Cute Valentine Box Idea #19 - Vending Machine!

This Vending Machine was a huge hit - I had better pictures but lost them when my phone crashed! 

Supplies:

Large box

Light Red cardstock paper or wrapping paper.

Dark Red Cardstock to cut child's name letters out of and for hearts.

Saran Wrap

Tape

9 small boxes of candy

Glue

Knife or Scissors.

How to make:

1. Cut a large square out of the front of the box.

2. Cut a piece of Saran wrap the size of the front of the box and tape it to the inside of the box - make sure to tape it very well so it will hold up.

3. Glue or tape the 9 boxes of candy face out so that you can see all 9 of them from the front of the box.

4. Once the candy is laying down, cut another piece of saran wrap and put it behind the candy boxes. Secure this second piece of saran wrap very tightly to hold the boxes of candy in. Tape all around the saran wrap edges onto the inside of the box.

5. Close the box lid with tape or glue.

6. Wrap the box with red wrapping paper or red cardstock paper. Ideally entirely around the box if you have enough! Make sure not to cover the saran wrap area!

7. Cut a slit out of the top or side of the box to insert valentines.

8. Decorate the box with darker red, pink and/or purple hearts.  Cut out the letters of your child's name if desired and glue to the box.  Decorate to your hearts content!

This was a fun, unique box that my son was so happy about.  

Check out our other Valentine boxes, crafts, treats and party ideas HERE!

Valentine I "Chews" You Craft!

This is so SIMPLE, and so cute. You can do it to hand out as Valentines or as a craft in class or at the party.  Students cut out their heart out of red cardstock or red posterboard.  Then used zig-zag scissors to cut the heart in half.  Glue the top half to the top of the clothespin and the bottom half to the bottom of the clothespin.  Then glue two eyes on top and voila - you have a fun craft.  Valentine I "Chews" You!!

Check out our other Valentine ideas for boxes, crafts, parties, treats, etc. HERE!

Creative Valentine Box #13 - Valentine's Wii!

My 4th grade daughter made this Wii Valentine's Box all herself and I thought it was a fun idea! This is about as easy and simple as it gets and I loved that she was able to do it 100% herself...

Supplies Needed:

Smaller Sized Cereal Box

Scissors

White Butcher Paper/Wrapping Paper (Regular Paper can work as well)

Tape

White or Red String

2 Rectangular wooden blocks (or empty boxes)

Marker

Paper Hearts, Foam Heart Stickers or other Decor

Directions:

1. Wrap the Cereal box and 2 Rectangular Wooden Blocks with white paper

2. At the end of the cereal box, cut a rectangular opening for Valentines to be able to be inserted.

3. With a marker, draw the buttons and words on the Wii remotes to match.

4. Tape or glue paper hearts and foam stickers on the Wii and remotes as desired.

5. Tape String to the end of the remote to symbolize the cords.  My daughter did it in a big loop.

Simple, make it yourself, and cute!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Check out our other Valentine's Day Box Ideas and TONS of Valentine's Party, Craft, Game, Treat and Book Ideas!

Cute Homemade Valentines for School Kids

Last year I realized we had moved to a very creative area when my son received 4 homemade Valentines that were adorable and fairly easy {Although not nearly as easy as those Dollar Store Valentine Boxes!}.  Had to share with you all!

 "I Chews You!" with a bag of gumballs

 "You are one in a Minion" with a Minion Twinkie (Some of the cutest, but way more intricate, Minion Twinkies I've seen were here!)

 "Valentine of all the fish in the sea... You're the one for me!" with a baggie of goldfish

"So Glad We're In The Same School!" With a baggie of Swedish Fish. Notice that the card is designed like a fishbowl to represent a "School of Fish"

Don't miss out on our huge selection of Valentine Party Ideas, Gifts, and Valentine Boxes! And please comment below any fun ideas you have seen!

