Snow Day Valentine Crafts

One of my favorite things about Valentine's Day is the opportunity to make handmade goodies for the littles classmates. The oldest "little" now in middle school, announced he's too old, but that's okay... I have two littles ready and willing! Luckily I planned ahead knowing we'd be snowed in and collected all the goodies needed for this years bunch.

Here's what I used:

• pretty cardstock cut to 5" x 7" size
• glue dots
• clear cellophane bags
• double sided tape
• Sweedish Fish
• pom pom creatures
• sticky mustaches

Martha Stewart's Craft Studio app is great for making cards of all sorts. It's a free download with a limited amount of included backgrounds and design elements. There are many other themes that can be purchased for $1.99 each.

I purchased one of the Valentine themes and used elements for both the "stuck on you" and "fantachetic" cards. The app is very user friendly and super easy to use!

By using glue spots to attach the little pom poms and the mustaches, it leaves the sticky backing for the kiddos to use wherever they like.

Sure these cost a bit more than the drugstore valentine cards embellished with charecters of all sorts but, to me a little effort and creativity (and lots of perusing on Pinterest) go a long way!

 

Posted with Blogsy

DIY: Easter Egg Goodness...

I love Easter, Spring and all the colors they bring. Bright colorful Easter Eggs are the most fun! The littles and I enjoy getting creative with our eggs each year!

 

In prepration for this year's festivities, this past weekend we cleaned and prepped our eggs and colored them in bright colors.

 

Using a Dremel, such a handy tool, a steady hand made holes in each end of the egg. The littles, using a piece of copper wire broke up the yolk and white inside making it easier to blow them out.

Save the egg fillings for later use. A cleaned out creamer container is perfect for this!

As a family we gather every year, as do many. We always have games and giggles and lots of delicious food. The Littles and their cousins have a fabulous time, as do the adults! This year I've decided to change up the egg hunt just a little. I'm the mom so I can do that. I've taken the beautiful, blown, colored eggs and created tiny tags for inside. Some have sweet sayings, some are instructions for a silly or nice gesture, but some are "winners". Who doesn't love a surprise?

This is what our eggs contain but you can put whatever you like:
· Hoppy Easter!
· You WIN $$$
· Fabulous Family Time
· Run around the house 3x!
· Hop on 1 foot for 10 sec.
· You WIN, pick a treat!
· Say something nice about your brother/sister.
· Make funny faces!
· You WIN a coloring pack!
· Have a great day!
· You WIN $$$
· Walk with an egg on a spoon!

The eggs from which one end was removed I decided would make a nice presentation for a yummy treat. After emptying, cleaning, and coloring the eggs they were ready to fill. Mixing chocolate chips and peanut butter chips I melted them in a bowl over hot water. Once cool enough to the touch but still runny I transferred the mixture to a large Ziploc bag and cut the corner off making a very efficient way to fill the eggs. I then let them harden in the refrigerator and tada!
Of course you can use any chocolate and a few I filled with candy.

I cut bright colors of felt into flower shapes and set them in an antique cupcake pan. I think this made a nice cushion for the filled eggs and great presentation overall!

Link-Ups:

Just Us Four - Pinworthy Project

Three Mango Seeds - Feed Me Friday

Kitched Meets Girl - Bunny Hop Blog Party

Happy Hour Projects - Bunny Hop

Nap Time Crafters - Friday Favs Party