Valentine's Past

Putting together this post was a fun trip down memory lane! Here are some of the Valentine's Day activities we did last year... Enjoy!

Heart-shaped Felt Cookies -- Almost good enough to eat!

Chocolate-covered Strawberries -- These are definitely good to eat... yum!!

Volunteering at a local assisted living center -- This was one of Emily's favorite activities!

A not-so-sweet Valentine treat -- A good alternative to candy for breakfast.

Heart-shaped Garland -- Made from tissue paper. Looks almost like stained-glass!

Valentine's Day Felt Mail Set -- Emily still plays with this much-loved felt mail set... and now Clara does too!

DIY: Scratch N Sniff Valentine Treat Bags

These scratch 'n sniff Valentine treat bags smell as SWEET as they look! Emily had so much fun making these, and the colors were quite vibrant!

To make your own, you will need: white paper lunch bags (we found ours at Target), unsweetened powdered drink mix (ie. Kool Aid - very inexpensive), and a bit of ribbon.

Emily was so excited to make the paint with the unsweetened powdered drink mix! We had done this one other time, and it was big hit. To make the paint, mix the packet of powder with 2 Tbsp. of water.

We used heart-shaped cookie cutters to trace our designs onto the bags.

Then it was time for painting!!

...and sniffing!!

Once the paint was dry, we filled the bags with Valentine's Day goodies, folded the tops down, and used a hole puncher to make holes for a bit of ribbon.

So much fun!!

Easy Reverse Resist Paintings

If your kids love to paint, but you would rather not deal with the mess, bleeding art tissue paper is for you. It's very inexpensive and can be found at any art supply store -- plus, a little bit goes a long way! We are never afraid to get messy with art, but at times making a mess is not really the best option (i.e. a few minutes before dinner). Instead of getting out the paints, we had fun experimenting with a new technique this afternoon to make some reverse resist paintings! The girls thought this was so cool!

Cut out a piece of bleeding art tissue paper, and use a white crayon or oil pastel to make your design. (In this case, hearts for upcoming Valentine's Day.)

Flip the tissue paper over (design side down) onto some thick paper.

"Paint" with water over top! Both of the girls love to paint, but Clara was really into it today!

Encourage your child to use the water over the entire piece of tissue paper. Some may need more encouragement than others... ahem.

Peel off the tissue paper.....

....and admire your beautiful designs!!

[Update: This is not to be confused with regular tissue paper. Having trouble finding bleeding art tissue? You can order it online from Blick Art here!]

Will You Be My Paint Chip Valentine?

The girls and I were busy crafting up these handmade Valentine's Day cards made from leftover paint chips (found free at any hardware or paint store). We had a bunch of different shades of red and pink, which made perfect Valentine cards!

To make your own paint chip Valentine's, place two paint chips back-to-back as shown above.

I used a zig zag stitch around the perimeter of the card, and trimmed the edges with pinking shears. Very quick!

Emily and I took turns punching out hearts with the help of our heart-shaped hole puncher...

...and the girls went to town decorating their handmade Valentine's! For Clara, I put down a few dots of glue and she placed the hearts on top. Great practice for fine-motor skills, and she was so proud of herself!

Emily got to practice some handwriting, and she is looking forward to mailing these off to Grandma!

These were so much fun to make!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! How frugal are we? We celebrate Valentine's Day the day after. There are some real advantages to this, including: 

1. Restaurants are less crowded.
2. Valentine chocolates/flowers, etc can be found for 50-75% off.
3. Better babysitter availability.

This morning we prepared a special breakfast of Apple Cinnamon French Toast with bacon, and enjoyed some quality family time. Later, we will celebrate with some star-gazing and a potluck gathering with some good friends. 

What are your frugal plans for Valentine's Day? I would love to hear about it! Leave a comment and share your ideas with us!

 

A Not So Sweet Valentine Treat

Emily came up with the idea for these cinnamon toast hearts, and I ran with it because they do not contain huge amounts of sugar -- and she will eat it! These were made with toasted whole grain bread (cut with a heart-shaped cookie cutter), topped with some butter, and cinnamon. I outlined the heart shape with some red writing icing (picked up from an after-Christmas sale.

These were a big hit! 

Do you have a good tip for a healthy Valentine's Day treat? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment and share your ideas with us!

What Valentine's Day Is Really About...

