Sticky Hearts

Photo Credit: Family Fun

 I saw these beautiful yarn hearts in my Family Fun magazine.  Of course they would be messy, but I thought we could handle it.  I also thought they'd be a delightful gift.  Well, at least I was partially right; they were messy.

We began the project on yet another snow day.  The children LOVED cutting the yarn.  Granted, they liked cutting little pieces instead of foot long pieces.

While they cut, I made the cornstarch glue.  This was my first lump of glue.  The directions weren't clear, but still I didn't think I should get a lump of glue.  I even tried adding lots of extra water.  It didn't do much.  The second wasn't much different.  After that I just thinned our school glue a bit and used that. 

 After E (age 2) went down for his nap (since I am a wise mom), M and I got to work making our blobs hearts of yarn.  Warning: Unless you want glue all over, warn your child that it will be sticky and icky.

Basically, we placed a cookie cutter on a bit of parchment paper.  (Parchment was recommended, but wax may have been the better choice.)  Then we dipped our yarn pieces in the glue and squeezed out the extra.  Then we placed it in the cookie cutter.

 I think my expectations would have been a bit more realistic had I known that a 3 inch cookie cutter wasn't nearly large enough.  I made the heart below, and really, it was the only one that didn't look like a blob of the ones that M and I made.  The blurry photo only makes it look better.

However, if you have a way to make a giant yarn heart, I'd say go for it!  Visit Family Fun's directions.  If you are able to make the cornstarch glue, please tell me how!  If you don't want to try that, I would suggest liquid starch.  (I haven't used it since an art class in college, but I think it would be perfect for this project.  You can buy it at your grocery store, too.)

For us, this was a worthwhile craft since the children loved cutting.  M was really disappointed, and I was, too.  However, it was a good lesson for both of us that crafts don't always turn out.  She was actually okay with me throwing out the blobs of yarn.

We made Raggedy Ann and Andy crafts with the extra yarn we cut.  We are enjoying the books a lot!  I think I will stick with the heart hunt for this celebration today.

Valentine Heart Hunt

I like to feel loved and show love, but really, it's a commercialized "holiday."  I still want to show my family love without spending a lot of money.  We played this little game to make a long day a bit more special.  (We have done it before with Easter eggs and Christmas ornaments.  For those of you who celebrate St. Patrick's Day at home, shamrocks would be fun, too.)

We have played this hide and seek game before, but this was the first time I tried to involve E.  He was not interested though.

I cut out pink and blue hearts and "hid" them around the first floor of the house.  At least part of the heart was always visible, and usually most of it was showing.  M was supposed to find the pink hearts and E the blue hearts.

She giggled at the obviousness of this heart.
 I am noticing it's time to clean the fridge door!

 M got the idea to gather hearts in the dump truck.  E still couldn't be convinced to join us though.

Eight of the hearts were of good size-approximately 4 inches.  Each child  M also had 2 smaller hearts to find.  It was also fun for M to hide the hearts for me to find.  (I was hoping the children would do this together.  Maybe in a couple months.)      

This is a fun, no mess activity to show a bit of love.  I intend to take it a step further for M (age 4).  It will also keep the game fresh.  I will be writing numbers 1-20 on the hearts.  Then she'll put them all in order after she finds them.

To focus on real love, I think I will put Bible verses on a few of them to show God's love.  I will only put the reference, that way we have to go to the "grown-up" Bible to see what God says about love.  I am thinking John 3:16 and some LOVE IS verses from 1 Corinthians 13.  What other verses would you suggest?

I'm linking this up with ABC and 123's Show and Tell. 

Printable Valentines!

I was absolutely thrilled to see a post at The Long Thread today highlighting 35 FREE Printable Valentines!  I am certainly not capable of any digital fun such as these, but I can certainly press "print!"

Looking through the bunch, I selected a handful that I thought might interest M to share with her preschool class.  These were her top three, though I think she had a bit of a tough time narrowing them down.

I was really quite excited that these three (especially the zebras) made it into her top choices.

You can find all of these at the link above, but here they are specifically, left to right.

Anders Ruff Pink Printable Valentines

Secret Agent Josephine 12 Colorful Creatures

Bunny Cakes' Zebra Valentines

I found one for my husband, too!

These SUPER Valentines are at Hotcakes.  Her son designed them!!  They were quite the hit with M, but didn't quite make the cut.

No worries on spoiling the surprise for my husband.  He doesn't read this blog, though he does read our family blog faithfully.  

I don't like buying things with licensed characters for the most part and almost every box at the local drugstore is a licensed character.  The other problem with going to the local store is that I would go without M and pick something for her.  She'd be excited for whatever I would choose, but it's so much better to give her the choices and let her pick.  If we were to go together to the store she would like something like Bratz or Spongebob...shows we do not watch.  Okay, I will admit it.  She would likely choose Toy Story or Cars, which would be appropriate, but aren't these printables fun!

 (We do buy books and DVDs though and have plenty of licensed toys...I just try not to purchase them myself.  Am I the only one like this?  Probably.)

M's first choice is actually the pink printables above!  Very feminine and fun!  I think it was the ice cream that convinced her!

What about you?  Will you be making, printing, or buying Valentines?  Don't forget to have that preschooler practice writing or tracing their name!  (In her class last year M was only one of two children who did that!  It's great fun, too, to make the cards personal!)

Owl Valentine's Day Card

When it comes to Valentine's Day, we are pretty cheap around here!  This year was the first year I ever got flowers for ♥ Day.  I love them, but know not to expect them again for a long time.

Please continue reading the details of how to create this Owl Valentine's Day Card over at This Simple Home.  You can also see my daughter's owl card there, too!

Valentine Cards~ Painted

Spoiler Alert: Grandmas and Grandpas may want to skip this post, at least if you are a grandparent to my children!


Don't forget to enter our book giveaway!

We're not big on celebrating Valentine's Day, but with M in preschool and grandparents living far away, we do "celebrate" a bit.  We made cards for some family members.  (I bought some for school.  I know.  I'm awful!!)

I really like the card on the left.

These cards are easy to make!
Paint small, white pieces of paper.  I showed M how to mix the colors of paint right on the paper and encouraged her to cover every part of the paper.  (Lots of white paint with bits of red and blue were used.)  By using small pieces of paper, it gave each card its own look and design.  We let these dry and then put them under some heavy books to flatten them.
Cut frames and heart shapes.  I went the easy route and used my Cricut.  If M was older I would have had her cut the hearts herself.  You could even make the frame out of a heart shape or four skinny rectangles.
Glue the frame on the painted paper and glue hearts inside frame.  Once again the paper curled a bit so I put them under heavy books again.
At this point decide if you prefer the rectangle to be the frame or not.  Trim extra painted paper as needed.
Glue new design onto a folded piece of paper, cardstock, or blank note card.  And again, I needed to flatten out the curls with a heavy book.
Write your message and give to your Valentine!


Unfortunately I am really late in posting this, but as you might guess, this was a multi-day project.  I'm sure it could be done in less time if you use paper that won't curl when it is painted.