Dan's Valentine

Book of Love...
Finding just the right card or gift for my husband can sometimes be tricky. Over the years I have found that special handmade cards can serve as both the card and the gift.

This year I decided to try one of the word albums by Bo-Bunny. Once I figured out how I wanted everything layed out, it was a lot of fun to put together.



Papers used: Foofala (Red, black and Cream), K&Company, Stampin' Up!, SEI(Holly Lane: Mistletoe)
Tab Punch:Stampin Up!
Book Plate: 2 peas in a bucket
Label embelishments: EK Sucsess (Inspirables), Me and my Big Ideas (Husband)
Ink (for distressing edges): Stampin' Up! Cranberry Crisp
Adhesive: 3m spray adhesive
Binder rings: Office Depot
Ribbon and key (not sure)

A Whole lotta love on Valentine's day

Breakfast

Heart shaped pancake w/ whipped cream and a cherry on top!

LunchHeart shaped PB&J w/ heart shaped pretzles and heart shaped melon.

Dinner

Heart shaped pizza!

This is how Natalie's homemade valentines turned out. We made 22 of them!

She really liked making all the faces too.

Fruit Cup Gift Container Tutorial

I made these for Valentine's Day last year as teacher's gifts...filled with hot chocolate mix. This year, we filled them with m&ms.

Start with a small fruit cup with a pull tab top.

Using a safety can opener (that leaves no sharp edges) remove the BOTTOM LID. Wash out container and dry (make sure it's completely dry).

... and fill with candy (or whatever).

Seal up the lid with a thin bead of Crystal Effects or other clear laquer.

Last, cover can with cute paper.

Valentine's by Zander

Last night we cranked out 16 if these babies for Zander's preschool Valentines party today!

The card folds in half and seals with a sticker.

I used my new paper doll dies from Sizzix and Zander added the faces. By the end of it, Zander was so done with writing his name!

Valentine's Playdough

Well, all the snow has melted (except for the giant snow ball in our back yard) and the Oregon rain has returned making me a little stir crazy. Yesterday I was looking for an activity (besides tv) for our kids and I decided to make some playdough. I like homemade playdough so much better than the kind you buy in the stores...and if you've ever tried to get the store bought kind out of your carpet, I'm sure you'll agree with me.

You will need:

1 cup flour

1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons oil
a few drops of food coloring

Mix the dry ingredients first, then add the liquids and stir on medium heat.

eventually it will start clumping together, so you need to stir it constantly...cause no one wantes to play with burnt playdough, right?

After it all clumps together in a ball, remove from heat and kneed on a table until it cools down. I like to add things to the playdough. This time I added red glitter (for Valentine's Day of course!) Once for my daughter's teddy bear party (3 years old) I made brown playdough and added ground cloves and cinnamon...mmm, it smelled good.

Store playdough in an airtight container in the fridge.

Playdough in unexpected places
Our kids love to go to Chevy's mexican restaurant because the servers give them dough to play with while they are waiting for their food to arrive. I think it's the same dough they use to make their fresh tortillas with...the kids think it's great and it saves me from having to entertain hungry kids!

Also if you live in the Portland area, Peanutbutter and Ellie's (restaurant for kids) makes an eatible peanutbutter playdough to entertain your kids while they wait.