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

10 Days of Valentine's Day - Days 5 & 6

Only 5 more days until the big day...how did that happen?   Time is just slipping past me.  Today I want to share some cute threads for you and your little ones to wear on Valentine's Day.   I am one of "those" moms who loves to dress her children in outfits for holidays. There, I said it.

The bad part is I'm down to only one who allows me now that my daughter is 10 years old and her own fashion sense, which does not include holiday wear :(   And...I feel like my time might be limited with a little boy soon to enter Kindergarten so I need to max it out this year.

I LOVE to sew as we know and I love to make shirts for my kids.  Here are some I've made for my own and for gifts in the past.

Halloween 

Our trip to Disney 

A gift for a friend's twins

Birthday shirts for friends

 

(don't mind the wet spot...)

Birthday shirt for my own and of course I didn't get a good picture of it...

(he's in grey with his #5 tee on)

Our Captain American tee for our Superhero Birthday party

And this year I decided...it was time to make one for Valentine's Day.  I'm not sure why I never have before. I think I've always found really adorable ones in the stores, but since my homemade shirt time is limited, I thought I'd make my little guy something this year.  Here it is...

I gave him a few choices and he chose the tie because it reminded him of Harry Potter...go figure!   I'm excited to see it on.  While we're talking about handmade...check out some of these cute shirts I found from my fellow etsy sellers.  If you are interested in any of them, just click on the link below the picture!

For twins...better not put them in the wrong order...lol  

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I adore the sillohuette....but I do have a thing against full names on shirts and bags.  I am ALL ABOUT monogramming and personalization with a first letter, in fact, most of my shop items include it.  It just freaks me out in this day and age to have my child's name on a shirt.  I don't want some crazy out there being able to call my child by 1st name.  Maybe I'm paranoid.

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I loved this and think I may be able to get one more year out of a homemade shirt for my son with something cool like this one...minus the name.

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And I just loved the texture on this one...very unique!

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I also found some really cute ones on Old Navy and Gap that I thought I'd share if you are tight on time, but want something festive.

 I almost convinced my daughter on this one, but she doesn't like pink.

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We used to have one just like this from Paris when my daughter was teeny...sniff sniff!

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And this is just so sweet for the little girl in your life and could definitely be worn again.  I seem to gravitate towards the shirts that can be worn many times and this doesn't say "Happy V'Day".

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This reminded me of one we had when my son was a baby....how sweet!

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And this for the bigger boy.  I almost bought this one.

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Or this one..

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And this one for the coolest dude in your life.

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And lastly, for your little girl or boy...a way to be festive at virtually no cost.  How cute is this idea?  Add some felt hearts to any buttoned shirt!

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We can't forget about you....here is some "pinspiration" I found to help you when getting dressed next Tuesday!  I LOVE anything red and am uber-excited to be able to have a real reason to wear it!

How about some simple neutrals with a touch of red without going overboard...

Love the animal print...

Or how about a super casual look...

Or go all out...hot date or no hot date...MEOW!  Check out those heels!

And I adore this top paired with a great pair of shoes...

And me... I haven't planned just yet.  But you better believe I'll be wearing the shoes pictured here that I had to have last Spring.  I adore them and spent WAY too much on them.  I pray for dry weather.

Regardless of whether you go all out or choose to spend the day in pj's...here's hoping it's a day filled with love!

Poshed Up

10 Days of Valentine's Day - Day 4

In case you're wondering if I've totally abandoned Operation OrGaNiZaTiOn, the answer is no.  I have been working feverishly on sprucing up my linen closets and will have pictures to share when we tackle that area.  I wanted to take a break to focus on all things Valentine's until the big day arrives and then we'll be back on track for organization...that is until St. Patty's Day and then Easter.  Oh my.  

On to Day 4 in...

10 Days

Of Valentine’s Day

With less than a week left before Valentine's Day, I wanted to focus today on ideas for sending love through the mail.  Whether it's for a sweetheart that is away from home, a family member away from home or grandparents, I have some ideas to share the love across the miles.

When I think of sending some love long distance or gifting to long distant family, I always think of my children's hands.  I know that seems strange, but I think the thing that long distant relatives miss out on most is seeing the growth in my kids.  They change so quickly even for my eyes, so I can only imagine how fast it would appear if you didn't see them each day. So, I love gifts with their cute little hand prints while they are still small.  Here is what I made for my mom who lives in Florida for Christmas....hand print coasters of my two kids and my niece and nephew.

They are by no means fancy, nor were they the only gift, but they are just a small reminder of the grandkids at home.   So when I saw these two ideas for Valentine's, I was so excited.

I love this idea, but I secretly despise finger paint because it's so messy.  Inevitably as soon as it goes on, my son remembers how much he despises it too and wipes his hand on something that shouldn't have fingerpaint on it.  Figures....but still so great.

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And I love these...

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Now, mom if you happen to be reading...skip this next one please.  Yours will be arriving soon and I want it to be a surprise or at least I want you to pretend it was so the kids don't know you saw it!

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Or you could just send an entire hug...with a cute message
"I love you  THISSSSSSSS much" to fill up the arm span.

And I think this is a super cute idea for Valentine's with thumbprints.  We love 

thumbprints too.  

We made thumbprint blank note cards with thumbprint animals as an end of year gift

for our teachers last year.   I wish I had taken a picture of them.  They were super cute!  

So naturally, I was drawn to this idea.   

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These thumbprint bookmarks are super cute and easy too...

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In fact, we love bookmarks so much here that we actually made them for our friends last year as our Valentine's card.  Click HERE for the ones we made for our little preschool friends last year.

They were super simple.  You just 

print them

laminate them (you can do that at any office supply store in an 8 1/2 x 11" sheet)

cut them (make sure not to cut too close to the edge or you will break the laminated seam) 

hole punch them

tie a ribbon through them

Voila!

We also made some custom bookmarks with scrapbook paper for Father's Day...here is one. (Note, this was from my son to my husband...before he could write his name)  My husband uses it ALL the time!

Here are a few other ideas for bookmarks to send in a card to a long distant family member.  How cute would one of these handmade bookmarks be clipped onto a Barnes & Noble gift card for a grandparent?  

A felt bookmark...

If you click on the link below the picture, she has step by step instructions for you on how to make these.  They are really easy and you can even leave out the stitching if you want to keep them even more simple.

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A paper bookmark...

Again, click on the link below the picture for simple instructions.   You can even have your kids write a personal message on this one.

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A paperclip bookmark...

And this could not be more simple.  No need to waste money on the over-priced heart shaped paper clips...make them yourself and send them in a handmade Valentine's day card.  What a great grandparent gift.

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Speaking of handmade cards...wouldn't something like this with a personalized message to your long-distant family member be so great?  You could print it and glue the picture to cardstock for a quick and super cute Valentine's card! 

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Or this one...

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And lastly, I loved these.  I couldn't think of what I would do with them and then I thought of those very expensive Hallmark cards that include a button saying "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Mother's Day" that the recipient can wear on their special day.  So...why not make one of these for your long-distant Valentine to wear?   

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The last idea I want to share could be fun if you interviewed your child and asked them to describe this long-distant Valentine.  You could type it into a heart shape and send it as the card.  If you click on the link, you'll find instructions on how to create one of your own!

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