Homemade Valentines

Growing up, I always made my own valentines.  When my classmates and I exchanged valentines in the 70's, I received a few store-bought valentines, but for the most part, kids made their own valentines.  By the time I was teaching in the 90's, the vast majority of the kids gave store-bought valentines.  There were always a few kids who made their own though, which I loved.  

Not surprisingly, when Trevor had his first valentine exchange (with his MOMS Club friends) at age two, I helped him make his own. He used the warming tray to melt crayons on paper, then I punched out hearts.  He cut random pieces of paper, glued everything together, added stickers, and was thrilled with his masterpieces (which, unfortunately, I did not photograph).

Age 2

When Trevor was three and in preschool, we attached stamped cards to crazy straws to give to his classmates and playgroup friends.  He spent a long time carefully choosing which friend would get which card, then writing out his friends' names and signing his own.

Age 3

When Trevor was four, we punched hearts, placed them on cards, spritzed with Glimmer Mist, removed the hearts, stamped the sentiment, and then he carefully wrote out his friends names and signed his own.

Age 4

Then, in kindergarten, Trevor came home with a note saying that all the kindergarteners would be addressing valentines in class as one of their writing stations.  We were supposed to send an unopened box of purchased valentines.  Purchased valentines.  Ugh.  I was actually pretty upset about it, but took him to buy a box.  I can't even remember what he chose.  He did make a few valentines for non-school friends and family, but I didn't take a picture.    

In first grade, I asked Trevor's teacher early about her valentine policy.  Trevor really wanted to make bunny-themed valentines, so I was hoping that purchased valentines wouldn't be required. Fortunately, homemade was not only acceptable but encouraged.  Yea!  Back to homemade valentines.  Trevor made these awesome bunny valentines.

 Age 6

This year, I asked Trevor what he wanted to do for his valentines.  I was hoping he'd choose homemade, but it's his choice to make, not mine.  Tomorrow I'll share what he decided.

What about you?  Did you make homemade valentines growing up?  Do you now?  What about your kids?

A Decision About Albums

Several years ago, my favorite albums were discontinued and I couldn't decide what to do.  Try to find a style that was similar and deal with it if I couldn't find something?  Switch to something entirely different?  Transfer the existing layouts into new albums so that they'd all match?  Ugh. Finally the day came when I filled the last page protector in my last album.  For months afterward, I let completed layouts pile up my desk (after I'd scanned them, of course) because I couldn't decide what to do and didn't want to make the wrong decision.  At $15-30 per album, I certainly didn't want to replace Trevor's existing 11 albums and buy enough for the immediate future without really thinking it through.

My first dilemma: After a decade of post-bound, did I want to switch to 3-ring or D-ring?  There are pros and cons, but after looking at a variety of brands of ringed albums in person, I knew they were not for me.  The main reason?  A 12x12 post-bound album is already too deep for most of the bookcases we own and the ringed binders add an extra 2-3 inches of depth.

My second dilemma: What should I buy as a temporary stop-gap to hold the increasingly-large pile of layouts that needed a home?  I ended up buying the absolute cheapest post-bound solid-colored album I could find, figuring that if I didn't like it, it wouldn't be too expensive a mistake.  As it turns out, you do get what you pay for when you buy a really, really cheap album. It's holding layouts for now, but I'm guessing it will have to be replaced sooner or later.  No more of that brand.

With fingers crossed, I tried another of the low-priced albums, this one by Colorbok.

At $13, it was totally affordable and the quality was pretty good.  Not top-notch, but perfectly fine for my purposes.  I bought four more.  I have filled two of them and just put the post-it flags into my third using my usual system.

I should be good for another two years or so with what I have.

The 10 Minute Dollar Bill Dispenser

I've now shared four different ways I've given money as a gift, including the Cardboard Tube Dollar Bill Dispenser, the Tissue Box Dollar Bill Dispenser, the Knitting Kit, and Spelling with Dollar Bills.  All of them were extremely well-received.  The Dollar Bill Dispensers, in particular, have been pinned hundreds of times and been viewed many, many times.

I've now made each style of Dollar Bill Dispenser multiple times.  I've gotten faster over time, but both of them have painting and paint-drying steps that just can't be hurried.  So I decided to challenge myself to see if I could make a version of the Dollar Bill Dispenser in only ten minutes.

