Leftovers....more Valentine Fun!

 So I created a bunch of these hearts as you saw on the previous post.  I thought about making a few more banners for different locations but then I decided I had a better idea.  Although my little guy isn't 100% ready for this I figured I might as well create it now- A FUN MATCHING GAME.   I laminated a few matches that I had cut out to create a fun festive matching game!  He just liked holding the hearts. I didn't even try to see if he would match them! Note: This is more of a "next step" skill as the patterns can be harder to discriminate between because the colors are similar and typically matching is started by only having one difference -ie different colors but all the same shape or all the same color but different shapes, usually you don't throw patterns of similar colors in until later so if you kid is ready bring it on.  If not let them just have fun with the hearts and they just might surprise you!

 You could also throw one of each match on a file folder and throw velcro on the back of the rest to create a quick and fun file folder game for the car or church or just to keep all the pieces nice and close!

Simple Valentine Decor on a budget!

 So on Jan 28th (Yes not even February yet- as you see I just love Feb and Valentines day) I just couldn't take it anymore.  I had no idea where the valentines decorations were but I needed to take matters into my own hands so I created a little banner for the fireplace.  It was all made of old scrapbook paper pieces that were left over from previous projects.  I was able to get a bunch of these hearts out of them.  It was quick, free and simple but made a huge difference in getting the house in the Valentine mood!

Bonus: If you have a child who is in the sissor stage (old enough to cut but still needs help) this would be an excellent fine motor skill (cutting) and if you have a child who is a little younger and the hearts wouldn't look like hearts punching out the holes and stringing the hearts would also be fantastic fine motor skills.  So think of it as an academic decorating party!  Get going!!!

Whats not to love?

Tonight I made Valentines Sugar cookies.

I love Valentines Day.

I always have.

Whats not to love?

It use to frustrate me that people thought it was all about having a significant other.

Other people would say, "why do you need a special day to tell people you love them?"

I just always liked having that extra day full of pink, red and white- chocolate, valentines and love.

I think there were a few significant things that made it this way for me.

1. My parents and grandparents always gave me a special gift on valentines day with a note telling me why they loved me.

2.  My sisters were sealed to our family on this day (adopted and sealed in the LDS temple)- thats a true definition of love right there

3.  I was a school teacher and what is more fun than making Valentines decorations and handing out valentines- seriously

So to those who don't like it, I am sorry. But I love it.

Maybe you should give it a try.

Send someone who doesn't expect it a valentine.

Make sugar cookies.

Decorate your house

Put hearts all over someone front door

Buy some chocolate

Make your kids feel special

Make your parents or other relatives feel special

Get in the mood, we all have so much to be grateful for and many people we love and who love us so spread it.
And if all else fails wear some red heels- you can't go wrong with that!
All year round!

I have a few more Valentines posts so stay tuned!

Christmas in a Cup!

So I know its been a while but things get busy around the holidays, plus some of the things I wanted to post were Christmas presents I made and I didn't want anyone knowing ahead of time what they were getting so. Here I am, I'm back! So at Thanksgiving I made Christmas in a cup for Grandma and I. It is so delicious. So weather you are missing Christmas or didn't get a chance to do this while it was here use up some of that leftover hot chocolate because we still have a lot of winter ahead of us.

Directions:
Make some nice warm hot chocolate- your favorite brand
Throw in a scoop or two of peppermint stick ice cream
EAT IT UP! 
Its soooooooooo good!

Once you try it you'll agree with its name!  Yum!

Chestnut Decor

So as Nicki mentioned while we were in Salem we saw a gorgeous chestnut tree that had emptied itself onto the ground.  My little guy was running around throwing them and I told her that I was going to collect some to use as fall decor.  She did the same and as you saw was a whole lot more on the ball than I was!

  I had wanted to find tons of acorns as well but I have yet to do that.  I thought a whole bunch of hurricane vaces full of different natural decor would be very classy.  So whatever tree  you have growing around you get collecting.  Here is what I did with mine.  It was free, easy and naturally adorable!  Perfect for Thanksgiving!

H & M Boys Sweaters!

Here is a good Mommy post for you. I have been looking for winter sweaters for my little guy for a while. I didn't want to spend $20 plus dollars to get one (which is what they are running at some stores). Unfortunately the majority of lower priced choices just aren't that cute. Until.....

I found a bunch of striped sweaters at H & M - (they don't even have them online but the store had so many options!)  And they were only $9.95!  There were also some solids for kids under 18 months that were $6.95.  I just thought I would share the success from my search!!

Enjoy!

Holiday Candle Holders

Hello! I have been a little slow at sneaking in posts to put up on this lovely blog, so I decided today was the day!  Here is a little intro about me: My husband and I met on a blind date (they sometimes actually work out!) and we  are now in Connecticut while my husband goes to dental school. Yay! We have a little monkey boy who we love to pieces! He is pretty much the sun in our lives. Marybeth posted their Halloween pictures, and Connecticut's Halloween was cancelled due to a crazy snow storm, so I dressed our little man up in his costume and took his picture. And since no one else got to see it, I thought I would show it to you!

*Hint* he is a dinosaur. Please ignore the background. We took them in my husbands office and I didn't really think about the background till after.
Ok, now to the actual reason for posting! I have this glass vase that sits on my dining room table that holds this candle. I have been trying to come up with ways to make it more festive, and I think I have finally found what I want to do with it! Tadaa!

First I gathered together materials to stick inside the vase with the candle. I have here some wicker balls, strips of paper (to add fall colors) that I twisted around a pencil to curl, and some chestnuts I found in Salem with Marybeth. 

Since it is Thanksgiving this month we came up with several things we are grateful for and typed them up into Inkscape. We played with the fonts a little bit and turned some sideways, we also measured the vase to know how much we needed to wrap around the whole vase, then they were ready to be cut on vinyl! Tys, my hubs, has a heavy duty vinyl cutter, so we slipped some strips of vinyl in there, and bam! We whipped out the words, weeded the extra vinyl, covered it with transfer tape and then stuck it to the vase.

Then I put in all of my fillers for the vase and I really love the way it turned out!

I don't know if I am loving the brown ribbon around the candle, I may take that off and use a brighter color instead. Then the brown wording will show up better probably.

 Anyway, I really like it a lot! If you have access to a vinyl cutter (we have a Black Cat cutter) you can use it to decorate and redecorate for all the seasons! Yipee for the cool things you can do with vinyl!