While Valentine's Day has come and gone and our house is already decked out in emerald green, I thought it'd be fun to share a little bit our handmade Valentine's one last time.
We had such a fun time with our blogger Secret Santa, we thought it'd be fun to have our littles exchange Valentine's Day cards. Not all of our children are in daycare or preschool, so without this opportunity we wouldn't have had the chance to receive Valentine's in return. We could always make them for the grandparents, but it's such a treat to see another child's scribble or haphazard sticker placement in a craft they had fun making with their mom. And of course, giving us mom's a new activity on our to-do list to keep our little ones occupied during this long and brutal winter didn't hurt either!
It was so much fun seeing what each mama and kiddo came up with, and Ashlynn loved getting the special goodies attached - stickers, window clings, homemade crayons, beads, and even dinosaurs! She had fun stealing Kenley's too, next year little one...
Sara and Mac from Running from the Law sent this cute heart banner. It was a long rope of twine with three hearts attached to kraft paper. I thought it would be the perfect banner to hang the rest of the Valentine's from as they came in over the week.
It also kept them out of Ashlynn's reach, she was pretty persistant in trying to peel off every sticker or foam letter attached. So destructive.
She also liked pointing out all the hearts and identifying colors. Unintentionally educational, FTW!
We also did a small gift swap for us moms, since we could use some loving too! Unfortunately, I didn't receive mine in time, likely due to our massive non-stop snow storms. I can't wait to see what the other mommies received, sometimes a thoughtful and tiny pick-me-up can just make someone's day. A reminder that we should always pay if forward and share our love, Valentine's Day or not!
If you'd like to 'pin' or bookmark any of these great ideas for next year, here are each's blogger's tutorial!
Natasha at Schue Love - - Foam Sticker Valentines
Julie at The Girl in the Red Shoes - - Rawr Means I Love You
Natalie at Nat Your Average Girl - - Hand's Down
Emily at Dear Owen - - You Make My Heart Melt
Veronika at Veronika's Blushing - - Ombre Painted Valentines
Erin at Hello Erin - - You are Dino-Mite
Colleen at Meet the Sullivans
Vanessa at Sunflower State of Mind
Megan at Hello Newlywed Life - - Beads are a Girls Best Friend
Natasha at Hello Happiness
Sara at Running from the Law
This is such a cute idea! It makes me even more excited for Sydney with all holidays once she starts preschool in September! Now I get to go and look at all of these blogs and make sure that I am following them! :-)
ReplyDeleteValentine's day is so much more fun when you have little ones! :)
ReplyDeleteSo much fun! And thanks so much for organizing everything!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks again for being the mastermind behind our holiday fun. SERIOUSLY. And yay fun valentines!! This was a total blast... I'm already looking forward to st patty's day! You'd better believe I'm fully coffee filter painting in the very near future ;)
ReplyDeleteErinn thank you so much for getting it all coordinated! We've had so much fun with all the exchanges and we really can't wait for the next one! Owen and I still need to try painting the coffee filters-- brilliant idea. PS> Did you get Owen's valentine? I hope it made it to you!
ReplyDeleteVery cute display!
ReplyDeleteNo problem! And yes, it came later that day along with Owen and Claires... I think all the snow delayed a lot of them, we had such a blast!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for organizing. This was such a fun way to celebrate Valentine's Day! I don't think we would have done anything, if not for your awesome idea, so thank you! And unfortunately, I don't think your Valentine made it to us yet. We'll keep a lookout for it though. Stupid awful weather! Hope you guys are getting a break from it - we woke up to another layer of ice. Ugh. Will it never end?!!
ReplyDeletebummer!! I sent them at the end of January, so it's probably lost in neverland :( USPS is really blowing it lately. I got Natalie's Xmas card a week ago, I thought it was her Valentine LOL. It was post marked 12/13 too so it was literally floating around for 2 months!!
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
ReplyDeleteNo problem! Thanks for the sweet Valentines!
ReplyDeleteSo true! We never celebrate it, but it's fun to do something with the little ones!
ReplyDeleteThanks! And we have so many good ideas for when A hands them out at school :)
ReplyDeleteThis is the sweetest idea!!! And yours came out perfectly! :)
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Thank you Ashley!
ReplyDeleteLovely idea. My daughter loves opening mail too and was so excited to receive cards from her grandparents. She keeps asking for each one every day to look at. So sweet.
ReplyDeleteThese are so cute! You are so creative.
ReplyDeleteWe loved our Valentine's from Ashlynn and Kenley!! Such a creative idea! Thank you! And thanks so much for putting the exchange together. You are awesome Lady!
ReplyDeleteAw everything turned out adorable!
ReplyDeleteWe loved the sweet valentine from your girls!! And I agree about them being unintentionally educational...gotta love that!!! Thanks again for setting this all up--I'm already excited for the St. Patrick's Day fun!!!
ReplyDeleteNo problem! It was definitely a day brightener getting sweet mail, especially when going to the mailbox was a debatable move during the cold and storms, ha!
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah!
ReplyDeleteIn this day and age, it's rare to get something other than junk mail or bills! I love having an excuse to do some snail mail!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jodi! It was definitely a nice way to bring some fun activity with the littles and joy to this long and cold winter!
ReplyDeleteMe too! I love St. Pat's!
ReplyDeleteStill loving on the coffee filter decorating idea! I think it would be perfect for any holiday also. Thinking maybe I can make something crafty for Christmas (only planning a few months ahead here LOL) with red and green! I tried finger painting with Mason for Valentine's but he wanted none of it (cleanest boy EVER) so maybe using a paint brush would be more up his alley!
ReplyDeleteYeah I have been wondering too! Would love to join you ladies!!
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