Happy Valentine's Day

I hope your day is filled with love, laughter and lots & lots of whatever makes you happy!

Fab Finds Friday (Valentine cards)

Today's finds are perfect if you're still looking for something for your kiddos to take to school..or if you're looking for something to give the kiddos..or if you're just looking for something fun!

Love Bug Valentines from dandee

 

iPad Valentine's Box from Living Locurto

Gumball Machine Valentine from living with threemoonbabies

 

Sucker for You from Shindig Parties TO GO

and here are my Robot Valentine's from last year - memory game too :)

Have a great weekend!

7 Days of Love (tutorial)

Thanks to RoseMarie of Home Confetti for sharing this idea!

Valentine's is typically 'kid time' in our house & I love all the fun projects to do with them. 

This year, I decided to give the husband a little....attention  :)

Here's what I used:

pill organizer from Dollar Tree ($1)

red & pink card stock (from my stash)

heart stickers (from the lizard & ladybug's stash)

candy (from my stash)

I cut the red cardstock to cover the top of each little spot.  

I added the heart sticker.

 

I cut slips of pink cardstock to use each day for little notes of loooovvveeee :)

Add a little piece of candy and voila' 

Super simple, Super versatile & Super cheap (I spent $1)

Obviously you can use this idea for the kids, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, friend and/or family.

It's an easy way to remind your special person just how much you care!

Happy Groundhog's Day & a little love

I slacked on sending Groundhog's Day treats 

with the lizard this year 

(here's what I sent last year) 

but I do have a few goodies for all of you!

I found this fun font (hearland regular) 

last year and whipped up a few 5x7 prints.  

This year, I added the turquoise color I can't get enough of.  

{both are available in pink and light pink also}

Click to download 

red XOXO, red LOVE, 

pink XOXO, pink LOVE, 

light pink XOXO, light pink LOVE, 

turquoise XOXO, turquoise LOVE

I'd love to hear if you like them..

and if you use them, I'd love to see a picture!! 

(post it on Facebook)

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Valentine Countdown fun (& freebies)

This is a project I used last Valentine's Day..basically a hide and seek with a Valentine's twist.  

For 14 days, I would hide a little treat for the kids to find.  

They had a good time with this last year.

It's that time again :)

This is part of my post from last February...

I've included the heart numbers for you!  

Enjoy!

________________________________

Here's what I used:

pipe cleaners (cut in half), clear treat bags and numbered heart tags

 

The idea is to hide their treat and have them find it.  

My kids love hide and seek so this is great for them.  

Plus, it may give me 5 minutes peace :)

We are starting off with lollipops (heart shaped to be exact)

 If you wanted to do something like this yourself...

but don't have the pipe cleaners and/or clear bags.  

Use some ribbon and plastic snack bags.  

Or twisty ties and saran wrap. 

 

I just think it's a fun treat for the kids 

and it gives them something to look forward to each day!

 

**Oh and if you need heart tags..here you go!**

days 1-6, days 7-12, days 13-14 & blanks

 

Happy February 1st!

XOXO Tic Tac Toe (freebie)

I just can't help myself...

all the Valentine goodies around have inspired me!  

I grabbed these cute containers (10/$1) at Dollar Tree 

knowing that I could use them for something.

  

I came up with XOXO Tic Tac Toe & these containers are perfect for holding the 'pieces' (m&m's, kisses, whatever candy you choose)  

*better make sure you add extra candy :)

 

So so simple & really cute (if I do say so myself).  

This is perfect for classroom treats, playdate favors, Valentine parties..you name it!

Feel free to download your own games HERE.  

(print them on heavy cardstock)

Enjoy!

Teacher's Treats

I know Valentine's Day is over...

but I wanted to share what the lizard took for his teachers.

Those FAB girls from eighteen 25 posted this too cute idea a while back.  You may remember my post about 'collecting' take out boxes.  

Put them together and they turned out so so cute!

I added a few paper fortune cookies and kisses for good luck :)

(I'm using Flickr to post all my pictures, I'm still figuring out the size)

What I love about this gift is that it can be used at any time! 

(the girls at eighteen 25 also have freebie labels w/out the teacher part)

Plus it was so so inexpensive to put together but it looks so fancy!

Is anyone else thinking about St Patrick's Day?? 

Do you celebrate??  

What fun things do you do?

My dad's birthday is March 17th..this one is a big one.  

I think I'll have a party :)

 Have a great Thursday!!

There's always room for jello

I was so happy with how my jello jigglers turned out..

I want to share my recipe.  

 

1 box of Knox gelatin (all 4 packs). 3 small boxes of jello (reg or sugar free) and 4 cups boiling water. Mix the dry then add the water.

I poured it in a 9x13 dish. 

It sets up pretty quickly.

I can't wait to make some for St Patrick's Day!!

