home this year, the day is still all about the kiddos in my house! So here’s what we have planned…

The Attire

I made these adorable shirts for the kids to wear to school.  The best part, I had just about all the materials at home to make them and didn’t have to buy anything but the pink shirt for Peyton (which I found on clearance at Target) and the pink/red paint.

1.  Pixi’s Shirt:  Using a shirt she already had, a heart shaped doily, and some fabric paint this is what you get!  So cute!  Visit FamilyFun.com for full instructions.

2.  Miss P’s Shirt:  I used a different doily for hers that was slightly bigger and added some rhinestones.  That girl loves her bling!

3.  Hair Bows:  Valentine Korker bows from Too Tutu Cute

4.  Bubba’s Shirt:  For this shirt I used a plain white T-shirt (that we already had) and a heart stencil from Michael’s.  I added the googly eyes and used puff paint for the smile and arms.  He was very adamant about his shirt reading “Hug Bubba!”  It turned out great and totally fits his personality.

The Goodies

1.  Marshmallow Candies for Playgroup:  These are ridiculously easy!  I melted pink candy melts, and then dipped in large marshmallows and rolled them in sprinkles.  I put a couple in a cute Valentine’s bag and tied them off with curling ribbon.

2.  Oreo Truffles for the teachers:  Again, another super easy recipe.  But they were a little time consuming.  Combine one package of oreos (crushed) with one 8 oz package of cream cheese (softened).  Mix with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined.  Chill dough for about an hour.  Roll dough into 1″ balls and dip into melted chocolate (you can add your choice of sprinkles or leave them plain).  Refrigerate until hard.  I packaged them in these cute little containers found at Michael’s craft store.

The Class Valentine’s

1.  Preston’s Preschool Valentine’s

2. Peyton chose these pencils and erasers to give to her Kindergarten classmates

To see more Candy-free Valentine’s for kids click here.

The Scavenger Hunt tradition

Last year I hid the kids Valentine’s.  I cut out a bunch of paper hearts and wrote simple clues on them.  They had so much fun searching for their Valentine’s that Peyton asked me weeks ago “Mommy are we going to hunt for our Valentine’s again?”  Why yes you are!  Right after we eat our heart shaped pizza for dinner

 

 

 

My daughter came home with a note a couple weeks ago saying that they were having a Valentine’s Day party in her Kindergarten class and that she needed to bring 31 Valentine’s for her class mates.  My son’s preschool is also having a “friendship” party to celebrate and he needs 20 Valentines.  The catch?  The teachers requested that there be no candy in them.  NO Problem! I’ve got this!

I’ve always preferred making Valentines to buying them and this year we get to be extra creative.  Here are 10 Candy-free adorable Valentines for the kids to give to their friends.  Some we came up with, and others were found on various blogs.

Peyton chose pencils and erasers for her classmates and we made these:

You’re Just “Write” for me!

I printed out the message on cardstock and used a cookie cutter to trace the heart around it.  We cut out the hearts and used a hole-punch to make the holes for the pencils to slide it.  Really easy!

 Preston, the Cars fanatic, will be handing out these to his preschool friends:

You make my Heart race!

For these we used plain white cardstock cut into small squares and I drew the road with markers.  Preston place the heart stickers on them so he could be a part in ‘making’ them.

And I made these little apple packs to send to school with the P’s for their snack:

You are the Apple of my eye!

 

Here are some other super cute Valentine gifts that I found:

“Doh” you want to be my Valentine?  From The Wilson World

Happy Valentine’s Day Love Bug!  From Dandee Designs

Our class would “knot” be the same without you!  Also from Dandee Designs

You make my heart Glow!  From The Teacher Wife

You make my heart bounce!  From The Crafting Chicks

I’m Wild about you!  From Disney’s Family Fun

Will you O’fish’ally be my Valentine?  From Tammy Mitchell Photography

 

 

 

 

 

Remember that cheap and easy DIY Haunted Tree Centerpiece we made for Halloween?  Well, we’ve made one for Valentine’s Day too!

I’ve been wanting to re-use the vases from this centerpiece for a while and after making my Sweetheart Votives I had an idea.  Glass Vases + conversation hearts candy +  silk tulips!  For easter I think I’ll just swap out the conversation hearts for jelly beans.

 

I made these on a whim after wandering the Dollar Tree looking for some cheap crafting inspiration.  My total cost for supplies ended up being $2.16!  The votive candles came in a two-pack and the conversation hearts candies were 4 box-packs.  All I needed was a hot glue gun and about 10 minutes to finish the project.

Some easy ideas for making Valentines day fun and festive for the little ones.  All you need is a hear shaped cookie cutter!

For breakfast, use a metal cookie cutter to fry and egg.  Heat the frying pan.  Using PAM or a similar product, spray the cookie cutter with cooking oil.  Place it in the middle of the pan and crack the egg into it.  When almost solid, and cooked through use a spatula to flip and cook the other side.  We served ours with biscuits and sausage.

Another idea is toast and jam.  Make a slice of wheat toast and use a large cookie cutter to cut out a heart shape.  Spread your favorite Jam, Jelly, or fruit preserves.  We served ours with a  side of sliced apples and Peanut Butter-Honey dip.  Use a cute Valentine themed cupcake liner for the dip to make this meal even more festive. 

For lunch you can make a Heart Shaped Pink-Cream Cheese Sandwich.  Put some cream cheese in a bowl and add a couple drops of milk.  Whip with a spoon until easily spreadable.  Add a drop of pink or red food coloring and mix through.  Spread onto wheat bread and use a large cookie cutter to cut out a heart shape.   Serve with your favorite veggie.

Or try a festive deli platter.  Use small heart shaped cookie cutters to cut slices of cheese and wheat bread.  Roll lunch meat such as turkey or ham into “Roses”  and use a toothpick to secure.  Serve with fresh fruit

And don’t forget dessert!  We love red velvet cupcakes and they are perfect for Valentine’s Day.  Try this frosting recipe:

• 1 jar Marshmallow Creme
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1 8 oz. brick of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy!

We topped them with Wilton Message Hearts.

If you want to share with your friends,  how about “semi” home-made lollipops?  We used Wilton candy molds and Candy Pieces to make these for our Valentine’s!  It is very easy, all you have to do is melt the Wilton candy pieces, poor them into the mold and refridgerate until firm.  Dress them up with the Wilton Lollipop bags shown here.