10 Days of Valentine's Day - Day 7

Today marks Day 7 in ....

10 Days

Of Valentine’s Day

I actually went back and changed the last post to say "Days 5 & 6" because I had originally planned to have it be two separate posts.  So...that brings us to Day 7.   I had a whole lot of goodies to stick into 10 short days and I think we'll just make it!

Today I wanted to share some fantastic ideas for plain old paper Valentine's...imagine that.   By no means are these Valentine's plain though..they are far from it!   We finished up our own Valentine's last night and got them in the mail to our long distant family and we're working on our last few today for teachers.  (I'm going to share some fun ideas for the teachers in your life tomorrow).    

Here is what my kitchen table looked like on Thursday night as the kids feverishly worked to finish up their homemade Valentine's Day cards.  These are cards they did ENTIRELY by themselves except for a few heart shapes that I assisted with.  They really did a great job.

 Every year I buy Valentine's scrapbook paper from the dollar section at Target and some other fun crafty things at the Dollar Store and then let them loose. Here is our loot from this year...

And here are a few of their finished products...

A pop-up card by my son.....he designed it and did all of the assembly...all I did was cut the heart.

Here is the inside...he let his sister sign it too because she was busy working on the hers.

And here is her masterpiece.  Very fun!  Here recipient (name left out for surprise purposes) will be so excited!

And these are 2 others that my son designed...

Ours are pretty elementary, but they had a ball doing them.  So now onto some other ideas that I found.   Many of these links (found below each photo) share how to make them step by step so don't get overwhelmed by just the photo.  I love these creative uses of just simple paper, glue and a few googly eyes and stickers here and there.  And maybe a toilet paper roll????

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I also have a TON of FREE PRINTABLES for you if you want easy, but don't want to buy the boxed ones.

Just click on any link below the picture to find them.

Star Wars anyone?  My son would have loved these...but his are super cute (I'll show them as soon as we finish up tomorrow)

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How about animal themed?  So sweet.

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Or maybe some "rockin'" ones?  Great for the bigger kiddos.   

No how-to on this one, but it was too cute not to share.  You crafty mommas will be able to re-create it.

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Or maybe some color your own...

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Or, these other super cute ones for little boys.

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And maybe a few cute ones for little girls...

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And how about some out of the box paper DIY Valentine's ideas that I just loved.

Fortune teller

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Card and envelope in one!

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XOXO

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And I leave with you one of my favorite printables for this Valentine's Day.

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Poshed Up

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

As much as I LOVED Thanksgiving and a day with family, I am thrilled to begin decorating, shopping, baking, and doing all things Christmas!   I am most excited to have Christmas music on all the time.  My husband can't stand it, but myself and the kids LOVE it....unfortunate for him...haha

So I have been looking at all things Christmas the past few weeks and have soooo much to share including crafts, recipes, decorating ideas, entertaining ideas, gift ideas, stocking stuffers, homemade goodies, teacher gifts...you name it!   I wanted to start today with some ideas for Christmas cards and/or Christmas pictures.

I'm starting there because a great deal of the "deals" out there for discounts on cards end this weekend.  So to me, it's worth acting early and getting them done.  Also, I usually start receiving cards by the this weekend from friends.   That gets me anxious to get my own done and out so I want to try to avoid that this year.

Here's a few of the deals:

Snapfish-

Save 50% on all holiday cards with coupon code FRIDAYCARDS through 11/27 and free shipping on orders of $25+ using coupon code FSNOV25 through 11/30

Shutterfly-
Save 40% on all holiday cards and free shipping on order of $30+ with coupon code SHIP30 through 11/30

TinyPrints-
Free shipping on every order using coupon code bfhol25 through 11/26 and 20% orders of $75+

Vistaprint-
Free shipping on orders of $44.99+ through 11/28



For me, this is always an interesting thing because my children HATE to get pictures taken.  I managed to bribe, I mean convince, them to do it early this year to avoid the stress of trying endlessly to get pictures and for whatever reason...it worked.  They were somewhat agreeable and I am very happy with the pictures.

The other challenging part for me is 'What to Wear'.  Since I only include the children in our picture it makes the decision a bit easier, but I still want to coordinate them but not match.   So I did some looking for clothing options and found some really great ideas.  Some of these are not specific to holiday wear, but I love to mix it up and don't feel the need to use red, green and black every year for clothing.

Here are some I loved...

For big girls....I love the layering look.   Here are a few dresses that are oh so cute that would look great with a pair of legging and tall boots!

These are 2 of my favorites from Zara.  What I love about Zara is that they have the style of a J.Crew without the expensive price tag.  Both of these dresses are $39.90 and can definitely be worn again.

They both have the classic plaids that you see this time of year and the sweet little dress peeking out underneath.  You could do these two dresses if you have 2 girls or this would totally work with a boys' outfit with jeans, a white or plaid polo, and a navy or olive green sweater.  LOVE!  Or with the adorable plaid tie from The Childrens' Place...only $5.96.  Could it be any cuter?










If you're not into plaid....I also adore these sweet dresses from Zara.   And again, only $39.90.

 

You'd think I'm being paid by Zara for how many times I've recommended them, but if you go visit their website, you'll see why.  Their prices are great and the quality is equally as great.  In fact, my daughter's sweater from this year's picture is from there, but you'll have to wait to see it!

And how about with this cute boy shirt with dark cords....wish my daughter would wear a dress.  And...I have ideas for that issue too if you share it.

From The Children's Place...

Like I said previously...I'm not a traditional red and green girl when it comes to pictures.  We actually chose to do grey this year and a hint of red.  

If you have a daughter who is like mine and doesn't do the dress thing....try leggings or jeans and a great sweater.  Here's some great ones....holiday and non-holiday colors.   

 from Old Navy

Or this one on sale at Gap....

  I  love this with black leggings and cute boots or ballet flats.  You could compliment another child in denim, black, red, plaid...so many cute options.

And if you like traditional....here are some I LOVED!   

Cream and gold....

From Gap for big girls...  love shift dresses!

Or this from H&M...  

Or traditional red and/or green...

For boys, I love these sweaters from H&M...they come in big and small sizes too.  I'm digging the elbow detail.

Or this shirt from The Children's Place for only $17.95...

And for girls...how about this beauty from Zara... 

and my favorite of all...wish I had a little girl for this.  

From H&M...

Remember, whatever you choose to go with, you want them to look nice, but it's more important that they are happy in the picture so you truly capture them.  If they are uncomfortable and unhappy in their clothing...they will be miserable in pictures! Or, at least that's what happens here.

And here are a few pictures that I just love.  I personally like close ups of my children because we send them to many people who don't see us every year and they really just want to see how they've grown.  This year we were lucky enough to be outside because of the warm weather we've been having in the Northeast.

from 'JoopJoop'

from 'Simple as That'

from Tiny Prints

I'm looking forward to sharing TONS of fun ideas for this special time of year!  We are busy putting up our tree and decorating around our house.  We are doing soooo many crafts and making gifts for everyone in our life.  

Enjoy!

Poshed Up