Love Bugs

Is anyone else scrambling to make Valentines to hand out at school? A couple of weeks ago I found this adorable paper at the craft store and knew that Valentine butterflies were in my future.

The paper is Paper Note by American Crafts. The whole paper line is really fun!

I wanted to attach them to a treat with the clothespins. I was able to put a few treats in a little snack size bag and clip the butterfly on. I've seen several butterfly ideas for snacks around on the Internet and knew these would work perfectly! I cut out several designs of butterflies that were patterned in the paper and glued them onto wooden clothespins. I painted the clothespins in different colors to match the papers and used really thin jewelry wire as antennas that were attached with a dab of hot glue.

The wings are glued to one side of the inside of the clothespin.

To create a bit of movement make sure to bend slightly the top wings up and the bottom wings down.

Aren't they so fun?  I love how these beautiful papers and designs can "come to life" so to speak
with just a little glue and love.  Yes, cheesy, but it is for Valentine's day....:)

The hardest part was making up the template. Here's a shot of the ones I used, yes, they were eyeballed and cut out of notebook paper that was in front of me. I would probably recommend using card stock or card board from a cereal box~it would ease the tracing.

Having all boys I can only get away with this with my youngest who is 3.

He didn't care as long as there were treats attached.

Now only 3 more ideas to come up with.....

Tomorrow Nicole has her daughter's duck themed Valentines to share, you won't want to miss out on them~they are hilarious. Good luck all you procrastinators~we're in the same boat, but at least we have Downton Abbey to watch while we work!

Next Year's Valentines

I survived Valentine's Day!

Sounds drastic doesn't it,

but that's about how I felt last night

after scrambling to make sure everything was ready for

my daughter's school party and then an hour later I had

my Sunday School girl's Valentine party.

I thought it would be fun to see some of the Valentines that

were homemade, which the Moms all got from Pinterest,

our favorite go-to place for ideas.

First up are the Valentines!

Above is my daughter's last moment scramble idea.

We were in Zurchers party store for a at least an hour

trying to come up with something.

It couldn't be too girly cuz ya know she's got boyfriends.

Clarification Boy Friends.  2 separate words.  Phewww.

Somehow the snakes were okay for girls since

they had red and white Valentine stripes.:)

Here are a couple I loved:

Okay, fortune cookies~LOVE this!

How fun is this arrow made from a Glow stick!

I had to share this yummy recipe too from Kraft!

They are Strawberries 'n Cream Minis!

They are the yummiest creamy sinful Jello Jiggler I've ever had!

I found these cute condiment cups at Walmart

and they were perfect for the individual servings for the party.

Of course we had cupcakes and that yummy Betty Crocker Chex Mix.

Holy smokes that was tasty!

I forgot to grab a picture but I tried something different with punch this year~

Have you seen these at The Container Store or Walmart?

Well I made up my punch in the larger one and used it at both parties.

It holds 2 1/2 gallons and it doesn't leak all over and isn't glass breakable.

I was pretty proud of myself for not dropping $20 on a cheap punch bowl

and only $8 on one of these.

Even better~the kiddos could get there own refills!

I admit I'm bummed it's all over so quickly, but.....

Who's ready for EASTER!!!!:)

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is it...the last of the bulk candy.  I don't know what I was thinking when I bought that much candy!I added jellybeans into a glass vase, using a smaller vase to hold the water for the roses.

 It is an easy and unique way to give those you love flowers.

 This pretty Easter jellybean centerpiece was my inspiration, found at A Passion For Creativity. 

Today I also made the Betty Crocker heart peanut butter cookies that are everywhere on Pinterest.

I went over to their site and noticed that Betty is using a different recipe for the peanut butter cookie.  I'm sure it's great, but Nicole has been using an old Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie recipe that you can't go wrong with.  If they are not overcooked, these cookies are sooooo good. 

Here's the recipe:

1/2 c. margarine or butter

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Refrigerate, bake at 375 for 7-9 minutes. 

We are off to all the class parties..I swear holiday party days at school are some of the craziest.

  Nicole will be back tomorrow to share her Valentine party ideas!

Love Notes

This week I had my Sunday school girls Activity Day

and my teaching partner and I decided to help them put

together some Valentine envelopes so that they could 

exchange anonymous admiration notes to each other

for our upcoming Valentine party.

My teaching partner Jill is one of the most creative people I know~

she is seriously amazing and we'll have to show off her crazy talent here soon!

She came up with these cute envelopes that we let the girls,

who are 8-11 years of age then decorate and sew buttons on.

Of course I had to come home and make some up for me!

Candace has a houseful of sick kids this week and is under the weather too

so we have stayed clear except for the quick~Purell soaked hands~exchange

in my driveway for the pinking shears.:)  So this week I am missing my sis and her camera 

with the great pics she takes!

I love the elongated size of these envelopes and they were the perfect fit

for all those goodies we love to grab in the dollar bin at Target!

I made a couple to take to some of my friends

and even did a smaller version to hold some cute note cards I found too.
Here is the pattern I made up with the measurements~

We used primarily felt but I had to try one with some of the cute Valentine fabric
for the liner that I found at Hobby Lobby.
Some of the fabric was so cute I actually got some to make a dress for my daughter....
we'll see if that ever happens.  Probably by the time I get around to it, it'll have
to be a mini-skirt or something.:)

Pretty easy and pretty inexpensive to make

and it's for sure something you and others will love to get!