Leprechaun Traps Inspired by The Night Before St. Patrick's Day book

My kids love the book The Night Before St. Patrick's Day  by Natasha Wing which is a twist on the classic "Night Before Christmas" poem. In the book, the children make various traps to try to "catch" a leprechaun. We have fun with this tradition as well. You can see some of our past leprechaun traps here and here. Last year, we made some simple leprechaun traps inspired by those in the book:

The first trap we made was based on the picture of a trap above that was on a hanger. We didn't have a collapsible vegetable steamer as it looks like the kids used in the book, so we just use a coffee filter (I buy packs of filters at the dollar store to use for crafts), that we hole punched and tied to the hanger with colorful yarn.

Inside we put some pretend gold coins to lure the leprechaun!

We also made a second leprechaun trap with a linking cube tower, topped by a toilet paper tube that we covered with green paper and St. Patrick's Day stickers. A homemade popsicle-stick ladder led up to the tube that had a  tempting necklace hanging from it, and it led to a cup covered with shamrock stickers and another fake coin in the bottom.

 This was inspired by the Lego/tin can/toilet paper tube trap shown in the illustration from the book above. It was fun to try to bring these "leprechaun traps" from the book to life. The next day, the traps were upset, and a little treat was left for the kids. I usually leave the kids chocolate gold coins from a pretend leprechaun. You can find gold coins at Trader Joe's, Party City, or sometimes the dollar store. We also like to throw a few things in our house topsy turvy as if a leprechaun has been making mischief. We hang toys from the ceiling fans, turn the kids' chairs upside down, and more. It doesn't take much to have a little fun and make a little magic with your kids. More ideas for leprechaun mischief can be found here.

Last year, one of our children was in the hospital with pneumonia on St. Patrick's Day, and he even made his own little trap out of things we were able to scrounge around the hospital. His trap was made from a styrofoam cup and pieces of paper he colored. The papers were all taped on his trap with medical tape the nurse gave us.

It taught us that you don't have to have something fancy or elaborate to have fun! Being sick in the hospital was miserable for him, but a special note from a "leprechaun" and a package of M & M's did wonders, cheering up this sick little boy on St. Patrick's Day morning.

For more St. Patrick's Day ideas, see our collection of previous posts here or my Pinterest board here!

10 Creative Homemade Valentines and Valentine Gifts

1. Chocolate Covered Oreo Valentine Suckers

I made these just the same way I made chocolate covered oreos for Christmas, except instead putting crushed up candycanes on top, I put valentine colored sprinkles and stuck a small wooden skewer in the bottom to make it a popsicle. (Regular popsicle sticks don't work as well with oreos because they sometimes are too big and push the oreos apart, but a small wooden skewer makes a great popsicle stick).

You can give these out with the saying "I'm a Sucker for You" (Cute free printable here)

2. Heart Attack--I did this for my husband on the door to our room. I printed out pictures from the last 10 years of our marriage/dating and then cut out hearts on wrote things I loved about him on each heart.

3. Books with the saying "You Wrote the Book on . . . "

I have a free printable here with the sayings "You Wrote the Book on Being Cool!" and "You Wrote the Book on Being Cute!"

(You could also use this saying with a bookmark instead of a book).

4. Puzzle with the saying "I Love You to Pieces."

This was a puzzle my son's friend made for him by painting a blank heart-shaped puzzle he had purchased at the store. You could also make your own heart shaped puzzle by cutting out a heart on heavy paper, cardboard, or foam board.

5. Felt heart with the saying "Love is Felt."
My sweet 93-year-old grandma made these felt heart magnets for us. It is just a felt heart on a small doily with a magnet on the back.

6. Stained Glass Valentine--I found this idea on Pinterest and created my own version of this valentine to give to my husband. I just used ready-made black puff paint and oil pastels.

7. Lift-a-flap Book Valentine
I made a miniature book out of paper, and then used post-it-notes as my lift-a-flaps. Under each flap I wrote something I loved about the person I was giving the valentine to.