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Valentine's Day!!! (our party)

I hope you are all having a sweet Valentine's Day..

spending it with your favorite person (or people).  

We had our Valentine's Party this past weekend.  

Perfect weather, lots of sweets and 23 preschoolers 

(plus parents and family)!!! 

It was a blast!!

I realized that I took ZERO pictures of the kids --- trust me, they were here!  

Here are some pictures of the table :)

 Rice Krispy Treats dipped in candy melts & sprinkles

PB&J sandwiches and cheese sandwiches

xoxo mix (candy coated pretzels, cereal and mm&s)

Marshmallow Pops (marshmallows dipped in candy melts with a m&m)

Jigglers
(cherry, raspberry and strawberry combo)

Fruit Kabobs w/heart shaped marshmallows

You know what these are :)

 Chocolate Chip cookie cake

The whole table

The kids also played and ate and decorated cookies and ate and played

I sent them all home with goody bags 

filled with homemade playdough, bubbles, heart straw and a bottle of water.

 

Have a great Valentine's Monday!!

KOOL Robot Valentine treats (freebies)

You know when you see an idea and think 'THAT IS BRILLIANT'??  

Well, that's the idea I saw last week.  

Kalleen from At Second Street was guest posting at Tatertots and Jello.  

She posted this totally adorable idea for "LOVE juice" 

along with a great tutorial (and freebies). 

I couldn't stop thinking about it the whole day.

I'm all for sweets for just about any occasion - especially Valentine's Day 

BUT I liked Kalleen's idea so much, I decided to make it my own.

Remember the robot Valentine's I made a while back?

I decided to use the images to make "KOOL" drinks for the lizard's class.

(not the best picture)

Pretty simple.

Water, Kool Aid singles (or any similar brand), straws, pipe cleaners & labels
(avery file folder labels #48366).

If you can't find the labels, you could print on regular paper and use double-stick tape.


Here are the Kool Aid labels
(there are 30 on a sheet)

I also made some 'sweet' ones

There are also coordinating tags
designed for use with a 2" punch (there are 12 on a page)

I would love to know if you use these...


And just because....

Here is Valentine's Day tic tac toe
(perfect size for m&ms, conversation hearts, kisses etc...)

There are 4 games to a sheet.
These would make great classroom treats too.

Our Valentine's party is tomorrow.
I'm bracing for a house full of preschoolers!
Wish me luck!

simple (and sweet) Valentine pinecones

I am in love with how these turned out.  

Krylon paint (red and pink) and some pine cones made these cuties.  

I piled them into a galvanized tub and sat them on our front porch.  

Couldn't be easier.

Tomorrow, I'll share the Valentine's treats I'm sending with the lizard 

(plus some freebies)

simple heart garland

There was a glimpse of my heart garland in yesterday's post. 

Here are ALL the supplies:

punch, paper, fishing line & needle 

and instructions: 

punch hearts and thread line

Not the greatest picture..

but I think the garland turned out really cute 

(plus it was SUPER cheap)

Tomorrow, I will share my "Natural" Valentine Decorations.  

Here's a hint - it involves spray paint!

Cool Trick Tuesday

I found this 'too good to be true' tutorial at My Nerdy Nook.  

How to make your own chalkboard paint!!  

What the What? 

I HAD to try it.  

So I headed to Lowes to look for the unsanded grout 

(just a hint..it was in the way back of my store and ~$5).  

I picked up a few bottles of acrylic paint from Joanns and got to mixing.

 

While at Joann's, I also picked up a few unfinished wooden hearts. 

 I added my bright red chalkboard paint,

And here's the finished product, hanging on our mantle

 

You can see the endless possibilities with this right??  

Almost any color on virtually any surface?!?

I have my eye on more things in the house that would be perfect 'chalked' :)

I will share my 'simple heart garland' tomorrow.  

It only takes a few supplies and I bet you have most of them right now!

Lunchbox Love Notes

I love the idea of leaving little notes in luncboxes.  

The lizard began preschool this past year...

so I started him off with cute little notes the first week or so.  

Now that Valentine's Day is a week away, I'm doing them again.  

You don't have to leave fancy notes - 

just a little something to let them know you're thinking about them.

  

Here are some I made using some graphics 

(I can.not for the life of me remember where I found them)

They are designed to be used with a 3" punch (or scissors)

You could leave these as-is or write a sweet message.

Get yours HERE :)

ENJOY!!

Happy Monday!

Are you ready for some football?

Yes..there's a BIG game this weekend.  

There are so so many cute printables.  

Here are some of my faves.

 it is what it is

Simply Creative Insanity

Smashed Peas and Carrots

Blush Printables

I don't have a 'team' playing...so I'm only in it for the commercials!


Have a great weekend!!!
Next week, more Valentine's ideas
(and some peeks into our party)