Sweet Pea's Valentines

Last night, Sweet Pea finished making her valentines for her friends.  I thought I would show them to you now, in case you're looking for a cute idea for valentines.

Aren't they cute?  I loved how they looked all put togehter like this.  Such pretty colors.

Here is a close up.  When we went to look for valentines, Sweet Pea didn't really see anything that "tripped her trigger."  But she loved these bubbles.  And they were not expensive.  We found them at Target...a package of 24 for a few bucks.  So, I bought them for her.  We then came home and searched on Pinterest and Google to see what we could find.  And we found a great tutorial and printable download for this project over at Simply Modern Mom.  Click here to go to the post and read the tutorial.

You might notice ours looks a little different than the sample.  That's mostly because I downloaded the printable a couple of weeks ago and never referred to the tutorial again when I sat down to make this.  So, I remembered it wrong and forgot some of the details.  haha.

I took the printable to Kinkos and had it copied on white cardstock.  (There are four to a page, so I needed about 6 copies.  I think the color copies on carstock were about $1.50 each.  Not too much cost.)  I brought the copies home, and Sweet Pea got out the little Fiskar's trimmer I have and went to town on cutting things out.  She was so independent at it, I was a little blown away.  I had some red cardstock, and she got out the tape runner and started mounting it on red, then trimmed the red around it.  Again, so independent!  (The original sample is not mounted on red cardstock.)

We didn't make a To/From tag, as is shown in the original.  I really like the sample with a tag.  But Sweet Pea wasn't into that.  Instead, she just wrote on the card directly.  It worked out fine.  I also forgot to put the little foam dot on here to adhere the bubbles to the card.  The bubbles seem to be staying on just fine without it.  (But I do think it would be more secure.  I might add a little tape dot on there.  We'll see.

I punched holes in one as a template and then gave that to Sweet Pea to use for the rest of the cards..  Then, Sweet Pea marked the rest of them using that one as a template.  I punched for her.  She cut the ribbons, and I tied the bubbles on for her.  She said to Papa Pea tonight, "Look, Dad.  Mom and I are doing teamwork!"  It was really cute.  She loved making her own valentines and thought it was much more fun than buying them.

Many thanks to Simply Modern Mom for a really cute idea and a nice little download that was a real life saver for me.  This was pretty quick and easy to execute and was a ton of fun for both me and Sweet Pea.

I know Sweet Pea will need to make a valentine box at school.  When I was at Joann's this weekend, I picked up this little metal mailbox for her to decorate.  I think it was 60% off or something like that.  I also got her some stickers, letter stickers, and self-adhesive ribbon.  I gave it all to her and told her to have at it.  Here is what she came up with.  She just loves it.

Somehow in the midst of all this, I got roped in to coordinating her Valentine's Day party for her classroom.  I'm in the throes of planning that now.  I'll show you photos later.  I am planning a post on the full plan for the party, with links for downloads, etc.  Unfortunately, I won't have it together early enough to help you plan something for this year.  But maybe it will be helpful to someone for next year.  I'm really lucky that several of our university students have pitched in to help me, and a number of other parents have pitched in to help as well.  So, I've been able to come up with some ideas and have delegated a large part of the preparations to others.  Many hands sure make light work.  More on the party later.

Valentine's Day has never been one of my favorite holidays.  It's sort of like, "Meh," to me.  But I know the kids get into it, so I'm trying to get into the spirit.  :-)

Do you have any special Valentine's Day traditions or plans?

Until next time,

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Comments

[Maggie Szafranski]

Awesome! I love bubbles! I think I need to find my bubbles and take them to work. They help bring a little silliness to all the tension we are having with the new computer system!

[Jana]

You're such a crafty mom! Love what you came up with.

[Deb]

Great job all around! Love the little mailbox. Sweet Pea did an excellent job! Our usual tradition has been to give a Valentine's luncheon for friends...this year the girls REALLY wanted to, but I'm holding out and just didn't want to bother. I think I'd rather do a spring luncheon with the warm breezes blowing. Unless they talk me into it...

[kathy olkowski]

You are the BEST mom ever! These are absolutely darling! Both of you will be the hit of the party! Can't wait to see what you come up with for that!

[Amy]

Those are so cute! Timothy's class doesn't hand out Valentine's anymore :( and Lily has ditched all of my ideas so she is creating her own with lots of hearts and heart stickers!

[Thimbleanna]

Those are adorable! Cute little SweetPea -- she is her Mama's child LOL. Sounds like you've got a big, fun party in the making. I used to love to do that stuff when the kids were little. Oh, and the "check" is in the mail LOL -- just in time to help with the party prep!

[jenclair]

What a fun and clever idea! Love the mailbox!

[Cindy]

This is adorable! I miss my boys being little and doing all this. I love the mail box too!

[terriaw]

What sweet valentines to give friends! And that mailbox is so adorable. Looks like it could double as a fun lunch box. How fun to be planning a Valentine's Day party for the school kids. I bet lots of crafts are going on in your house right now!

[Cathy]

How sweet. Everyone will feel so special when they get Sweet Peas valentine. I love the mailbox. Hugs

[carolld]

What a great idea! You are the best Mom. I love the bubble idea. And that mail box is so cute! You are one crafty Mom! Looking forward to seeing your post about the party. I bet it will be great! Those kids are so lucky to have you.

[Carla]

Your little girl will never forget making these and the kids in her class will feel so special to receive something handmade! What a great mom you are. Now, I must make a trip to Target for those cute little bubble bottles!!

[PegVan]

Those are both so cute! Looks like Elsa has inherited her mother's talent for design! Very cute valentines, and I love the mailbox! Great job, Elsa!

[Melissa]

Cute! I buy those little mail boxes every year for my nieces & nephews! Dollar bin at Target.

I wish I would make homemade Valentines but Eli picked out Spiderman Valentines and that's fine by me!

[Donna]

These are adorable! Sweet Pea did a great job on the Valentines and her mailbox. She is creative like her mother! I remember being in charge of my girls parties at school and will treasure those days forever. It was always a lot of work but fun.
Hugs
Donna

[Jackie W.]

Your daughter is super talented! Just like her mom=)

[Lynn]

Yikes! I haven't even thought about Valentines! I guess we need to take care of that this weekend. Sweet Pea's are super cute! And I love the little mailbox too!

[Linda in Calif.]

Cute valentines, and a cute project. I remember you made them last year too. I'm so happy someone else is meh about the holiday too. I think it's fine but all the hype (ads) gets to be annoying.

[Ellie Q]

Like mother, like daughter! Glad to see she has the crafty bug! I'm into Valentine's Day for one thing--the chocolate! Beyond that, it's just fun to get into it for the kids' sake.

[Linda]

Those are such cute Valentines and a great idea!!!! No more valentines for school her but that would've been really cool to do!