Valentine's Day Activity Round Up

Looking for some unique ways to celebrate Valentine's day?  I've rounded up my favorites from the archives, enough to celebrate through the entire month of February with your little sweeties - go on, make memories!

                    

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Just a quick post to wish you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I posted last year about a frugal find for exploring sculpture and how we tied it into learning about  Saint Patrick and wanted to share for those of you new to the blog. Enjoy!

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I hit the jackpot! Have you seen those Magic Nuudles Bloxx? They look like a fantastic craft material and I love the idea of exploring sculpture with them but they’re a bit pricey.  I found a cheapo option in shipping supply aisle at Staples - cornstarch packing peanuts! They’re not quite as colorful, but for $10 you’ll get more than triple the amount of fluffy fun. Of course…an even cheaper option is to hang on to your packing peanuts when receiving mail!



A damp sponge was just the right amount of moisture for Claire - a little goes a long way in getting these guys to stick together. If you are too generous with the water, the result is sad and disintegrated noodle goo. Claire added on lots of file sorting stickers and I helped with a bit of pink yarn for the tongue. And voila! A cool snake sculpture! I can’t wait for Claire to try some more shapes, right now she’s only interested in sticking them together end to end. I suppose we’ll slowly work our way up sculpting the Eiffel Tower, heehee!




I've got a book on hold at the library by Sheila McGill-Callahan called The Last Snake in Ireland. It's a perfect literature connection for this activity and Saint Patrick's Day! We've read it before and its a hoot to read out loud. 

I’m off to drive away the snakes like Saint Patrick. I suppose clearing my table of cornstarch serpents isn’t quite as impressive as driving them out of Ireland, is it?

Batik on Paper Revisited for Valentine's Day

My daughter informed me this morning that since it's Valentine's Day, M&Ms were in order for breakfast. As cute as she was (especially with her pronouncing them m-E-m's) we settled on a few red ones to celebrate and had our usual egg breakfast.

I've received many emails about the batik on paper technique featured here. I guess Pinterest has really taken off, hundreds and hundreds of people seem to be arriving to check out our creation and in my first post on the method, I did a rather poor job describing how we achieved the effect. In case you were wondering, here is the product of our last experiment:

Batik on Paper. Wherever the glue was used, the paint still appears wet and glossy!

SO -- Batik on Paper for Valentine's Day it is!

A good quality watercolor paper is in order for this project, things are going to get really wet.

Using Elmer's Blue Gel school glue, create a pattern or write some words (that's me who did "love" in case you were wondering, heeehee!)

We always seem to do artwork in jammies around here!

Allow to dry over night. This is probably the hardest part for Claire, the gel will feel dry in about an hour, but you're going to be painting over it so make sure it's really, really dry.

Go nuts with liquid watercolors (try an eyedropper, what a great lesson in color mixing!)
 I've referenced them all over the blog, and these are my favorites. They're super concentrated so diluting them to get more mileage is fine.

Unlike fabric batik, we're leaving the glue in place. My original goal back when I first attempted this was to peel off the glue (like a non-stinky rubber cement to make kid friendly watercolor resist paintings). Leave the glue alone to dry it will remain raised and intensely shiny.

 

Lastly, sprinkle some table salt around the picture to chase some of the colors away. Claire used a liberal amount on a few of these hearts and the crystals look like snow on the paper now! And for those of you who'd like a visual aid (I'm still figuring out this pinterest thing, bear with me) for your digital pin boards....here ya go!

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Here are the exact products I've used. I think the watercolor paper in a pack of 100 is the most affordable option in terms of paper. You want something really thick and the 15 sheet pads are really pricy at my local crafts store. 

      

Creative Idea for an Art Inspired Present

I'm always on the lookout for unique gifts that encourage creativity and I just had to share this one -- blank pop-up books. Paired with markers and a classic storybook it would make an awesome themed present.