This afternoon I took the girls to a retirement community to give the residents there some much needed company this time of year. In return, Emily and Clara received TONS of attention. Emily made a Valentine placemat with some construction paper and stickers, and then proudly showed it off to the residents while they were enjoying their dinner.

It took her about two minutes to warm up to everyone, and then she did not want to leave. There were several things I love about doing this type of activity with the girls. As an at-home mom, it can be challenging to find volunteer opportunities where I can get the girls involved. Many times there are age requirements, etc. and this is an activity that can be done with kids of any age. Also, I loved watching Emily's reaction to making the residents smile and laugh. At one point, she turned to me and said, "I don't need you, Mommy. Go check on Clara." I think she did just fine on her own.

Clara was not so sure about all the attention at first, but then slowly warmed up to people and gave lots of big smiles.

Emily loved pointing out some of the finer details of her work to everyone.

The retirement community even had a little goody bag for her with some Valentine's Day treats. When we left, I asked her if she had fun, and she answered with a big "YES!". 

Tissue Paper Bouquet

Can't wait any longer for Spring to arrive? We had a great time creating this flower bouquet from tissue paper and pipe cleaners. Don't they look beautiful? So simple to make and extremely frugal! Spray with a little perfume and they will smell fabulous too.

These tissue paper flowers are so colorful and are sure to brighten your day. 

You can even make pretty hair clips out of these tissue paper flowers. So easy! Just wrap the pipe cleaner around a pony tail holder.

Wrap your bouquet in more tissue paper and add a bow for a great handmade gift.

To make your own tissue paper flowers, you will need some different colored tissue paper, pipe cleaners, and some scissors. Fold the tissue paper accordian style as though you are making a paper fan. Wrap a pipe cleaner around the center, and use scissors to snip the ends into a V shape. Separate the layers of tissue paper, and you are done!

If your family plans to do this activity together, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment and share your ideas with us!

Frugal Valentine Mobile Project

I spent some time with Emily yesterday creating this Valentine Mobile for our dining room. It is so simple and easy to make (and extremely frugal).

To make your own mobile all you will need is some tissue paper, white glue, a paintbrush, embroidery floss or ribbon, scissors, a marker, and a zipper storage bag. Here is a picture of Emily working on this mobile.

Dilute the white glue to a 50% glue/50% water mixture. It should have a milky consistency to it. Have your child glue pieces of different colored tissue paper to the zipper storage bag using a paintbrush to apply the glue. You could also glue tissue paper to plastic wrap, but I found the zipper bags to work MUCH better. The pieces of tissue paper should overlap. Once the entire bag is covered, apply one more coating of glue and set aside until it is COMPLETELY dry. Once dry, the tissue paper will peel off completely from the bag. Use a cookie cutter to trace shapes onto the tissue paper and cut out. Tape the shapes to some embroidery floss and hang to display!

Tissue paper is one of the staple craft supplies in our household that I always have on-hand for last minute projects. It is very affordable and can be used in so many different kinds of activities. The best time to stock up on tissue paper is after Easter when you can find several different colors for 50-75% off!

Valentine Book Making

Emily and I made these adorable little books from empty cereal boxes and deeply discounted craft supplies from Big Lots. The decorative paper, brads, and a complete Valentine rubber stamp set cost less than $5 combined. We will probably make several crafts from these materials combined with items from our Invention Kit. What better time of the year for a handmade gift than Valentine's Day?

With some heart stickers, Emily turned her book into a number book. I numbered the pages 1-10, and she applied the corresponding number of heart stickers to each page.

I bound each book using a micro-hole puncher and some embroidery floss. Very simple!

Are you planning a handmade Valentine's Day this year? I would love to hear about it! Leave a comment and share your ideas with us!

Fun with Felt - Play Valentine Mail Set

Emily does not know it yet, but I am going to surprise her with this homemade felt play mail set for Valentine's Day! Isn't it cute? I know, I know, 25 cent postage... those were the days, right?

As a learning tool, the address labels and stamps can be moved around. She can practice placing the stamp on the top right corner to re-enforce left vs. right, and the envelopes can be "sealed" with a button - great practice for fine motor skills. She already knows the words "To", "For", "You", "I", "Love", and "Emily", so this will help her become more familiar with those words as well. I hope she enjoys playing with them as much as I enjoyed making them!

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Create 6 FREE Valentine's Day Cards

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