Cute Little Valentine's

                       I decided to make these little Valentine packs for the boys class this year. I was in the Valentine section at the store and decided I just couldn't spend the money on some little cards that will be thrown away later that day (as a fellow mom, I know you just throw those things away too....otherwise the dog gets a hold of it and make a mess). 

                        

                       I wanted to give them something they would be able to use, so I know my money and effort are not just be thrown away. So here's what I did:

Items Needed:

• Paint chip notepads
• Little pens
• Little boxes of Valentine stickers (got mine at Dollar Tree)
• Dums Dums suckers, or other small candies
• Treat bags (Mine are Wilton brand, 4inch x 6inch, I got them from baking section)
• Stapler
• Valentine bag topper (you can find many printables online or make your own)

Prepare:

1. Used this tutorial to make the little paint chip notepads. I just put a staple in it to make it go faster, in the tutorial she sews it. Just be sure you put the staple low enough down so you can tuck the cover into it (the first one I made I put the staple too high, good thing I only ruined 1! ). See picture below for finished note pad.

My finished notepad is about 2.75" high x 2.25" wide

2. So if you want to make your own topper like I did, here are a few simple steps to do it. Open Microsoft Publisher and pick invitation cards. Go all the way down to blank sizes and pick size 4.25" x 5.5". Use clipart, pictures from your computer, and text boxes to create your topper. I just used a simple heart clipart and some fun fonts to create mine. Be sure when you are making it that you keep it on the bottom half of the page so you have room to fold it in half over the top of your baggie.

Here are mine after I cut them apart.

Finish:

       I made an assembly line to package these up. I put each bundle of items in seperate bowls (pens in one bowl, notepads in another, etc.) and placed a pile of bags in front of each kid. I did the first one to show them how to stuff each bag, then let them go crazy!

      They put 1 notepad, 1 pen, 1 box of stickers, and 2 suckers in each bag. I then folded the Valentine toppers over the top of the baggie and stapled it shut. 44 baggies later and we were done! my kids loved them, and really enjoyed getting to hoard the leftovers :) This didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would since I had my little slave laborers helpers stuffing the bags for me!

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DIY Growth Chart

I'm sure many of you have seen these cool growth charts all over the place like I have and would love to have one for your little ones. Here's the problem....they cost SO much that you would probably end up hanging it up and then be hesitant to mark your kids growth on it and ruin it, never mind the fact that that is EXACTLY why you bought it in the first place! So instead of buying one, you should make one yourself! It's super easy and quick to make, and the best part is you can customize it to fit your style preference, your kids can help (like mine did), and you will feel good about USING IT!


Here are some things you will need:

• 1 piece of wood (mine measures 6ft tall x 7in wide x 1in thick) - I got at Lowes for $8
• sanding paper/pad
• small amount of paint or stain (depending on your preference)
• sharpie or paint pen
• number stencils (unless you have crazy good writing skills and can make a good looking number on your own, I am not so blessed)
• measuring tape
• sawtooth picture hangers
• foam stamps (optional)

First off I want to say that I didn't take pictures of the process but it is easy enough to do. Also, I apologize for the terrible pictures! The hallway where this is hanging gets no sunlight, at all, ever! Ok, here we go!

PREPARE:

1. Sand your board all over so you have no rough edges.

2. Coat with paint or stain of your choice, don't forget sides (I used left over paint from painting the kids room).

MEASURE AND MARK:

3. Once paint is dry, lay board down with measuring tape laying next to it. This is very important! Before you start marking, decide how high off the ground you are planning on hanging it then start at that point. If you start with 0 at the bottom, then you will have to place it flush with the floor otherwise it will not measure your kids properly.

Note how the bottom of my board would be the 5" mark

Use a pencil to make your markings all the way up. Once you are happy with them use your paint pen or sharpie to go over the marks.

DECORATE:

4. Place your number stencils where they need to be and use your sharpie or paint pen to fill in.

Here are the stencils and foam stamps I used. Stamps I got in dollar area at target and stencil I got from Walmart.

5. Decide where you want to stamp your board (my kids picked where they wanted them) and then dip the stamp in acrylic paint, place stamp carefully so you don't smudge it. Once this paint was dry I used colored sharpies to add some detail to the animals & tree. Some other decoration you can use would be those little wood figures (which is what I was going to use until I realized they were way too big!) or other types of stencils, or no decoration at all..... best part is that you can customize to fit your decor!

FINISH:

6. Now all you have to do is nail on the sawtooth picture hangers on back, hang on wall, and admire your handiwork!

Here is an up close view of the numbers and cute little stamped animals :) 

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial! If you make one I would love to see it :) If you have any questions please ask and I will do my best to help.

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