You might recall I blogged about our mutual obsession with pop up books and a few of our favorites a while back. Now that Claire his hit age 4, she is really into storytelling AND still fascinated with the mechanics of pop up books. Her plots may meander a bit, but she's got lots of ideas and I'm looking forward to having a commemorative book or two celebrating her imaginative tales.

The pages look pretty sturdy and I imagine you could paint or decoupage them. My creative gears are churning away!

If you have older children and are looking for something really neat, check out this book. It's not quite as open ended and requires a bit more piecing things together, but in terms of paper mechanics, I think it's a great book!

Will your little ones be unwrapping any creative gifts this year?

Check your office store for cheap art supplies!

I’m always inspired by Valerie over at Frugal Family Fun, she’s constantly coming up with cute and creative ideas that involve office supplies. So yesterday, when I took a trip to Staples (after my wireless card jumped off the bed and broke into 43 pieces) I made sure to take a quick spin around looking for crafty goodies.





I hit the jackpot! Have you seen those Magic Nuudles Bloxx? They look like a fantastic craft material and I love the idea of exploring sculpture with them but they’re a bit pricey.  I found a cheapo option in shipping supply aisle - cornstarch packing peanuts! They’re not quite as colorful, but for $10 you’ll get more than triple the amount of fluffy fun. Of course…an even cheaper option is to hang on to your packing peanuts when receiving mail!


A damp sponge was just the right amount of moisture for Claire - a little goes a long way in getting these guys to stick together. If you are too generous with the water, the result is sad and disintegrated noodle goo. Claire added on lots of file sorting stickers and I helped with a bit of pink yarn for the tongue. And voila! A cool magic nuudle style snake sculpture! I can’t wait for Claire to try some more shapes, right now she’s only interested in sticking them together end to end. I suppose we’ll slowly work our way up sculpting the Eiffel Tower, heehee!



I've got a book on hold at the library by Sheila McGill-Callahan called The Last Snake in Ireland. It's a perfect literature connection for this activity and Saint Patrick's Day! We've read it before and its a hoot to read out loud. 

I’m off to drive away the snakes like Saint Patrick. I suppose clearing my table of cornstarch serpents isn’t quite as impressive as driving them out of Ireland, is it?

                                                                                          

St. Patrick's Day Lacing Cards | Shamrock and Rainbow Lace Ups

It's been a while since I posted a free printable. Fancy some St. Patrick's Day lace up cards?

I couldn't find any printables online so I whipped up my own. You'll have to excuse my less than perfect attempt in Photoshop, but it gets the job done. I'm thinking this is far less of a craft failure then my puffy paint to soap crayon attempt (sorry, couldn't help linking that one again - if you haven't seen it yet it's worth clicking over, I promise). If you snort coffee up your nose I cannot be held responsible.

Lovely Stained Glass Windows

We're putting a Valentine twist on the Tissue Paper and Window Collage over at Filth Wizardry. The colors are just gorgeous and I couldn't be happier with the finished result.

Great Valentine's Reads In Books and Online

I visited my local library Monday, really sad that the due date had arrived for our Valentine's story books. After reading "Sweethearts" by Jan Carr every night for the past two weeks, I've grown rather attached to the sweet family of panda bears who inhabit its pages. Of all the holiday themed books we checked out, this was by far my favorite.

Top Secret Love Notes

This is one of the coolest valentine ideas I’ve seen on the web yet. Write your loved ones a secret message in invisible ink. All you need is some lemon juice and a heat source. For the full how to, head on over to MiniEco. This blog is one of my favorite stops on the Internet - colorful photography and a plethora of crafts that are easily accomplished at home.

Wouldn’t this be a fun activity to encourage a budding writer or artist? I’m planning to give my daughter a message full of hearts to show my love.

Shhhh! don’t tell her, it’s a secret!

DIY Heart Stamp

I’m sure I can’t be the first person to come up with this concept – but what a great (and frugal) alternative to the overpriced Valentine stamps at the local craft store. I mean, come on – $5 for a HEART?

