Valentine's...Free Printables...

Here's our Valentine's wrap up from this year - heart straws, bubbles and goldfish crackers.

Straw Valentines: You are Ex-STRAW special Valentine
We found heart straws at Hobby Lobby in large packages for just $4. Hallie carefully cut out every circle and taped the straw to the card. We had plenty of straws leftover and the other kids have made it a point to use them every day. I find them everywhere!




Bubbles Valentines: You blow me away Valentine
Hunter went with bubbles this year. It's not too boy or girl so he figured everyone would like them. Knowing that he didn't need to write everyone's names, I only left a space for him to sign his name. A short time after he started, I walked into the kitchen to see that he was signing his name, as well as a classmates name. I was worried because I knew he would forget someone, so I questioned what he was doing. He matter of factly said, "I know all the kids in my class mom and I won't forget anyone because I'm going in order of their classroom number." Sure enough, that kid had memorized every kid based on their number 1-27. I even quizzed him by throwing out different numbers and he quickly shot back who the person was assigned to the number. I was impressed and he didn't forget anyone!




Goldfish Valentine: I'm happy we're in the same school
It's funny to think last year it took him forever to write his name 24 times and this year he did it so quickly and with such ease. We found the goldfish at Target in the Valentine's section and we bought them a while ago. It was like torture for the poor guy to have them so early and not be able to take them to school. Note to self: buy his Valentine's two days in advance!





Download Ex-STRAW Special Valentine
Download Bubbles Valentine
Download Goldfish Valentine

Check out more Valentine's day printables for kids here.

Killer anticipation...

Bennett had his Valentine's party last week and to say he was excited is an understatement. Something unique about Bennett (in comparison to our other children) is that anticipation nearly kills him. It doesn't matter what he's anticipating, he can't handle the wait which is why we're very careful as to how far in advance we tell him about anything.

Not too long ago, I told him at the last minute that we would be going to a trampoline park. He was bouncing off the wall for the 10 minutes before we left. Once we arrived and he jumped for 20 minutes, he was anticipating what we would be doing next: Lunch. It was so hard for him to not focus on lunch that he made himself miserable the rest of the time with his friends.

It happens all the time. He can't wait to have a friend over. Once his friend finally arrives, he's got to know what we're doing next and it always ruins whatever moment he's in. He's dying to go to a friends birthday - 30 minutes in he wants to go home and do something else. At breakfast he needs to know what we're having for dinner.

We're really working with him on laying out schedules he can follow so he knows what to expect but that doesn't seem to help. The anticipation is more than he can handle.

So as his preschool teacher continued to talk about the Valentine's party - he was so ready. He wanted his Valentine's done early (once he has something on his mind, he is relentless until it comes to pass). The night before the party he couldn't sleep and several times we had to usher him back to bed. It was no surprise that 4 o'clock in the morning rolled around and he was up and ready to go. He got dressed (in a red shirt, because it was a Valentine's day party after all!) and had his backpack on long before he even needed to be up. It was all he could talk about. You would've thought he was going to Disneyland.

The party came and went and I got very few details about what actually took place - but this is the face he gave me when I told him to give me his excited party face.

Now the only thing he can talk about is his birthday. A birthday that isn't for a while, but nonetheless, he will be talking about it until he sees that birthday bucket on the table and presents with his name on them!

It's exhausting, really.

Valentines Day Box; popcorn bucket...

Hallie was so disappointed last year when her class made "boring paper sacks" to collect their Valentines. I assumed fancy boxes were no longer in her future. Too old for something so cutesy.

She came home Monday this week excited as could be saying she was supposed to make a box. Really? 4 days notice? She has such grand ideas (it's hard to live up to the gumball machine of 2nd grade!) and I knew we were short on time. I presented a couple ideas that would require little effort on my part and she jumped on the first idea; a bucket of popcorn.

I asked Steve to stop by a local movie theater on his way home from work and pick up an empty popcorn bucket. Much to our surprise, they don't sell buckets of popcorn - only paper bags. But the cashier let him know that the dollar store by her house sells a popcorn bucket.

This morning I found myself at that store making a purchase. When Hallie got home from school, she popped some microwave popcorn and I cut out a styrofoam top with a hole to put Valentine's through.


Then the boring process of attaching the popcorn. I ran the hot glue gun and Hallie carefully placed popcorn on one piece at a time. Although it seemed like an eternity, it took less than an hour before the entire bag of popcorn was glued on top of the bucket. And Hallie declared it as awesome. She then stated we should've done an icee cup to go with it. That girl has high standards - Steve is always reminding me the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Valentine Printable Round-up...

