Valentines Day Inspiration 2014

Valentine's Day is two weeks away. Earlier this week it was around -30 degrees here, so it was fun just camping out in the house all day and avoiding the cold!  Perfect time to get festive for February 14th :)

The two framed hearts on the right are free printables from Tatertots and Jello.

I made the wreath, framed heart, and banner a couple years ago.  You can find those links here.

This year we added a few arrows in the mix.  I used sticks, felt, and a glue gun to hold it all together.  

We filled a jar with a little Epsom salt and added some sticks and wood hearts. 

A mini vial with Epsom salt and a paper heart.

Happy Creating :) 

Sharing here:

Friday Flair (WhipperBerry)

Frugal Friday (Wendy@The Shabby Nest)

Pity Party (Mique@Thirty Handmade Days)

What's Shakin' {Keri @ Shaken Together}

Weekend Wrap Up Party (Jen@Tatertots & Jello)

Strut Your Stuff Saturday (Six Sisters Stuff)

Valentine Heart Wreath {without a hole}

Rolling these little flowers takes forever, but goes quickly late at night when the kids are in bed and I'm catching up on the DVR.  :)

I cut a big heart out of a piece of thick and sturdy cardboard.  I covered that with red paper just in case I didn't glue my flowers close enough and the cardboard peeked through.

I rolled the flowers using the same tutorial I used on this Valentine wreath.

A few burned finger tips later I had all my felt flowers hot glued in place :)

 Every single time I make a wreath, I always forget to attach the ribbon or wire for hanging before I start.  Every single time!  You would think I'd learn...sigh.

So when I was finished gluing and finally remembered, I poked through the cardboard with wire to attach a ribbon for hanging.  

I hope that holds... 

Happy creating all :)
sharing here: Mop It Up Mondays (Kristi@I Should Be Mopping the Floor)
Made By You Monday (Cindy@Skip to my Lou) Tip Me Tuesday (Laurie@Tip Junkie)
Take-A-Look Tuesday (Sugar Bee Crafts)
Inspiration Board (Carolyn@Homework)

Halloween Jar printable

I am so excited that I am actually a wee bit ahead this year with halloween.   Let's just hope I stay on a roll until christmas ;) To kick off the spooky season, I am happy to share my first printable with you!   

this is the first time I've tried offering a printable to share, so I hope it works without a glitch ;) I printed mine as two to a page to get it to the size I wanted.

You can attach a little creepy crawly bug for giving to classmates.

I found a big bag of bat rings at Walmart and attached those to the card.

I love the Halloween colored baker's twine.

You can see here I just cut a slit in the card and pushed the ring through to hold it in place.

You can use these to make as cards for family, too.  

add a couple sweet little thumb prints and turn them into spiders.

Find my printable Halloween jar here

enjoy!
 ♥ Happy creating ♥
linking up here: The Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming Made By You Monday (Cindy@Skip to my Lou) Tatertots and Jello Link Party Palooza

halloween favors for school {WITHOUT candy}

i was hunting on pinterest for some fun ideas for candy-free halloween treats.  most of what i found was loads and oodles of ideas for creatively packaged candy.  

since i'm sure there are other mama's out there looking for ideas that don't include candy, i'm sharing my finds with you today.

so if your kiddos school has food-free parties, or you're just looking to avoid the extra sugar shock ;) here are some ideas for you...

 Please pin all photos below from the original souces 



1.  Glow sticks super inexpensive and useful while trick-or-treating later at night

ladybug's Teacher Files{includes printable}

Oink {includes printable}






2. Pencils
these are packaged too cute to pass up, and an inexpensive idea

Jill's Card Creations

Simple Flourishes

aubabi78

3. Book markers

i love this idea. especially for the early grades when they are starting to read chapter books.  hand make some to give to the class or print ones with Halloween themed jokes.   

healthy mama info

activity village






4. Play do
if there are any wheat allergies in the class it's best to pass on this idea.  if not, it would make a fun favor with a small cookie cuter included.  or let your kiddo dress up the outside of the can with construction paper.  

create-celebrate-explore

the idea room

5. Kid made craft
depending on their age, they might love making something to give to classmates.  ideas for this are limitless.  these are a few fun ones i came across...

skeleton necklaces

bread tag monsters

Martha Stewart

bat clothes pins

6. Pirates and Princesses
i love this one.  a halloween wand for the girls and a pirate patch for the boys. at some crafts stores you can find cheap wands for embellishing.  

prettimini

source

7. Halloween Trinkets

bags of halloween favors are in every store.  package them with a small tag or pick a few favors to put in a baggie with a halloween bag topper.

Not just a mommy

Amazon

PricklyPress

8. Crayons with a coloring sheet
you can find an inexpensive bag of party favor crayons at any big box store.  print out and roll up a halloween coloring sheet to include with it.  you can get as creative as you want with this one.

MrsCraftyRVing

WizardAtWork

kids-n-fun

9.  Fun Cups
last year i found set of 8 pumpkin cups in the Target dollar section.  this is another idea that can work for any cost range.

LexiesShop

iHaveAFavor

10.  Stickers and Tattoos

this is an easy one.  Target sells big bags of these, and they even come in a little box ready for handing out to classmates.

Oriental Trading

11.  Puppets

the younger ones would love these, and again, this can work for any price range.  making ghost hand puppets using white stretchy gloves, black felt, and a glue gun is the most inexpensive option. 

Sing of Sixpence

MFcrafts

Mama Smiles

And a couple food-free treats for the teacher:

a roll of toilet paper with a tag that reads, "that's a wrap".

Who is Tracy

hand sanitizer with a tag that reads, "germs are scary".

source

have fun creating with your little ones this halloween ♥

linking up at...

504 Main Tickled Pink
Shabby Nest Frugal Friday
What's Shakin' Link Party
Link Party Palooza