I raided the container of $1 foam hearts (with stickers!) from Target and stuck them on Claire’s blocks. I doubled them up to make sure the surface was really raised, makes stamping things easier for the chubby-fisted toddler in my life.

Spray Paint Valentine’s Cards

Part of the joy of creating art is the process. In fact, the process IS the joy and the whole purpose in much of the preschool art experience. Exploring materials, experimenting with different techniques -- this is where the excitement is at! Here’s our take on a process oriented Valentine.

Tugging on Heart Strings

I hope no one is getting tired of all our Valentine’s crafts – I have a few more to post! This idea came from the Feb 2011 issue of Family Fun (great magazine, I dog-ear at least 10 pages each issue which is my criteria for keeping a magazine subscription).

I did run into some issues with the cornstarch glue. It seems I’m not the only one – at least Kim from Life of a Modern Mom had the good sense to jump ship and move on to the Elmer’s glue. I was trying to reach “translucency” with a bunch of white goop in my pot that seemed ready to solidify. I took the mixture out of the pan and found the perfect solution…

Valentine's Day Wreath Toddler Style

Crafty Claire strikes again, there is a poofy, pink and very glittery wreath on my front door. It's fab.
Did I mention the glitter?

I'm thinking everyone needs a wreath like this on their front door. And I'm sure this is proof that I've been sniffing too much polyurethane while finishing our staircase.

Three stairs down and at eleven to go...I'm sure there will be lots of crafty goodness to share in the coming weeks as this home improvement project wraps up (or as I get tired of sanding). I've got to keep this kid occupied so while I'm slaving away, Claire's been whipping up some Valentine's Day decorations.

I cut out a bunch of hearts from some heavy duty watercolor paper and Claire went to town painting them and liberally sprinkling them with glitter. And I mean LIBERALLY...the whole wreath is a-glowin' and I'm just glad it's hanging on the outside of the house.

Claire enjoyed using the stapler for the first time. We counted out four sheets or so per flower and alternated between accordion folds and poofing and just stapling tissue paper straight to the wreath.

I hesitated introducing the stapler since I once stapled my sister's fingers together. We were terrified to tell my mother so I pried them apart and told her to suck it up. She managed to play flute and oboe just fine so I'm sure there was no lasting damage. Heh heh, I'm a great big sister ;-) Love ya, Laurie.

Love the nose scunch in this photo

My plan was to weave some tissue paper flowers through a wire wreath form (leftover from Christmas). That proved rather tough so I improvised:

At least I didn't use the greasy side. The pizza aroma just adds to the experience, trust me. 

And here is the finished project in all its glittery, pink glory:

Be sure to let me know if you tackle this project, I love to feature other mums and their blogs! Upload your images to our facebook page for some virtual pats on the back.


Want to see more Valentine's projects? Don't miss the V-day recipe for sweet and crunchy heart apple chips, a DIY project for heart stamps using building blocks and our spray painted Valentine's!

Merry Christmas!

I sure hope your family had a wonderful Christmas, we celebrated with a big family gathering, lots of delicious food and much laughter. Watching Claire just enthralled by all the magic of Christmas was the best gift of all.

And snow?! Well we certainly got that. Our first storm of the season, and what a storm it was. Our family left late on Christmas day rather then risk getting caught in the blizzard. We were sorry to see everyone head out early but I won't lie and say that spending boxing day in PJs sipping eggnog and eating random leftovers wasn't fun.

I'll be so sad to take down our tree and decorations this year. Claire was so excited to help out. If there was a surface that could be covered in ornaments or greenery she was all over it! We spent evenings leading up to Christmas cutting snowflakes out of coffee filters, making evergreen wreaths and garlands and generating huge messes of glue and glitter for our paper punch ornaments. By the way - shatterproof ornaments are a fantastic invention, Claire helped me string them up everywhere! I'll have to post a tour of all our decorations but if you look carefully in the background of these photos you'll catch a glimpse of our handiwork.

