Our Annual Valentine's Party

The girls and I look forward to this day every year.

We started this sweet tradition 3 years ago, and every year it's a little different.

It's so fun to deck the house out in hearts and cover anything edible in chocolate.

 One lil' tip I have if you're going to throw a crafty party is to always cover your work tables in paper.

It makes clean up easy peasy!

We set up extra tables in the classroom and lay out all the goods needed to create a few fun crafts.

We keep the craft ideas pretty simple so the girls won't need too much assistance.

Then the mommas fill their coffee mugs and go hang out with all the food.

Here are a few of the crafts we made:

 First up was this adorable Love Bug

Supplies Needed:

yarn

googely eyes

pipe cleaners

hearts for the feet

and a way to make pom poms

AS you can see from the picture they are quite simple to make.  If you're unsure on how to make a yarn pom pom, pinterest is FULL of tutorials.

Next:

 Jar Tissue Paper Candle Holders

 Supplies:

jar

tissue paper

glue

an old lid or paper plate to squirt your glue into 

paint brush

Again, super simple.  

Cut your white tissue paper into squares.  

Cut hearts out of various colors. 

Glue a coat of white tissue paper to cover the jar, using a sponge brush.

We watered down the glue a bit to make it more spreadable.

After the white dries, glue on your hearts!

 They really do put off a beautiful glow.

And the girls feel so proud when I light them.

Next on the list:

Heart Bouquets!

I think this one  might have been a favorite.

Supplies:

jars

shish-ka-bob  skewers

pretty paper hearts

ribbon and lace

 (tip: we used Starbucks Frappacino bottles.  The bummer part about that is you have to drink a case load of those delicious mocha frapps.  The things we do for our children's happiness)

All you do is glue two hearts between a skewer and plop it into your cute jar.

Tie on some ribbon and lace and you have a beautiful bouquet!

Wouldn't these make a fun teacher gift?

Or Grandma gift?

Or piano teacher?

Next up: 

 Doily Bunting!

I've said it before and I'll say it again,

doilies make EVERYTHING cuter!

 Supplies:

doilies

twine

glue

felt hearts

Could NOT get any easier then this.

Ready? 

Cut twine to desired length.  Fold doily in half. Glue halves together. Glue on hearts. Repeat.

Done and done.

Aaaand the last little crafty diddy:

 Stapled heart banner

Supplies:

cute paper cut in strips

stapler

this fun tutorial

We had such a FUN afternoon.

The mommas vowed to do this with our girls more often.

AND . . . I decided to host a craft night for the mommas once a month!

Starting at the end of this month!

I'm so excited!!

Remember in yesterdays post I talked about squeezing in more time for the things that bring me joy?

I'm breathing deeper all ready.