Handmade Kids Valentines

This year I have enough experience to make Moses' class valentines a few weeks ahead of time. Making him sign his name on 15-plus cards the night before he has to take them to class seems more like punishment than a fun activity. So this year he's going to do a few each day and hopefully it won't feel like a chore.

I made little heart-shaped lacing cards which he's going to lace up and sign. Very simple. It occurred to me that we could include a piece of yarn with each one and let the recipients lace the card themselves, but Moses is excited about the "sewing part," so I'm going to let him do it.
While I was cutting these out and he was deciding which little hearts to glue on which big hearts, I realized that I only have a few more years before making pretty Valentine's will seem pretty uncool to him. How sad! I have to take advantage of these innocent years while I can and he's sitll not afraid to admit that the purple paper is his favorite.

Here are a few more handmade Valentine ideas that can be done with kids - even young ones:

Flower Lollipops
Thumb print Valentines
Popsicle Stick Heart Puppets
Fabric & Yarn Cards
... and more!

Are you making Valentine's Day cards this year? I certainly haven't done it every year - years when I've been either pregnant or had a new baby I've LOVED the simplicity of picking up a box of cards at the drug store. :) But I think Moses likes giving handmade ones more - they are more special to him.

Kids' "Love" project

Here's a fun February activity to do with your kids. Cut out a bunch of pictures from magazines and have your kids choose which things they "love," then make the pictures into a collage. Very simple and lots of fun to see what they choose and talk about why. We did this last year and it was a big hit. I think this year we're going to do a "things I love about Daddy" collage using the same idea.

Valentine's Day Project for YOU

Here's an idea that will get you in the mood for Valentine's Day - spruce up your lingerie drawer! (Or create one, as I had to do, since I formerly had an underwear/bra/jammie-pants/tank-top/receipt/bobby-pin drawer.) This is such a simple way to pamper yourself, not to mention an organization must.

First of all, you have to line your drawer with something fantastic. I looked and looked for drawer liners that were beautiful and modern, but everything I found that seemed promising was sold out (seems I'm not the first person with this idea!). However, making your own drawer liners is as easy as a trip to your local Paper Source. They sell a HUGE variety of gorgeous papers, some of them as large as 12"x12". Some of my favorites:

So, after you decide on what to line your drawers with, buy a few sheets of it and place it in the bottom of your drawer, you need a way to keep all your fancies from becoming a jumbled up disaster, like this:

And here is your answer (and it is on sale for only $5!):These drawer organizers are sold at The Container Store and are possibly the best organization invention EVER. And the magic they can work is evidenced by the after picture of Miss Anonymous Underwear Volunteer's after-shot:

Wow! It looks as if she threw away all her old maternity underwear and size C and D bras, finally accepting the fact that she is now an A-and-a-half, and can now locate everything she needs at a moment's notice! I bet she is pretty excited about her new lingerie drawer (if not totally excited about the bra thing). And I bet she is hoping her husband is reading this because she could sure use some new fancy stuff!

All that is left is to tuck in a few lavender sachets to keep things fresh and smelling wonderful. I happen to know where you can get some of those, too. :) Let me know if you do this project and I'd love to see pictures if you're brave enough!

Happy Valentine's Day!

... from us to you, and here's wishing you a wonderful one.

Brett and I have reached that wonderful phase of marriage where all the preconceived notions of what's "supposed" to happen on Valentine's Day have passed. Thank the Lord. We've had the disappointing fancy dinners. We've done the mad scramble to snatch up the babysitter before all the other parents so we could have an evening alone. Then there was the Valentine's Day where he forgot it was Valentine's Day until 10 pm and thus gave me a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and five lotto scratchers. Thankfully we've gotten it all out of our system. This year we are ordering in (because who wants to cook and do dishes on Valentine's Day?) and watching a movie in our jammies with some nice big mugs of hot tea. Cozy, cheap, and fantastic. :)