Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Will you be my Valentine?

I hearby proclaim by the power of all that is crafty to the Pinterest gods that I am going to make Valentine's for Benjamin's pre-school class! No Wal-Mart bargain boxes of V-cards for me! Below are the five-ish ideas I am favoring. The two goals are reasonably priced and easy enough to craft that I won't procrastinate getting around to doing it!
 
 
Love Bug Valentines by dandee- These are boyliscious! I like that they are candy-free. Benjamin's class buddies are at that age where bugs are equally "Ewww!" and fascinating! The posting includes the free PDF printable for the adorable Mason jar cards. I am guessing that I could get scrap book paper and a tube of bugs for this from Michaels pretty cheapo!
 
 
 
Have a Ball Valentines also by dandee (Is she super-crafty mom or what? I will avoid the guilt-ridden snarky comment that she must not have a job.) These propose an even easier level of craftiness and higher level of kiddie excitement. Pretty sure I still have some treat bags on hand from the last bake sale- card should be easy to print and ball easy to find. Also, just in case there is too much of the "Ewww" factor with the bugs, who doesn't want a ball? (I want a ball!) And the kiddos in his class should be just old enough for the sheltering OCD parents not to freak about this being a "choking hazard."
 
 
 
You Blow Me Away by Pinafores & Pinwheels is a good fall-back. I don't think bugs or balls will be hard to find per se, but bubbles are an easy trinket to come by. This specific project includes a Blow-Pop also but I would nix that- because 2/3 is too young to be chewing gum... and because, let's face it, I loathe gum chewing, in general. My main hesitation with this is I foresee bubbles being put on a shelf until another time, whereas bugs or balls can be played with anytime/anywhere.
 
 
 
Bubbling with Excitement by Simply Modern Mom offers another "Bubble" alternative for Valentine cards. The post includes the free download to the printable cards (4 per page unlike the other printables, which only have 1). This would pretty cheap & easy in mass with the wedding bubbles at Wal-Mart... Thinking I like this theme overall to use for favors for any "bubbling with excitement" celebration. Going to have to mentally bookmark this idea for Key Club kick-off, Relay Day, etc.
 
 
 
Fishbowl Valentines- The inserts for the "fish bowls" are a printable PDF for sale on Etsy. Actually the seller has a whole series of these printable inserts for different occasions for $5. I don't want to rob crafting enterprising but if I go this route, I will have to play around to see what I can create. These have cute sayings like: "Glad We're in the Same School," "I Saw You and I was Hooked," and "You're the Only Fish in the Sea for Me!" Mayyybeee I even have a Cricut image for the fishbowl insert? I tend to rank this Valentine option pretty high because Jason is a Swedish fishaholic and Benjamin is on the hunt for them whenever he rides in Dad's truck.
 
 
 
Butterfly Valentine are suggested by Skip to my Lou "if you need something quick and easy." Her post includes the printable stencil which would be easy to zip right off the printer on some pink copy paper. I'm not a fan of the googly eyes though. Other than being potentially unsafe, I find them rather distracting. Perhapsss I could get ambitious and do these for allll my kids... hmmm... If I don't have small heart punches, I'm sure I could find a couple small ones cheap-cheap at Michaels. However, I know I can spit out a bunch real quick with the Cricut because I did so with the Valentines I made last year!
 
 
 
Blow Me a Kiss Valentines found At Second Street are a ridiculously fun idea! It is with great frustration that I am making myself bank this idea for another year or two until the kiddos can master these lip whistles better. But how fun! fun! fun! Can't wait!
 
 
 
Crayon Heart Valentines by Whipperberry is another Valentine idea I am going to bank for a couple of years until Benjamin's playmates can appreciate the awesomeness that are these upcycled crayon bits. It'll also give me some time to save up the crayon booty to make them! Oh, how I wish I had thought of this project when Benjamin was in the stage of breaking crayons every time he used them and I just threw them away.

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