Happy Valentines Day!

Well it is the day of love and all that.... I love romance as much as the next person but I find that on this day each year I feel that its just too much. Too much pressure about what your valentines does or is going to do for you, too much pressure on the guy to impress too much pressure to profess your love. Its just too much. However we do celebrate the holiday in our house, on a small scale but we do celebrate!

This year because Delaney is another year older and more capable we made most of our Valentines, we did it very simple of course just folded paper into a card and she colored them with markers and crayons and put stickers on them and made them her own. As for me I made the card and gift for my Valentine as well but it took a bit longer than sticking a few stickers on a piece of paper. I made a puzzle piece Valentine booklet and some candy roses for my hubby.

I actually first made the roses when in High School we had to start our own business, a friend and I started making them and they sold out so quick. They are very easy to make and can be done so fast and easy. I made them with 2 Hershey kisses put together at the flat ends, I placed a stem you can buy them in the craft section at Wal-mart and in some dollar stores. then I covered them with red tissue paper or you could do it with red cellophane or basket wrap. I taped it down with red tape but you can use floral tape too.Then the roses are done.

To make the card I traced out the shape of the puzzle piece that I wanted to use (borrowed from one of Delaney's puzzles) and then made enough copies of the shape to make the booklet that I wanted. I added pictures and little scrapbook journal squares, wrote little love notes on each page as well as on the front of the booklet and on the last page. (as seen below)

One part of my love note.

 This one was from when we first started going out.

 One from the day our daughter was born.

 One of Miss Delaney from last Christmas.

 One from our wedding day!

And one from the ultrasound we had a few weeks ago!

All in all Husband loved it and thought it was very cute. It didn't take long to make, nor was it hard to do and it was exactly the kind of Valentine I wanted to give!

To me this is what Valentines day is about, showing the one you love how much they mean to you. Its also about being personal and I guess because I'm crafty its also about making your valentines and putting time and hard work into them, although my husband almost always gives me a store bought card and I love it.

First Valentines craft of the year!

This week we started our valentines decorating, during which I realized that I don't have a wreath for the occasion. So after looking for some inspiration I figured that I would try something that my daughter Delaney and I could do together! Which means it lacks a little in the presentation, its a bit on the messy side and it was super simple to do! What can I say when crafting with a 2 year old you sometimes have to go for quick, easy and fun rather than pretty, time consuming and perfect...

Here is the finished product!

Here is what we used:
A cardboard box
Two plates one large (a dinner plate) and one smaller (a lunch or side plate would do)
One sheet of white computer paper torn into strips length wise
Variety of craft foam sheets
Scissors
Glue stick
Stickers
Hot glue gun and glue
Ribbon to hang the wreath with

To get started I waited till nap time! I did all my prep work in the 2 hours that Delaney was asleep so that I would be able to do the main cutting and gluing without having to explain ten times why mommy needs to do the cutting. To begin the mommy work I cut a wreath shape out of the bottom of a cardboard box using two different size plates as a template (the larger one for the outside of the wreath and a smaller one for the center) once I had it traced out I cut it with a utility knife, then for ease and cover up of the cardboard I simply glued strips of white printer paper around the wreath. You could also use colored construction paper or scrap-booking paper if you have Valentines day themed paper on hand. Then I cut heart shapes out of pink purple and white craft foam.

Once Delaney was awake and ready to craft I had her "help me" glue the hearts around the wreath. Then it was all up to her I gave her some sparkly Valentines day stickers purchased at the dollarstore, and she went to town adding them where she wanted with a little help from mommy to get the stickers off the sheet as she choose them and to help her make sure they were straight... when it was OK with her. After it was all done I hot glued the ribbon to the back of the wreath so we could hang it, of course this was a mommy job too!

In  the end we made a beautiful wreath in about 2 hours, including the mommy time and the mommy and Delaney time, and we had a lot of fun doing it! the best part I know have a wreath that we made together and I can display it for years to come!

You could of course jazz it up more with other shapes or embellishments like glitter or gems but when working with a 2 year old I find it easier keeping things a little on the cleaner side... because our other craft projects have looked a little more like this when we were finished...

Happy crafting and Happy Valentines day!