Car Mat & Car Cozy

I totally want to make one of these car mats for my little guy for when we are on the go. Thanks Fiskars Craft for the creative idea!

Here is another idea. A car cozy (with tutorial) from My Little Gems.

Fruit Loop Necklaces

Back to the Basics!
Yesterday my (2) kids were needing an inside activity to do. I decided to get out the Fruit Loops and let them each make a necklace. Remember doing this as a kid? I couldn't find any string, so instead I taped a long piece of ribbon (for gift wrapping) to my table.

They were more than entertained! But I decided I could slip some teaching in while they were having fun. With my 4 year old, I taught him about patterns. I picked out 2 colors at a time and we took turns making the pattern on the table before stringing the Fruit Loops. For my 2 year old, we worked on colors. I told her what color to thread on the string and she enjoyed picking the colors out of the bowl and showing them to me.

If you are looking for an easy and fun activity to do with your kids, this was a great idea.

Valentine's Day Hairstyle

Last year for Valentine's Day, I did this heart hairstyle on my-then 4th grade daughter.  Ok so now as I look at this picture I realize that the yellow hair bands and bobby pins showing are not very cute.  At least you can learn from my mistake! :)

There are many hairstyle sites out there that I like to visit to get creative hair tips for my 2 girls. HERE are some more Valentine hairstyles.

Valentine's 2010

Here is what I gave my (2) kids' teachers this year for Valentine's Day. Nothing crazy. I wanted to do something cuter for them, but my life has been so crazy busy lately that this is what I came up with the night before.

My son's teacher happens to be on the HCG diet, so instead of doing something cruel like tempting him with something sweet, I made sure to give him something he will definitely be using...Diet Pepsi! Another phrase that I should have used was "I am SODA-lighted to have you for my teacher!" Oh well I am sure he still drank it!

And finally this was my son's super easy Valentine card box for this year.

To make this, it took about 15-20 minutes. I used a gallon sized ice cream bucket and covered it with Modge Podge and scrapbook paper. I did the same thing for the lid, cutting a hold in the top first and then applying the (pre-measured) paper.
(I took the picture of the Valentine card holder before the Modge Podge dried entirely so you can still see the white gloss. If you have never used Modge Podge, don't worry it does dry clear!)

Baked Candy Canes = LOVE

All you need is a little LOVE. My daughter and her friend were at our house one day and needed something to do. Since Valentine's Day was approaching, I remembered seeing THIS IDEA. I don't know if the stores sell candy canes for Valentine's Day, but I bought mine when they were on clearance after Christmas. It turned out to be a really fun project to do.

(*There is also a site called Candy Blog which lists 33 ways to use left over candy canes!)

Udaman (You-Da-Man) Candy Bar Wrapper

These would make the best Valentine gift for your man this Valentine's Day! Especially if your man loves chocolate and you are looking for something clever but not too expensive, like we probably all are! The idea comes from Jeanne Winters and she has included a free download for the wrapper. Love it!

More Valentine Treat Boxes

Along the lines of my last post, here is another clever treat box for Valentine's Day. These boxes are filled with nuts and gumballs. An alternate idea for the nuts box could be anything peanut butter (my favorite) or chocolate covered nuts. The template and idea for these darling ideas are from My {Creative} Place.

Valentine Treat Boxes

The Scoop has these super cute and easy looking treat boxes (including template). This looks like a fun idea as a treat to hand out/make at a class party.

Valentine Card Box Ideas

Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and most schools will probably have a class party this Friday, here are some fun and clever Valentine card box ideas. Hope these help out!

A school bus from 733:


A Mailbox made from an empty laundry soap box. Directions HERE.


Thomas the train and other ideas from Bliss Tree:


Check out this Snowman Box and Love Bug Ideas at Thrifty Fun:


Some more pictures and ideas from THIS post I did last year.

Fortune Cookies

I LOVE this idea I found at Crafts and Deals! The idea comes from My {Creative} Place. Click for more info. There is a link for how to make these take out boxes or i have seen them at Michael's (craft store) for about $1. If you would like a recipe for homemade Fortune cookies, this is one I had in my files. If you don't have the time this year, you can always buy fortune cookies from the store! Enjoy!