Ten Minute Dollar Bill Dispenser

Materials: 

• empty Kleenex box 
• wrapping paper 
• Scotch tape
• tissue paper
• crisp dollar bills
• index card
• border punch
• Sharpie

Step 1: Tape the dollar bills together end-to-end using Scotch tape.  I've gotten really fast at this over the past three months, but having mint-condition dollar bills is what really makes a difference.  Get new bills from the bank and you won't waste any time smoothing, unfolding, or lining up the bills.

Step 2: Use the border punch to put a decorative edge on the short side of the index card, write the word "PULL" on it, and tape it to the last bill.

Step 3: Wrap the Kleenex box in wrapping paper, keeping track of which side is the top.  (I use a post-it flag.)  After the box is wrapped, use the scissors to poke through the wrapping paper to reveal the opening of the Kleenex box.

Step 4: Roll up the dollar bills into a tight roll.  Hold the roll in your hand with the PULL tab facing up.  Place the tissue paper over the opening of the Kleenex box.  Gently push your hand into the Kleenex box, forcing the tissue paper into place and depositing the bills in the box.

Step 5:  Adjust the tissue paper to make it look ok and to make sure it isn't blocking the PULL sign.  The gift is ready to give!

This is a gift that's truly fun for all ages. Kids, teens, adults... everyone is delighted by a Dollar Bill Dispenser!

Perler Bead Flags

We're huge fans of Perler Beads around here. While working on my Fun Family Crafts job, I found a pattern for an Olympic Flag made from Perler Beads and immediately printed it out for Trevor. Here's his finished flag.  

While Trevor made the Olympic flag, I got to work on a flag of my own. You might recall our First Annual Family Olympics last summer, where I represented St. Vincent and the Grenadines (and just missed making the medal stand). I got the idea in my head that I could make a flag necklace from Perler Beads to wear during the Family Olympics to intimidate my opponents (same logic as my Scrabble Necklace). It wasn't too hard to translate the St. V & G flag into Perler beads. I added some monofilament after I took the picture and it works perfectly as a necklace.

(Yes, I know I still owe a blog post about my connection to St. V & G. Soon.)

Trevor thought making a necklace for the Family Olympics was a great idea and decided he'd be making one too. He represented Mexico last summer but decided to switch to the Bahamas for next summer. (We visited the Bahamas during our cruise last fall and he really enjoyed it.) Fortunately, the flag of the Bahamas was also quite easy to translate to Perler beads.

Since Trevor and I now had flag necklaces for the Family Olympics, I asked Steve if he wanted to make one. Instead, he asked Trevor to make one for him, which Trevor happily did. Here is the flag of Lebanon (where Steve's maternal grandmother is from), in Perler bead form.  

I joked that we should have a friendly competition amongst us to see whether St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Bahamas, or Lebanon would earn the most medals during the Sochi Winter Olympics. I suspected that the two Caribbean nations and one Middle Eastern nation weren't exactly medal contenders and that we'd be tied at zero. When I looked it up, I learned that neither St. Vincent nor the Bahamas has any qualifying athletes for Sochi. Lebanon has two, both in alpine skiing. So Steve does have a chance to ace out Trevor and me. Let the Games begin!

Ready for the Olympics!

I am not a sports fan by any stretch of the imagination. I don't enjoy watching any sports on TV... with one exception. I love watching the Olympics. I enjoy watching the sports I know something about, but I also like learning more about sports I know nothing about. One prime example: curling.

I first learned about curling a few Olympics ago. A lot of people in the media had some not-nice things to say about the athleticism of curling, but I thought it looked really cool and I enjoyed watching the coverage. During the 2010 Olympics, our local skating rink announced they would be offering free curling lessons to anyone who was interested. I found a babysitter and Steve and I headed out for a what would be one of our most fun and memorable date nights ever. Curling is an absolute blast. If you ever get a chance to try it, go for it.  Just know that it is, like most things, much harder than it looks. Anyone who dismisses curling or thinks it doesn't belong in the Olympics has probably never tried it.

Here's the layout I made with pictures from our curling date:

Tomorrow I'll share an Olympics-related craft.