8. Pop-up Valentine--We used  this template from Robert Sabuda's Website to make easy pop-up valentines (Check out all of the other pop-up templates on his website as well! They are so fun to do with kids).

9. Melted Crayon Shaving Valentine Hearts--Instructions for these melted crayon hearts are in my L is for Love Post. Basically, place crayon shavings between pieces of waxed paper and use a hot iron to melt the wax and create a cool design.

(In this picture they are hung from the ceiling as decorations, but they could also be used as part of valentine cards).

10. Handprint/Footpint Heart--Nothing is sweeter than seeing your little child's hands or feet preserved in art. You could do two hands together to form a heart:

(I've also seen a heart formed from two feet with the saying, "I love you from the bottom of my heart to the tips of my toes."

Or even one simple handprint on a doily can be sweet. My daughter did this one at the library and it was paired with a quote from the book I'll Love You Forever.

Be sure to also check out 6 Creative Homemade Valentines that we shared last year, and see all of our Valentine's Ideas here!

I also have a Pinterest Board just for valentine cards and gifts.

Homemade Cardboard Boxes and Blanket Forts, a Perfect Snowy or Rainy Day Activity

 Kids are home for Winter, Spring or Summer Break and you are trying to figure out how to keep their minds engaged rather than video games and movies the whole time?  It's easier in the Spring or Summer as the outdoor activities are endless.  But Winter can be a little trickier.  Here are a few ideas for you.

#1: Pull out a cardboard box, scissors, paint, etc.  Let your kid's imaginations go wild.  My son came up with a "monster" box and used it as a costume.  Kids can make a play house, or a toy kitchen, a decorative table for a tea party, etc.  For fabulous ideas on things to build, read one of my favorite books growing up, Christina Katerina and the Box!

#2: Blanket Forts.  We set up cardboard tables and pull out blankets.  The kids then build their own forts.  {The books on top are just to hold the blankets in place}.  The kids can fill the fort with activities or books.  Perfect for a fun afternoon read-a-thon!

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Halloween Party Favors and Crafts: Candy Spiders and Pumpkins

This might look familiar if you saw my Halloween Spider Hairstyle.  It's actually what inspired the hairstyle! These are 2 adorable Halloween crafts that can be used at a class Halloween party, as a gift, as table decor,  or as a party favor. And they are SO easy to make:

 

Materials Needed:

Netting (Orange or Black depending on which you are making)

Pipe Cleaners (Green or Black)

Googly Eyes

Hot Glue Gun

Candy Corns

Pumpkin Instructions:

1. Cut netting into squares about 4 1/2" x 4 1/2"

2. Lay Candy corn in the center (8-10 pieces)

3.  Pull all sides of the netting  to the center as if you are now holding a bag

4. Wrap one green pipe cleaner around the pumpkin

5. Twist each end of the pipe cleaner around your finger to create the vines

 

Spider Instructions:

1. Cut netting into squares about 4 1/2" x 4 1/2"

2. Lay Candy corn in the center (8-10 pieces)

3.  Pull all sides of the netting  to the center as if you are now holding a bag

4. Take 2 black pipe cleaners and cut them in half.  Now wrap each of the 4 pieces around the end.

5. Bend the 8 sides in angles to look like spider legs.

6. With a hot glue gun, glue 2 googly eyes to the top of the pouch.

Check out our other Class Party and Treat Ideas for Halloween!

Summer Idea #97... Newspaper Fashion Show

If you read my daughter's ideas of  101+ Things to do in the Summer, 

you may have gotten to #97 and wondered what a Newspaper Fashion Show is.

So this post will describe just that!

She and her friends gathered a huge stack of newspapers and tape.  Then they went to work designing their own outfit, including bows, skirts, shirts, and even shoes sometimes!  At the end, they all walk down the stairs showing off their creations.  Another spin on this is to create an outfit as a group.  If you are having a tween or teen birthday party, you can have two groups have to design a wedding dress or something fancy on one guest.  Then each group can show off their creation.

