Valentine Doings

Here’s a bit of what we’ve been up to around our house.   A little Bird House for Emma’s Valentines.  We made it out of an old box.  Emma painted and punched and glued to her heart’s content.

And a tree for Lily to “squirrel” her Valentines away.  Do you recognize the container for oatmeal?  How many of my childhood Valentine’s boxes were made out of oatmeal boxes?  Many.  We did our best to make it look like a tree…. Lily loved cutting and counting leaves.  We cut up bamboo skewers and painted them brown for the stems.  And when it was done, she decided the tree should have heart fruit.

And I loved that the ideas for the girl’s boxes were their own.  I was just there to help them figure out how to create them.

Ben wanted to say something sweet to his Valentines….  not.

The dynamite was made from Rollo’s candy rolled with red paper.  The wick is a bit of black licorice and we tied up the bundle with some black pipe cleaner (because that’s what I had on hand.)  This Valentine could have read, “You’re Dynamite!” or “You’re a Blast”…. but Ben wanted it to read “You’re the Bomb.”

Can you tell Lily is in to squirrels right now?  I tried to talk Lily into giving nuts… just a little healthier than chocolate.  But in the end she picked M & M Peanuts… which still have nuts, Mom…. and chocolate.

And here’s Emma’s.  We are still working on the card a bit…  She’s just happy to use glitter.  And love the saying, “You’re so Tweet.”

Lots and lots of Valentine’s creations.  And none of it’s perfect…   just lot’s of fun for the kids.  And in the end, that’s what it’s all about.


28 Comments

  1. Double gah!!!

    I’m wishing I would’ve seen this post the other day when I was helping my twins make their 1st grade Valentine’s boxes. We did it old school, simple, with some glued on hearts & flowers.

    But your boxes? A birdhouse? A tree for squirrels? Smashing!!! :)

  2. Hi there, what did you use for the little bag for the squirrel valentine? I love them and just have to make them!

    Thanks.

  3. Too adorable for words! I featured one project on my own blog. Of course I credited you and linked back to your website, but I just wanted to make sure that you were comfortable with my using the top image. If for any reason you would like me to remove the image, please just let me know and I will do so immediately. http://chelisehery.blogspot.com. Thank you again for sharing this fabulous project!

  4. I love your dynamite Valentines and so does my nephew. He had me make some for him and I shared them on my blog. I linked back to you for giving my such a great idea! Thanks Andi

  5. My sons and daughter LOVE the dynamite! Did you use 3 whole rolls of rolos or 3 individual pieces? I have over 60 to make and that would be expensive if I needed whole rolls. Thanks for the ideas! They are just wonderful!

    • I did use whole rolls. But when doing them for the whole class, I made single dynamite sticks by taping the wick to the end of the single roll. A good way of covering the tape is to cover the end of the rollo with a circle of the red paper with a small hole punched out of the center for the wick to come out. That way you don’t see the tape. Giving out three packs of Rollos would be crazy expensive for 25 kids! I picked up our Rollos from Costco when they were in the coupon book. I’ve also seen them on sale at the grocery store if you watch.

  6. I pinned your Rolo dynamite idea to Pinterest, and in four days, it’s been repinned 363 times! (Insert pun about the idea blowing up on Pinterest.)

  7. I didn’t see a way to contact you, so hopefully you see this comment! :)
    With your permission, I would like to share your birdhouse Valentine box on my blog. Please let me know whether or not this would be ok. Thanks so much! :)

  8. My son did the valentine that looked like dynamite (roll of mentos wrapped in red paper with a twine fuse and a note that said You’re the Bomb). Just got a call from the school that said this goes against their Zero Tolerance for weapons policy. The principal wanted to confiscate them. And they may take it to the school board to review.

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