Here's a round-up of some free printable valentine's - which is a kind reminder to myself that we've got to get on this year's cards ASAP!


Download Airhead Valentine


Download "Write" Valentine


Download Glowstick Valentine


Download Gumball Valentine


Download Main Squeeze Valentine


Download Dino Valentine


Download Cookies and Milke Valentine

Valentine's Printable Banner...

Here's a Valentine's craft I shared over at HowDoesShe.com.

After the Christmas decor comes down and I've finished sweeping the red and green glitter - I like to get my house back in order. It always feels like Valentine's sneaks up on me and it seems I'm never quite ready to deck the house out again in holiday decor. Don't get me wrong - I love to decorate for the holidays, but some holidays I'm go for simple and Valentine's is one of them.

This year I made a Valentine's rag banner and had the kids make their own decoration with a printable banner I designed for them.





For full instructions and the free printable download, go to howdoesshe.com.

Valentine's Rag Banner...

It's time to start dressing the house in red and pink! A while back, I showed a rag banner I made for Hallie's birthday party in navy and gold. It was surprisingly easy and cheap enough that I've made it again for Valentine's day.

Here's how to make it:
1. Buy 1/4 yard of four different fabrics.
2. Cut 9 one inch strips of fabric. (I folded it and used a rotary cutter to make the process quick)

3. Take each one inch strip (which is the width of the fabric you purchased) and cut them into fourths. I take all the strips of one color and hold them in my hand - fold it over and cut and take each half and cut it again. This will give 36 strips of each fabric.

4. Choose what material you want to tie the fabric to. It could be ribbon, baker's twine, string, etc. Fold a piece of fabric in half with the twine sitting on top of it. Take the ends and put them through the loop and this will create a knot.

5. Continue alternating fabrics, tying knots, pushing the fabrics together until you have the fullness and length you desire.


It really is that easy. This is a sit-on-the-couch-and-watch-a-movie project which is just what I need sometimes!

Valentine's day at school...

The kids came home from school with their boxes/bags overflowing with goodness. Bags were dumped on the table as they sorted through the valentines.

They looked over each card to see who brought what, and then they separated the candy from the cards. Some trades took place and everyone ended up happy. What we saw the most of: spiderman/batman and Frozen of course.

Valentines...Free Printables...

This is what our table looked like this afternoon, Valentine's is in full swing!


Saturday, each of the kids decided what they wanted for their class valentine, here's what they chose:

Capri-Sun Valentines: You are my main squeeze
Bennett's biggest hurdle was having to write his name 24 times. That's a lot for a three year old. After the first row he asked for a break! We printed these on 2 1/2" stickers from Avery.




Dinosaur Valentines: You are Dino-mite Valentine
We found these plastic dinosaurs on Amazon and because we only needed 27 - we now have a nice collection for ourselves!




Oreos and paper straw: We go together like cookies and milk
Hallie really wanted to do slap bracelets. All the bracelets that came in value packs were girly and Hallie was conscious that boys wouldn't want a purple heart bracelet. She opted for something a little more gender neutral.





Download Main Squeeze Valentine
Download Dino Valentine
Download Cookies and Milke Valentine

Check out more Valentine's day printables for kids here.

Lego Valentine's Box...

Hallie came home from school pretty disappointed the other day and announced that she didn't need a Valentine's box because they would be making one as a class.

Hunter came home with a note that he needed a box which instantly resulted in a "No fair, when I was in kindergarten they didn't let us come up with our own."

She sulked for a few minutes and then eagerly jumped on the chance to help Hunter with his box.

We browsed Pinterest and every few seconds he chimed in with, "Wait, scroll up, scroll up. I like that one." Two minutes later I would get the same reaction, different valentine's box. He liked the dragon, the football field, the ninja turtle, the minion and I can't forget the toilet. Seriously - boys! I finally threw out the idea of making a box out of legos. He suddenly made up his mind and he ran upstairs with Hallie and they started sorting all the legos to find all the right pieces. He even came up with the idea for his initials on top.




That boy and his Legos. I'm sure his teacher will be so surprised. Lego birthday. Lego Halloween Costume. Lego disguised turkey. Lego Christmas Card. 100 Legos for the 100th day of school celebration. Lego Valentine's Day box. Awesome.

Looking for free Valentine printables?

Download Airhead Valentine


Download "Write" Valentine


Download Glowstick Valentine


Download Gumball Valentine


Download Main Squeeze Valentine


Download Dino Valentine


Download Cookies and Milke Valentine