Ornament Valentines

So I went a bit crazy on the Target 90% off Christmas clearance. These cute little felt hearts I’m sure were intended to be ornaments, but I immediately thought Valentines.

I am so thankful for my sweet sister-in-law. She often gets enlisted to help in my crazy plans. This time I asked her if she could picked up 40 packages of these little hearts for me (each package contains 3 hearts). At the checkout counter the lady had to ring each one up separately. As the lady was scanning them she asked Laurie if she has seen the show Hoarders! Ha! I laughed so hard. I’m thankful that my sister-in-law has a good sense of humor. The lady obviously did not see my vision of cheap Valentines for the kids classmates:) Actually my husband thought I had lost it as well, but did not tell me that until later.

The kids school encourages them to make homemade Valentines for the kids in their class. Since that means between my kiddos they need to make over 70 handmade Valentine’s (when you add in all the teachers) I needed something that was not going to take that much time or effort but still looked adorable.

We cut out red hearts that were the same size as the felt ones, punched a hole and strung them on the original string. All that was left was to address them all. So simple and cheap! Happy Valentines Day!

Valentine Holder

We received a note from Annika’s Kindergarten teacher that their class would be decorating Valentines boxes together. Each kiddo needed to bring in a container that they could add stickers and use markers to decorate. Annika was so excited for her special Valentines box. Although we ran into a bit of a snag when we couldn’t find a single shoe box and the recycling had just been picked up so no cereal boxes either. Not discouraged, I kept searching. My persistence finally paid off when I came across the perfect container, a peanut tin from Costso.

It was so simple to transform into a Valentine holder. We removed the original peanut label and wrapped the tin in brown craft paper.

Using a sharp knife, I cut a mail slot in the lid. Annika wanted a handle so I cut a small X on each side, slipped the ribbon through and tied a knot in each end to secure it.

Annika was so happy with the results and can’t wait to decorate it with her classmates. I’m excited to see how it turns out.

For more creative Valentine Boxes, check out our:

20 of the cutest Valentine Boxes

3 Easy Valentine Card Holders

20 Creative Valentines Card Holders

DIY Mailboxes

Sewn Valentines

DIY Valentines Day Cards ~ Made by kids

I’ve been on the lookout for a simple and adorable idea the kids can make for school Valentines. While searching on Pinterest for fun handmade Valentines, I came across these little cute love notes. The cards are adorable and I had to try making a set with the kids. They turned out AMAZING! The perfect project for my budding little seamstresses.

I wish I had taken pictures of our family card making night. It was adorable and involved the entire dining room table and all 5 of us. Yep, we even roped my hubby into helping with this one;) Heres how we broke it down…

Chuck and Kaleb teamed up to cut out the paper hearts. We used scraps of patterned paper from a recent project.
Bree just learned how to use the sewing machine and couldn’t wait to show off her new skills. She used the sewing machine to stitch all the hearts on. It was simple straight stitch so really easy. Plus sewing on paper is way easier than sewing on fabric.
Annika wrote the cute little XOX’s at the bottom of each card and cut all the strings. She loved that she was given 2 jobs and could finish her part faster than everyone else.
My job was to keep the whole assembly line rolling;)

Everyone loves receiving handmade cards, especially when they are made with love from kiddos. These little cards take no time at all to make and are perfect for the last moment gift.

They turned out so cute! I love that the kids choose shades of pinks and purples for the paper hearts and red thread for the stitching.

Tips for helping kids use a sewing machine:

If your sewing machine has a speed control turn it to a reasonable speed they can handle. Sewing is not a race. The slower controlled speed does 2 things. 1) little fingers are less likely to get somewhere they shouldn’t and 2) the speed is constant so no crazy speed pulsating.
Use blue tape to act as a sewing guide. Just lay a piece of tape right onto the the sewing machine. The plate should have measurements on it already, but it is hard for kids to see. The blue tape is an easy mark to follow. By lining the edge of the card up with the the tape, each of the hearts were centered and the stitches were in a straight line.

Leave a link to your favorite hand made Valentines Day Cards. I would love to see them.

Click here to find a list of my favorite Valentines activities, crafts and games.

Mending Snow Pants

Bree got passed down a pair of snow pants from her brother. I have no idea how Kaleb managed it, but he wore right through the first layer of fabric on the knees. I’m thankful they are reinforced. We are so close to being done with winter, I hated the thought of buying a new pair. Bree was not super excited about worn knees and plain black, but she is too sweet to complain. She wore them for a bit before I took pity on her and made a trip to the fabric store.

Notice the happy smile now. She wad so excited about the new look. It was a really simple, cheap fix. The knee patches are made with PUL waterproof fabric that is normally used for making cloth diapers. It is waterproof which is a definite must for keeping out the snow.

I cut the fabric to the same size as the reinforced factory patch that was already on the snow pants. This project had to be no sew, so I used permanent fabric glue that is washable. I smeared a generous amount of permanent fabric glue on the back side of the patch and attached it to the knee. I was a bit nervous that the edges would come up after playing so I painted a thick bead of the same fabric glue around the entire patch to try and seal it.

The flower was Bree’s adorable addition. I love the jewel center. She was so excited that they are now girly and not just plain black. I’m not sure how well the patch will stand up, but even if it only last the rest of this winter I’m totally happy. This is definitively a cheap upcycle.

I also heard that you can use sheet duct tape to mend snow pants. I love that they are making duct tape is so many fun colors now!

Valentine Owls

So If I must confess I have had these sweet little Spring oil pastels (link to how we made them) up since last spring. I love them. They are hanging in our bathroom. I have recently received a few comments about having Easter pictures hanging above the Christmas tree. Ha! Well since spring is right around the corner and these little guys will soon be back in season, I finally switched them out. I know backwards right, but when you see the little Valentines Owls my kiddos made you will understand. I think that I need to have the kids make a complete set of seasonal artwork that I just rotate between!.

With a bit of patience each of my kiddos created a background of beautiful repetitive text. I gave them a fine red sharpie marker. Kaleb choose hearts, Bree wrote I love you and Annika made a pattern of XOX’s. They turned out so cute!

With a black sharpie each of the kiddos drew their version of an owl. Since we were making Valentines art, the kids found fun ways to sneak in as many hearts as possible.

The kids then painted the owls with watercolors. After they were done painting, we traced back over the owl with black sharpie again. This step really cleaned everything up.