Valentine's Day 2013

This Valentine's Day has been a different animal than last year.  Last year I had one first grader to contend with.  This year I have a preschooler, a kindergartner, and a second grader that all need to bring valentines to school.  8 year old Reese decided she wanted to do something with Reese's peanut butter cups.  She has always gotten a kick out of sharing her name with the candy!  When she was 2, she was always upset to see anybody else eating "her" candy.  Anyway, I came up with these very simple cards.

You're the Peanut Butter to My Chocolate!

First, I printed and cut out the cards on heavy card stock.  (Free printable at the bottom of this post.)  Then, Reese used a hot glue gun and glued on the mini Reese's peanut butter cups.  I highly recommend using a hot glue gun!!  It has made my crafting life so much easier!  They're also crazy inexpensive!  The glue gun I have from Hobby Lobby was $2.99 and worth every penny.  Tape would fall off right away, most other types of glue take forever to dry and are sticky and messy.  To me, it's a no brainer!

If your child, like most children, is not named Reese, don't fret!  I think this project looks just as cute with their name handwritten next to "Love," at the bottom.  Then you can glue a mini version of whatever chocolate/peanut butter candy you want!  PB M&Ms, Russell Stover hearts, Reese's Pieces, Butterfingers, the possibilities are endless!  Happy Crafting!

Free Printable!

Right click the image, save to your computer and print!

Valentine's Day 2012

Welcome to my blog!  I am so excited you are here.  For my maiden journey into blogging I decided to post about Valentine's Day coming up, by sharing with you what I did last year.  It was shortly after I discovered Pinterest, and I went a little nuts!

The first Valentine-sy things I wanted to share were these girls hairstyles I found - where else? - but Pinterest!

A Heart French Braid

I thought it turned out super cute, and unlike a lot of other girls hairstyles, it didn't fall out as the day went on.  The trick to this is to arrange your hands (and body!) in the direction you want the braid to go.

So I parted her hair down the middle, and put the right half in a pony tail to keep it out of the way.  Then I started a french braid on the back of her part on the left.  I was face to face with her.  The when I was about half way to her face, I started gradually turning my hands.  Once I had formed a curve, I just did a simple braid gently pulling toward the center.  Repeat on the other side and join them together with a rubber band.  Voila!  Heart braid! :-)

My Pinspiration was here at the Fashionable Bambino.
I didn't really follow their instructions, and mine looks a little different.  Take a look at both, and decide which one you want to try!  My little miss certainly got a lot of compliments, and loved her Valentine's Day 'do!

Heart Shaped Pigtails

I found this one at Cute Girls Hairstyles.  I've gotta admit this style is probably my favorite, and so easy!  Really, try it and see.  Only one small tweak on this hairstyle.  They use a topsy tail tool ( remember those commercials from the '90s??  I so wanted one...)  However, also like in the 90's, I just use a smooth pen without the cap to make a hole in the hair where I want to flip the pigtail through.  It works pretty slick for me!  If you are an adventurous little crafty crafter though, their website even has directions on how to make your own topsy tail tool here.

Instead of doing box cards from the candy aisle with the latest cartoon characters on them (which I have done, and surely will do many times again!)  I decided to go outside the box a little with these!  This is another Pinterest inspired idea from one of my favorite bloggers, Design Mom, Gabrielle Blair.  She has six kids, and writes an awesome blog featured in lots of magazines from Time to Martha Stewart Living!  Love her.

3-D Valentines

I made this with Photoshop Elements 8.  First take a photo of your child with his/her hand out holding an imaginary sucker.  After you've opened, edited, and cropped the picture however you'd like, you're ready to make your valentine!  The bottom two boxes below are colors you can use in your photo.  Click the second box, choose a white color, and click ok.  Now select the Rectangular Marquee Tool below, and draw a rectangle on your photo like the one you see below.

Now click Backspace on your keyboard.  Tada!  White rectangle!



Now you are going to do the same thing along the left edge.  First make sure the second color box is changed to red.  Then click the Rectangular Marquee Tool again and draw another rectangle along the left edge of your photo.  You can make it the same width as the white rectangle for symmetry, or you can make it a little wider for a more artsy look.  Click the Backspace key again, and... tada!



Halfway done!  Now for the text.  Click the capital "T" button on the left side of the screen, and click anywhere on your photo.  Along the top of the screen you will be able to change the font, size, and color.  I chose High Tower Text, 20, and white.  Now click the green check mark button at the top of your screen.  Next click the Move Tool in the upper right corner of your screen.  It looks like a cursor and a compass on a map.  Now, see that little tail looking thing coming off the middle bottom of your text box?  Click and hold that, and you will be able to rotate the box.  Play with the orientation and size until it looks good to you!



Ok, now just repeat the steps above for the bottom rectangle.  Don't forget to change the text color to red!  Voila!  Send to your local photo finisher like Walgreen's or print!



Last but not least, hole punch a spot above and below your child's hand in the photo.  Now have your child address the cards and thread the suckers through the holes!  You made a 3-D Valentine!!



For breakfast I decided to make scrambled eggs, which are always a crowd favorite.  However, to make it more fun, I decided to add some food coloring!  Festive right?  Well looking at pink scrambled eggs turned out pretty nauseating to me, and I expected refusals all around.  My five year old, Ava, LOVED. IT.

Every time there is some even moderately special occasion now, this girl wants to have food coloring scrambled eggs.  Or else, she wants to add food coloring to whatever else we are having.  Blue mashed potatoes?  Why NOT have the blue?  she thinks.  So this is kind of an historic picture in our family.  The first food coloring special event!  Happy First Food Coloring Valentine's Day!! and many more to come... I know it's on the menu this February 14!

Baby Luke (9 months) opted for some dye free scrambled eggs and banana slices. :-)

P.S. I am not boozing it up with the kids!  Hubby often leaves for work before the rest of us get up, so he left flowers, wine, and movie tickets on the table for Valentine's Day.