Oh it is just never a dull moment around here! Kade spent the weekend with us and I had visions of Valentine fun in the form of kids crafts. When I was a girl I always looked forward to making salt dough Christmas tree ornaments. It is a tradition I've wanted to start with my girls but so far the holiday seasons have proven to be so full that we've not had time to make them before the new year arrives.
Then last week I decided to start a Valentine's tradition with these ornaments. My thought was to make pink salt dough, get handprints from the kids and stamp in the year in an ever-so-cute heart shaped valentine. I pictured them sweet and all perfect, adorning my kitchen or fireplace for years to come where we'd add more in a progression of growing handprints. To our visitors I would say, "We started that tradition with Isla's first Valentine's Day." How sweet, right?
Fast forward to the kitchen and dining room floors I scrubbed by hand just one day before covered in floured footprints. And also picture flour on every imaginable surface in the kitchen. Add in a sink full of floury mixing bowls, cups and spoons. And don't forget the kid's play kitchen sink full of a flour-water mix they found super funny. There was flour all over the dining room table and chairs. Flour on three pairs of pjs, in our hair, on the walls. And at the same time picture two small children giggling (as I beg to no avail, I might add) of them not to eat salt dough for surely they will begin to throw up and my
real troubles will begin.
Looking back I can't even begin to determine where this little kid craft went wrong??? It just did and it seemed to do so in a New York minute. I hastily abandoned all plans for handprints, let them go to town with jewels they had pulled from my craft basket and quickly called for reinforcements. In a flash my astonished husband swooped in for the rescue! He cleaned downstairs while Kade, Teagan and I all had to have baths and wash our hair. It was not even 10:00 am. Go Mom.
But I think it's safe to say the kids had fun and I love what they made. Teagan's of course had to have green and only green jewels. Kade's was a mix of heart shaped glitter and all kinds of colors. He went for a more is better feel.
That afternoon we had a great trip to the park where I caught this picture of my sweet baby girl! I can't believe she is going to be three years old in April!
We wrapped up the day by breaking in our Just Dance 3 and having popcorn and movie night. Toy Story 3 was a hit though it took three nights to watch it with bedtime sneaking up on us each time.
That's all from us tonight but we wanna say a big
Happy Birthday
to Teagan and Isla's Auntie Joyce in Australia!
We love you and are thinking of you today!
I can't believe Valentine's is next week! Today I want to recap some of our Valentine's projects and add in my no sew banner and a final look at the completed fireplace mantle decor. It was so much fun to put this together with Teagan and super easy!
My no sew Valentine's banner.
To make the no sew banner we painted bare wooden mini clothes pins a fun pink. Then Teagan, my toddler daughter went crazy with glitter on these adorable felt hearts!
We punched out flower circles using coordinating scrap book paper and added two holes at the top so we could thread them. The string we used is a bright pink cord from Hobby Lobby for about $2. Finally, I had extra tulle hanging about so we added bits of it to fill the banner in and add a bit of girly fun! I love the way it turned out and it took just a few minutes!
Here's the felt wreath I posted earlier. This year I was so into pinks instead of reds! Check out the tutorial here.
My fun cupcake liner wreath! I'd love to try one of these in white. Here's the tutorial for making this.
I used scrapbook paper to cover a few books and add more color. In the future I would recommend wrapping paper as it would fit better. 
I just discovered Mod Podge and had a fun time making these scrapbook paper frames for the girls. Here's the post on how I did it!
