Make your own crayons!

This is an old post, but I'm reposting because I'll be making these for the kids' Valentine treat bags this year.

This is super easy and gives new life to crayon bits! Just take all your crayon bits, remove the paper, and arrange in your tins. You could get really creative with your color mixtures, but I made it pretty simple considering it was the first try.

Pop in the oven at about 200 degrees.. just keep an eye on them! Once melted, set out until dried and molded. Mine popped out easily once cooled, so you shouldn't have any problems.

These are perfect for little one's hands. I sprang for the Tadoodles a while back and trust me, they were not worth the money!

I've made these a few times, and I really recommend not using "cheap-o" crayons. They bubble and don't really color once molded.

I found the heart muffin tins at the dollar store, but your possibilities endless!

Bear Hugs for Pop-Pop

This is what we did for Pop-Pop for Valentine's Day.

Fill a jar or cute container with Teddy Grahams.

Then, simply add a pretty sticker, ribbon, and note card. You could get really creative with this, but I wanted to keep it simple so that he could reuse the jar.

Sniff.

Are you tired of all of my Valentine's Day posts yet? In all honesty, I'm sad to have to put it all away!

although some of you may stay...

most of you have to go...

You even made your way into the bathroom this year...

and all your festive goodies...

until next year, Valentine's Day. I heart you.

xoxo,
janie (a/k/a mommy.)

ps. St. Patrick's Day, don't let me down.

Oh! and my husband decorated these too-cute-to eat cookies. Aren't they ADORABLE?

Lunch for my Valentine and a Card..

Here's how I made hubby's lunch a little special for tomorrow. (You could always do this for your kids' lunches, too!)

I set out to make little heart sandwiches, but my husband would probably be wondering where the rest the sandwich went, lol, and I would have to make a ton. So, using a heart cookie cutter, I just barely pressed it into both sides of the bread.

For an added treat, I made this:

It's a coffee filter! For the life of me I cannot remember where I saw this idea, so if it's yours, please tell me, and I will gladly give you credit!

Just stamp the filter, write a little note...

Throw in some kisses..er..hugs, and tie off with a ribbon. When he opens it, he'll see the hearts, the candy, and the note. Isn't that adorable?

Here is a very simple, yet precious card that Monkey and I are giving him. I used a white crayon on black construction paper and see those little red hearts? Those are our fingerprints! Awww, I am gonna be so sad when Valentine's Day is over :(

"Hand"made wreath

Make a template of your child's hand and trace unto colored construction paper of your choice. (This was rather simple because I did most of the work while she was asleep because I had a template..)

For the wreath you could use the of a inner part of paper plate, or in my case, I used a circular piece of cardboard that came with a large apothocary jar.

Glue the hands all the way around, using hearts, or whatever else you want to decorate it with. Given our many crafts and projects, we were super low on supplies..but I think it turned out precious anyhow.

Then, let the freestyle glittering begin!

She LOVES her glitter...

My Spin on "Kiss Cookies"

Remember these?
Here's what I came up with:

With only 3 ingredients!

Sugar cookie dough, chocolate hearts, and sprinkles.


I used the Palmers chocolate double crisp hearts, and I think the bag was only $1.00. Can't beat that. (Also, the latest couple of inserts had Pillsbury coupons.)

When you pull the cookies out of oven, place an unwrapped candy in the center of the cookie. The trick to these is sorta pushing it into the warm cookie so it melts just the outer edge of the chocolate. Then you can sprinkle the melt-y part and the sprinkles stick.

I Love You Valentine Bouquet

I found this and this for Valentine's Day and I just fell in love with both and decided to combine the two. They are so cute, I can't wait to see MiMi's face!

Monkey's cousins will each get one of these:

Crazy kid insisted on using light pink and red on red paper...gotta love stubborn independent toddlers!

Simple Valentine Treat

ok..maybe too simple, but my Big Sweetie and Little Sweetie loved it. Ahh, the little things...

Remember Purple Cows? (I was shocked that my husband had never heard of one before!) Okay, so tell me you at least know what a coke float is?!

This would be my version. Um, we'll call it a red cow. Hehe..

Just put two scoops of ice cream in a cup and pour Big Red (or any other red soda) over and viola! There you have a festive Valentine treat. Simple enough, right? It would be oh-so-cute with a festive straw, too!

Easy Valentine Craft

Got this super cute idea from No Time for Flashcards, one of my favorite places for ideas. Monkey had a play date today so this is what the girls did. They are two very independent little girls, so I let them free with basically all aspects of the craft and they turned out adorable! I was going purely by memory so I forgot the mouth! Whoops..

Oh, and suprisingly, I found the heart doilies at Wal-Mart in the craft section, near the Wilton cake stuff.

You can get the step-by-step instructions here.

Thrifty Valentine Decor.. yet again!

This is so easy, I can't believe it! I picked up some dollar store candles, red gems (Wal-Mart), scrapbook paper and glitter 'foamie' stickers at Michaels. There really isn't a great Valentine paper selection to choose from, so I went for matching my kitchen decor, which is damask. Also, I found the tray at Goodwill, originally a light oak color with some circa 1989 ducks on it and PROMPTLY spray painted it black... hehe...

Check out the cost:

Gems: $2.50

Candles: $3.00 (all)

Tray: 50 cents

Scrap Paper: 30 cents

Stickers: $1.00

I cut strips of paper and wrapped them around (think paper chain activity from back in school) and taped them with double-sided tape. You could even use regular tape or hot glue it down. Next I positioned my stickers, put the candles on the tray and poured the gems on the tray...I used the whole bag.

This is so easy and festive! Come on, February, Mommy's ready!

Valentine's Decor..Inside and Out!

Little by little I'm decorating for Valentine's Day.. and I finally got the "go-ahead" for the outside ;) I'm curious, do you go all out for Valentine's Day? I never have before, but this year I've been bitten by the decor love bug!

I'd love to see what you do!

Valentine's Day Decor

My husband has given me "permission" to start decorating the inside (only.) for Valentine's Day. Holiday after holiday I stock up on clearance decor, so I guess you could say I'm a little excited to get started on the next occasion. So, because Valentine's Day is still a good month away, he finally gave in to me doing the inside, so we don't look like total nuts ;)

I have been in love with the idea of glass jar decorating for quite some time and I finally found jars at T. J. Maxx super cheap. The ones I chose ranged from $3.00 to $5.00. Wow, I know.

Here's what I did: (Keep in mind, I'm not exactly a genius with the camera, so pardon the glare and multiple repositioning...)

Where have I been? I didn't even know they made Valentine candy corns! I was going to use conversation hearts, and I still might, but I thought these were pretty unique.

Notice my oh-so-cute placemats? Thank you, Target dollar bins!

Check out what other ideas I've come across here, here, and here. I ADORE this!