This is a fun activity for an icebreaker activity, birthday parties, church activities, summer camp or simple summer day fun!

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I is for Icecream

I is for ice cream was a very fun lesson and perfect for our upcoming SUMMERTIME. Some of the highlights were graphing our favorite ice cream flavors, making an ice cream cone craft out of our handprints (I let them choose their 3 favorite "flavors"), and making homemade ice cream. I never knew how easy it was to make homemade ice cream. Here's the recipe if you want to try it out:

Homemade ice cream
Large zip lock bag
Small zip lock bag
3 cups of ice
6 tbsp of salt
1/2 cup whole milk
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 Tsp Vanilla
Add milk sugar and vanilla together in the small zip lock bag. Zip TIGHT and place larger zip lock bag with the ice and salt around it.
SHAKE.....SHAKE.......SHAKE for 5-10 minutes

I had the kids go out and jump on the tramp for the shaking and it worked perfectly, maybe a little too well. They had to let them thaw out a little! But the ice cream was actually quite good and incredibly easy. One piece of advice if you try this out... when you take the small ice cream baggie out of the bigger one, rinse it off before opening it so the salt doesn't mix in. Have fun!

We found some cute books about Ice Cream:
The Ice Cream King
Wemberly's Ice-Cream Star
 Should I Share My Ice Cream? (An Elephant and Piggie Book)
 I Scream! Ice Cream!: A Book of Wordles
 Ice Cream: Including Great Moments in Ice Cream History

Traced the Letter I
(click here for a printable)!

And we did a fun flannel board rhyme with my ice cream cones show above.  I had 5 colorful ice cream scoops to help show the story.
Five little ice cream cones standing in a row,
each has a scoop and an ice cream cone,
out came the sun and it shown all day,
one little ice cream cone melted away

Four little ice cream cones...
Three little ice cream cones...
Two little ice cream cones...
One little ice cream cone...

A fun math/reading activity: make ice cream cones with the colors and numbers on them.   A pattern is here.

We ate our homemade ice cream for dessert!  But alternatively, you could make homemade ice cream in a machine, like Rachel who gave us the recipe recently.

I cut triangles out of tan cardstock and then I crimped the cones with a Paper Crimper.  We traced the kid's hands, so I just had a plethora of colors so they could choose their favorite "color".  I bought Red Pompoms for the "cherry" on top.  Then I had a hole punch and various paper to hole punch in case they wanted chocolate chips, sprinkles or bubblegum.

A fun tidbit: July is National Ice Cream Month, the 3rd Sunday in July is Ice Cream Day and July 15 is Ice Cream Cone Day.  Who knew?  But one thing I know is that ice cream must be good for the soul because my dad had a scoop or two just about every night of my childhood and he is the healthiest grandpa I know! Other fun ice cream facts are here!


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13 Homemade and Creative Mother's Day Gifts for children of ALL ages

Abraham Lincoln once said,

 "All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother" 

What a sweet tribute to his mom.  So, in honor of those very important mothers in our lives, we share 13 homemade and creative gift ideas.  These ideas span the generations giving you ideas for young mothers, empty nester mothers, elderly mothers, and grandparents.  Some are for youngsters to make and others are for adults to make.  We tried to share a variety of gifts that are relatively cheap {some free!}, thoughtful, simple and mostly able to be done last minute! Happy Mother's Day to all the incredible moms in the world!

1. Mother Recognition Kit

Do you remember our Survival Kits for the Military? 