Fortune Cookies
Yield 2 - 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

4 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
1 /4 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar

Mix egg whites with vanilla until foamy but not stiff. In another bowl mix flour, sugar and salt together. (For chocolate cookies add 1 tablespoon cocoa powder to flour and sugar mixture.) Combine egg and flour mixtures - Mixture will be a batter consistency. Baking & Folding Instructions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Cut 2-3 dozen fortunes into strips. Place cookie template near center of a cool baking sheet. Drop a spoonful of batter in the center of the template then spread to the edges of the circle. Remove template and repeat. Start with just 2-3 cookies per sheet because cookies have to be really hot to form them. As you get the hang of it you can do up to 6 cookies to a sheet. Bake 4-5 Min. or until cookie has turned a golden color ½ inch wide around the outer edge. The Center will remain pale. While one sheet is baking, prepare the other sheet. Quickly remove sheet from oven, remove a cookie from the sheet with spatula and place upside down on a clean surface. Place a fortune in the center of the cookie and fold the cookie in half. Hold cookie by pointed ends, round edge pointing up. Place folded cookie over the edge of a cup and pull pointed ends downward one on the inside of the cup and one on the outside. Place folded cookies in a muffin tin to cool.

Thanks to Studio 5, here is another recipe for homemade dipped Valentine fortune cookies.

Valentine Junior Mints

A cute idea and saying for a Valentine's gift using these Junior Mints. Is it just me, but I don't remember seeing these before! And trust me, I think I would have remembered!

*Don't forget to look through the whole blog (cute Valentines)...it is devoted solely to Valentine Ideas. There is also a link to it on my (left) sidebar.

What to Do With Conversation Hearts

Math:
* Graph your conversation hearts based on how many you get of each color. See the following links:

Here is a link to a printable conversation hearts graph. It is the 4th link down on the list. Double click. Click open. Print and use!

From ABC Schoolhouse, here are 15 pages worth of printable Valentine ideas. Including, on page 7 a printable graph for conversation hearts.
* Have the students sort the hearts based on colors and phrases. Make predictions ahead of time and see who comes the closest to their guess.

If you don't want to print out a graph, Grandma Lizzie's house has a variety to the graphing idea, but still the same concept.


* Create a pattern. Can be glued onto construction paper in the shape of a heart.

Literacy:
* Have the students make stories or write sentences based on what phrases they find on their hearts.

Cooking:
* Make your own conversation heart cookies. Make sugar cookies and use a heart cookie cutter. Once the cookies are baked, frost them and write your own special message.
* If you really feel like going all out this year, why not make your own conversation hearts? Learn how at About.com.



Is there anything fun YOU like to do using conversation hearts?

* Cathy BB added: A super-easy and fun game for kids is to have them simply stack the hearts and see how many they can stack before it falls over (counting, fine motor skills, etc). When I did this with my son's third-grade class, they really thought it was a blast.

Find Your Heart Mate

Supplies:
Construction paper hearts
Scissors

How To Play: Cut hearts in half either in different angles, or with decorative large cutting scissors. Hand out the hearts and have the children find their heart-mate!

I have used this game before, but added some learning to the game as well. Here are some other ideas:
* On one half of the heart write a math problem, and the match is the answer to the problem.
* Uppercase letter with lower case letter
* Synonyms
* Antonyms
* Same shape or color as a match (preschool/kindergarten age)

Really the possibilities for this game are endless! Get creative!!

Pin The Lips on Ms. Valentine

Create a Ms. Valentine on a large, heavy posterboard or cardboard. You can use moving eyes, false eyelashes and pipe cleaners for hair (everything but the lips). Put each kids name on a pair of red lips cut out of construction paper and place tape on the back. Place a blind fold on the child and have them place the lips on the Ms. Valentine.

Valentine Scramble

Supplies:
Index Cards
Paper Bags

How To Play: Choose a Valentine word such as: St. Valentine, Chocolate, Heart, Jewelry.... Write the letters of the word on individual index cards. Do this two times, making two sets. Put each set in a brown paper bag.
Divide children into teams. Give each team a bag. The first team to decipher what the word in the bag is wins. A variation of the game would be to divide into teams with the same number of children as there are letters in the word. Each child get's a letter and they must hold onto the card and stand in the proper order to spell the word for all to see.