more valentines

Sarah jumps right in to make her valentines.  She chose to make them attached to heart lollipops she found at the store.  After her design is made, I scan it in and print more.

Her box was something I was making from a cereal box.  I was just trying to come up with something for my students that might be easy to make in class. (not) So, after my construction of the heart was finished, she took over with purple tissue paper, purple glitter and purple ribbon for a strap. (This girl likes purple!)

Cole came up with his "mailbox" before his valentine.  He wanted a creature who could be fed valentines, so he went to work from our recycle bins.  (We keep many, many items from the recycling bin for when ideas strike.)

Mouth eating air head valentines. Who wouldn't like one?

frog valentine

Chase is hilarious sometimes.  Just look at that tongue.  He cut one valentine heart after another and until all 12 were cut.  He wasn't as eager to write his name on them, so we spread that out over a few days.  (I am so thankful for SonShine Club, where we have the opportunity to share valentines with friends!)  Meanwhile, Scott (his super talented Daddy :) was building this frog mailbox for him from a cereal box:

Because, well Chase is so frog crazy.  His valentine for classmates looked like this last year, with help from Scott:

(And here's the one Scott made for him personally last year):

His frog craze began at age 3 when he first heard a Froggy book read aloud at library story time.  Since then, he's requested to dress like Froggy for Book Character Days (SonShine Club) and Fall Festivals at church.

My sweet Froggy! :)

gum valentines

These were fun to make and give away!  I'm thankful to have students to make them for.  I bought a bunch of Big Red gum packs without knowing how I could use them.  Just in time, I found a creative idea on Family Fun for Cupid's Arrow - made with a pack of gum, wooden skewer, and tissue paper.  (I made them with a paper heart arrow instead of a gumdrop.) 

My students really liked them.  I'm glad to find a way to give away more than a single stick of gum.  Over the years, Cole, Sarah and I have all made and given away these matchbook style valentines.  They're inspired by Martha, made with paper, a staple and one stick of gum. 

The only tricky part to making this one is finding a pack of gum that has the pieces in individual paper sleeves.  Gum is sold so creatively these days, they're hard to find this old fashioned way!

homemade gifts: notepads

inspired by this diy project at Design Sponge

Time to think about Christmas gifts! I hardly have the time (who does?!) but handmade is so much fun to give away. Especially little notepads which are handy for most everyone. Think scrap paper, recycled chipboard (cereal, pop tart, cracker boxes), twine, staples . . .

dot valentines

Cole was playing with the 3-hole punch when it came open and the dots almost fell out. He decided to pour them into a cup. The kids were fascinated by a bunch of paper dots, which gave me an idea for Chase's simple valentine. I poured glue in a heart shape on red rectangles.











He sprinkled paper dots on the glue and then shook them off. I backed the red rectangles with white and thought and thought, and finally came up with a saying to put on them.

Good job, Chase! I'm glad you had fun.

making valentines

This year Cole (8) is fond of robots:and Sarah (6) is all about pop-up hearts: (A little piece of pop-out gum taped inside is a nice surprise!)

I wonder how Chase (3) will make his . . . he is still crazy about Lightning McQueen, but I don't think he's able to draw him. Yet.

Last year, he painted a big watercolor and stamped hearts onto it, from which I cut hearts out and signed the backs.

I'm not sure what he will do this year, but I'm sure it will be fun!

boat making

When we get rain like we've been getting lately, the kids get the idea of making boats. With friends visiting, we pull out the recycling reserve and start building.

Kids notice the potential of a paper tube, yogurt container, plastic tray and whatever else is in the house! I love seeing their hands move with ideas. They inspire me to try without worrying so much about the outcome.













That smile says he's very proud of his go-fish boat!

reversible bag

I've had time to sew! Scott swam with the kids the weekend of my birthday while I made this reversible bag for Sarah. I love reversible, mainly because it means I don't have to finish the edges! One side is for dance, the other is for overnight.

She picked the fabrics from what I had. I said, "Are you sure?" As queen of all things un-matching, she answered firmly, "Yes".

The style is from the Japanese knot bag. (The long handle fits through the smaller handle to close. I started with an idea I found here, made it bigger and added pockets.) Her Nonnie embroidered her name on red fabric for the tags.

Pulling it all together was fun- using red stitching on pink fabric, applying part of an old ballerina t-shirt, and making piping with the unmatching fabric (around the bottom of the dance side).

One project down, and just in time for the first dance class!

valentine mailbox

We made mailboxes for our Valentines at SonShine Club. Cole wanted a Spaceship (capri sun box):and Sarah ended up with a Purse (oatmeal container): The Purse idea came about on accident, after Cole contemplated making it a Rocket. (Once I suggested the straps, we thought it was becoming too "purse-like". Hey, great idea!) Sarah always jumps right in to decorating. I can't watch her work too closely, especially if I have an idea of the outcome in mind. But, it is hers, after all, and it should look like a 5 year old did it. (And this is the best thing about it... She has NO expectations to hinder her having a great time with art. I always love what she comes up with.) I added pom-poms to the bottom for stability and made sure the ribbon strap would be long enough... Shouldn't all Valentine mailboxes have a strap?

waxed leaves

Fall is my favorite season because of the colors.

We gathered up our favorite freshly fallen leaves in the yard. Wanting to keep them around a while, we followed instructions found here to wax our leaves. Added bonus: playing with the wax as it cools in the can.