Well we transformed the concept into a Mother Recognition Kit.  Here's what we included in the basket with a rolled up piece of stationary including the below description and tied with a ribbon.  {I love that this is full of practical and useful stuff, but in a very meaningful way}

Mother’s Recognition Kit

Lifesavers because you’re a lifesaver to so many people when they need it most
Lemonheads because when life gives you lemons, you always make lemonade
Gum because when you say you’ll do something, you stick to it
Starbursts because you have always taught us to shoot for the stars!
Popcorn because you give me a listening ear anytime an idea “pops” into my head
Soap because you exemplify someone who is clean and pure
Glue Sticks for your ability to stick by your family, no matter what!
Post-it-notes because you don’t postpone that which matters most
Notecards because you always “note”ice when someone’s had a bad day.
Chocolate for the incredible amount of sweetness you share with everybody
Kleenex to symbolize your compassion for those you love
Smarties for all the smart and wise advice you share with me
 Paperclips because you always keep it all together
Elastics because you’re incredibly flexible to juggle all yours and your family’s activities!
Batteries because you always keep going and going and going and going
Kleenex to symbolize your compassion for those you love 

2. Following in Mother's Footsteps Basket

Credit: Heidi Lawson

I love coming up with themes to center a present around. In future posts, we will share some of our other past "themed" baskets for gift ideas.  But one fun idea is to do a foot theme for moms since kids are always trying to follow in their footsteps.  Your basket could include: A framed picture of the kid's feet, gift certificate for a pedicure, fruit by the foot (fruit rollups), foot massager, nail polish, emery boards, fun socks, foot lotion, etc.

 

 

I attached the following quote:

"There is no velvet so soft as a mother's lap, no rose as lovely as her smile, no path so flowery as that imprinted with her footsteps." - Archibald Thompson

3.  Cupcake Love

 Cupcakes are all the rage right now and here's a fun way to spruce them up.  You can decorate the cupcake anyway you want.  I made flower petals out of starbursts and put a gumdrop in the middle.  Then place the cupcake in solo clear disposable cup.  I wrapped it saran wrap and tied a bow around it and voila!  A cute, simple and cheap gift idea for you or for your kids at home, school, or boy scouts to give moms and grandmas.

4.  Handprint Art

What parent and grandparent doesn't love their children's handprints frozen at a space of time.  Below is a fun idea to make a flower pot of handprints.  The leaves are made from thumbprints.  We added a little note that said, "You are my Sunshine".  You may also like the thumbprint hearts we did at Valentines.

5.  "Thanks for Helping us Grow" Edible Cookies

These are made with flower shortbread cookies (Mother's Cookies makes them, as well as other companies) and gum drops.

1. Place a gumpdrop about 1" down the top of a shish kabob skewer. 

2. Slide cookie on top and then place another gumpdrop on top of the cookie.  

Easy as pie, you have a cute gift.  You can make a whole vase of them with a green leaf that reads, "Thanks for helping us Grow"

6. Homemade Card Pack

Using your scrapbook supplies and stamps, you can make homemade giftcards for various seasons throughout the year.  This makes a great gift for moms and grandmas to be able to pull out at the right time of year.

7.  Meal Planning Frame

We showed this before, a very simple frame with scrapbook paper.  You can change the menu each week with a dry erase marker and may want to include that in your gift! Instructions are described here.

8. Cornbags

One of my grandma's favorite gift items are cornbags!  What a great way to pamper a mom on Mother's Day.  Instructions are found in our previous post here.

9. Photo Books

Rachel shared 5 creative themes to making a photo book for Mother's Day or any other holiday for that matter including Father's Day, Christmas, Birthdays, etc.

10. Coupon Books

  Easy, Last Minute and Fun.  Make coupons to cook dinner, clean your room without complaining, take the dog for a walk, empty the dishwasher, massage mom's back, etc.  A treat for any mom!  And for grandparents, you could include perform a talent for grandma, send grandma a piece of artwork, etc.

11. Homemade Movie

Have an older child or dad interview each child and ask them what they love about mom and record it for a keepsake.  With the ease of cameras on phones now, this could be something he could whip up last minute and still win for most thoughtful gift!

12. Homemade Cards with a Touch of Personal

 like this one we posted at Valentines:

13. Flower Pens in a Terra Cotta Pot

  

Great instructions can be found here on how to make these flower pens.  You can make a whole pot of them in a clay pot or just one in a cute mason jar with pebbles. 

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