Easy Valentine Pencil Topper

Not every project needs to be DIY.  Store bought goodies are just as thoughtful to make some easy valentine's pencil toppers.

I picked up some Star Wars valentines and some pencils. 

Then I asked the kids to sign them

Next step, grab your exacto knife!  Make a slit approx 1" apart

Then slide in the pencil.

As you send these to school in separate bag, the pencils won't fall out.  But if you would like, you can always attach some tape to the pencil.

Like I said, so easy!  Happy (early) Valentine's Day!

DIY Heart Garland Version 2

A couple of years ago, I made a large felt heart garland. I liked it, but wasn't in love with it. I felt like the hearts were on the big side and I didn't like the way it hung. So rather than "suffer" with it, I decided to make the same garland with much smaller hearts.  I like it so much better.  I will admit though, it takes a bit longer to make because you have many more tiny hearts to cut out.  But the method used to make this garland is exactly the same.  Click here for the tutorial.

The felt is from Michaels and I used 9 different colours.  They had so many to choose from!  I picked lots of bright spring colours as it's still cold here in February and will be until at least the end of May.

 When you bunch it together, it's a nice squishy ball of felt.

Right now it's hanging on an hook, ready to be hung in the kitchen after Chinese New Year.

Happy "Early" Valentine's Day,

Valentine Sprinkle Cookie

This year I wanted to make something for Joshie's friends at school for Valentine's Day. I didn't want to buy more chocolate because I think we're on chocolate overload.   The kids love gingerbread so I made a gingerbread dough.  However, if you're short on time, just buy a plain sugar cookie from the grocery store and decorate it.

Here's how you do it:

Start with some cute sprinkles.  These came from a company called Wildly Delicious.

Then you:  1.  Get a cookie  2. Decorate with royal icing  3.  Dip in sprinkles  4.  Admire your handiwork

Then you let it sit.  I usually do these at night and let them sit overnight so they are completely dry.

I made mine 2 weeks ahead so I froze them.  To freeze, place them in an airtight container between wax paper.  To defrost, just take them out and leave at room temperature.
 

I also decorated some without the sprinkles.

 Then packaged them up in little zip bags and labelled them

And there you have it!  A nice treat for the j/k class.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day

The balloons say it all!  How'd I get them so straight?  I had a little helper...

 Hope everyone has a nice day!  

Recipe: Rolled Oatmeal Cookies

We love oatmeal cookies.  Usually around Valentine's Day, I make sugar cookies using this sugar cookie recipe.  This year, we're making rolled oatmeal cookies instead. 

These are great because they are healthy and easy to make.

 

Enjoy!

Recipe: Valentine's Day Jell-o Jigglers

When I used to live with my sister CT, we used to throw a lot of parties in our little home.  One of our favourite things to serve were jello shots.   We made all kinds of shapes:  hearts, stars, circles, flowers and made them in all kinds of flavours:  cherry, grape, blueberry, lime, lemon...

Now that we are older and wiser (haha), we make these for the kids (alcohol free of course!)

Here's what you need:
1 pkg Jello
1 flexible ice cube tray
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup cold water
Pam cooking spray

I used a flexible ice cube tray from Ikea and cherry flavoured jell-o (le yum!)

Spray Pam cooking spray into your mould.   Make sure you blot the tray and remove any excess cooking spray.  You just need enough so that it doesn't stick. 

Combine 1/2 cup of boiling water with jell-o.  Stir until the crystals have melted.
Next add 1/4 cup of cold water and stir.

Pour into your tray and let it set for approx 2 hours.  

 Turn out and enjoy!

Happy eating!

Game: Find the Heart

Here's a really simple idea that my toddler loves.  We call it the "Hearts Treasure Hunt".  This started last year when Joshie was 2.  We were watching a Max & Ruby episode called "Grandma's Treasure Hunt".   He loved it and wanted to do a treasure hunt too.  We used to hide my painted eggs from our trip to Poland, but when I found some foam hearts in my craft box, we began using those instead.

Here's what you need:

Lots of imagination
A messy play space
Foam Hearts in different colours and sizes

This game is so easy to play.  Just hide the hearts in your house and have your kids look for them.  You can change it up each time... you can focus on finding the small hearts, or the pink hearts.  You can make it easy or hard depending on your child.  We like to play "hot" or "cold" too.   Joshie likes to hide the hearts so I can find them.  He's usually too excited to wait for me to find them so he tells me where he's hidden them.  It's great how something so simple can be a lot of fun too!  Happy hunting!