that's a wrap

Can you believe that tomorrow is the first day of March?  That means that St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner! While running errands I have been grabbing some little things for the kids. So far I found rainbow nerd ropes, gold chocolate coins, t shirts and some fun lip gloss.  Of course the kids will also be getting some new shoes!  You can read more about that tradition here. 

that's a wrap

This was a gift for a little girl who turned six right after Valentine's day.  We got her a graphic tee with a heart on it and a best friends necklace.  I wrapped it in some heart paper and attached an acrylic heat frame.  Since the frame was on the front of the gift I tied the ribbon on the side instead.  As I have mentioned in the past I like to attach something small to the outside of the package for fun!  This would be a perfect way to wrap a Valentine or anniversary gift too.

heart of the home

For my last Valentine post I wanted to share some pictures of the decorations around the house.  This is actually more for my sake so that I can remember what I did for next year!  Hope that you enjoy it too!

that's a wrap

For Valentine's day this year I did a "We Belong Together" theme for my husband.  I found this little board book called "We Belong Together" and a card that had a mug and marshmallow on it that read "We go well together" and my idea was born.  Last week he broke a mug that I had given him for Valentine's Day years ago- when we were just dating, so I bought him a new mug and made him some homemade Baily's flavored marshmallows.  They were very easy to make and so delicious!!!  You can find the recipe that I used here.

 The kids made him a gift too.  I found the idea on Pinterest, but you can read more about it here.  I basically just used the kids fingers to make some hearts and then framed it.  I am considering labeling them with the children's names, but it is easy to identify them by size and I like the clean look of it without.  The card read from "thumb" body who loves you.

The kids got all sorts of love bug themed gifts and found out that for our Valentine adventure this year we will be going to visit a butterfly conservatory.  We are going this weekend and can't wait!

healthy heart

This is the snack that I made for both of the children's Valentine parties.  I was going to make watermelon hearts with orange arrows, but the only watermelons that I could find at the stores were tiny.  So after doing a google search I stumbled upon this idea and knew it would be perfect.  After running back and forth from both schools twice I am going to spend the rest of the afternoon with the kids playing and relaxing at home.  The kids have requested breakfast for dinner and my husband is picking up take out and movie for the two of us.  Hope your day is filled with lots of fun and love too.

spreading the love

There is a little girl in our town who has Leukemia.  I don't know her or her family, but I was asked by a mutual friend to make dinner for them and was happy to do so.  There is a wonderful organization called meal Train.  You can learn more about it here.  It is described as "the act of organizing meal giving around significant life events".  Anyway, in addition to our dinner I thought it would be nice to make a special dessert for them so I put together a little decorate your own cupcake kit.  I put some cupcakes in a pretty red and white polka dot box.  I added a container of frosting and a little plastic box filled with different sprinkles and plastic knives.

On another note, my daughter's kindergarten teacher lost her brother this summer.  For Valentine's day we collected some money to donate to the heart association in his name.  We will be giving it to her on Tuesday with a pair of woolly socks and a quote about how we hope that she will accept the donation "from the bottom of our hearts to the tips of our toes".

 I love that these small gestures are teaching my children about taking care of others and spreading the love this month.

love bug

These are the cupcakes I made for the library valentine's day party today.  I used my heart shaped cupcake pan and decorated them to look like ladybugs.  Love bug is the theme for my kids valentine's adventure/gifts this year so these cupcakes seemed like the perfect treat for today.

that's a wrap

This is a little Valentine gift I put together for our favorite librarian.  We just love our local library, especially story time, and I thought valentine's day was the perfect time to show them!  I bought a mini red rose plant and color copied some of our favorite Valentine books.  I reduced them by 50% and had them laminated at our local office supply store and stuck them in the plant to make some blooming books.  This would also be a thoughtful gift for an avid reader or a teacher.  To make it even more special you could even include a gift certificate to a book store!

an enchanting lunch

My daughter has a play date today.  I wanted to make a special lunch for them and found my inspiration from some princess cookies that had a high heel and heart on them. We made some banana bread yesterday and I cut it into the shape of a high heel.  They had some pink yogurt with heart sprinkles and strawberries on the side.  They sipped pink lemonade with heart shaped ice cubes and had the cookies for dessert.  They are going to spend the rest of the afternoon making valentines and playing dress up!

that's a wrap

This was a birthday gift for a friend.  I made her some homemade chocolate chip scones that she had pinned on her Pinterest wall.  I packaged them in a bakery box with some twine, and gave her a Kate Spade coffee mug to go with it.  The box that the mug came in was so pretty I decided not to wrap it, I just tied some stripped ribbon around it instead.  I attatched the quote: "Mothers are those wonderful people who can get up in the morning before the smell of coffee" to the top and it was ready to go.  This would be a fun idea to use for Mother's Day too!