I have a feeling that tossing the tree this year might be a bit of problem considering Claire is STILL decorating it. To make letting go easier, I'm thinking of having her string it with some popcorn and cranberries for our bird friends. We can watch them feast and enjoy the tree just a little longer without having pine needles underfoot in our living room for another month. Let's hope this works, otherwise there are going to be lots of tears or a tree up in February over here! I'm not sure which is worse!

If I'm not blogging before the New Year, let me take the time to wish you and yours a healthy and happy one!

Coming Soon to a table near you...

Meatloaf is not my strong point but last year I saw NotMartha's monster meatloaf and had to give it a try. Of course I was lacking in both a freaky gelatin hand mold and decent meatloaf recipe. So I winged it.

Meat, oatmeal, onions, carrots, zucchini, eggs, spices, ketchup, tomatoes...why oh why did I not write down what went into this DELICIOUS creation?! My best meatloaf ever and no way to recreate it. Ugh.

I covered my free-handed hand (get it?!) in ketchup and provolone cheese and served up the gruesome feast to Claire and Dan.

Clapping hands followed. Ok. I'll stop now.

We'll also be revisiting the witches fingers recipes. I am totally adding some of our homemade strawberry jam to the nail beds and "stumps." We brought some of these down to the "Grands" last year and although the looked rather disturbed eating them, the plate came home empty.

Have I mentioned Claire wants to be a ghost for Halloween? Is it wrong to send your kid out wrapped up in a blanket? It IS what she wants...but I had grand plans of turning her into a tree with the miniature birdhouses we bought. She was admiring a pair of brown cowgirl boots at Old Navy today, maybe we'll go for a cow girl look!

Santa's Visit!

Claire must have been a good girl this year, Santa and company brought lots of gifts and I'm predicting a year of very exciting play!

Pretend play rules supreme right now, Claire especially loves imitating things she sees around the house. In her new play kitchen, she's making mean cups of tea for Daddy every night and we've had many treats of "happy cake" delivered right from her "hot hot oben or mikeywave." If you don't blow out the pretend candles (over and over again) the chef gets very upset. The play kitchen is a HUGE hit, just the right size for her to reach everything and attractive enough for placement in a corner of our dining room.

Huggy Baby, Teddy and Baby Baby have a nice little set up going in the living room with a choice of pack and play, bouncy seat or table side high chair (which looks remarkably like cousin Aidan's seat!). Claire's little play table is set up right near her kitchen for meals with her stuffed friends or parents.

Claire received a fantastic set of cutting foods (velcroed wooden fruits and veggies) which she cuts up and washes before throwing the whole lot in her pot for stew. These mixed up wooden meals are quite delicious especially when served by a 2 year old wearing a chef hat and apron. I'm hoping to grab a photo of Claire in her full cooking regalia today...cross your fingers that she's into them, there is no forcing a 2 year old to dress up if she doesn't want to!

In other playtime fun, the nuts and bolts are still a challenge in the wooden toolbox Santa brought. Daddy's help is sought out for those, but she is a pro with the hammer and nails enthusiastically fastening on layers of tabs and nailing them together. Dear Melissa and Doug - we LOVE you and all your wonderful wooden toys!

Thankfully even with all the excitement and new toys it doesn't look like a Toys R Us explosion in my living room (well, anymore). Right after Christmas I pared down what we had out and it really seems to focus Claire on the whole play - put away cycle.

Resetting the Kid

Dan asked me last night what grand plans I had in store for Claire today. The answer was simple.

None.

After more then 20 hours in the car over the past week, bunches of new toys and many family visits, we all could use a break. As Dan eloquently put it, a "oh, you're resetting Claire."

So for the next few days we're taking it easy at home, playing with some of the new toys (I'll share some tomorrow!) and just plain relaxing. I'll be rebooting my kid back into the rhythms of our day...wish me luck. If all goes well, I just might have Huggy-Baby tell you all about some of Claire's new playthings tomorrow. Hint, look in the background...