Last Minute Ideas for Valentines Day Fun

Here are some fun things you can do to make the day special for your family... and they don't require much preparation!

1- Make heart shaped pancakes (just pour it on the griddle in a rough heart shape) or muffins. (If you don't have a special muffin tin, simply put a marble between each paper liner and the muffin tin and it will create a heart shape- I tried it and it worked great!)

2- Put pink food coloring in the milk jug.

3- Find one of those shades of lipstick that you were sure about in the store, but once you got home, you realized it was all wrong, and write a lipstick mirror message for your sweetie.

4- Leave a love note in your child's lunch box, fill the lunch box with heart confetti, or draw hearts on the bag.

5- Give someone a "heart attack" by sticking hearts all over his/her car, office, or door.

6- Call a loved one at work and sing them a love song on the telephone.

7- Wake your kids up in the morning with a kiss and a Hershey's kiss (they might get out of bed faster!?)

8- Blow up red balloons or cut out red hearts to hang over the dinner table.

Please let me hear your ideas by leaving a comment!

Kids Valentine Ideas

We've been having fun at our house... we hope you have too!

Since we always seem to have leftover candy canes from Christmas, it has become a tradition for us to make these candy cane heart Valentines for our teachers.


These are the Valentines we made for the kids to give to classmates. I figure the less candy, the better, since they are sure to come home with a LOT of that.


And this last one was just for fun... I remember having these candy airplanes as a child and I wanted to see what my kids thought. Of course, they were a hit. You need smarties, single sticks of gum, two lifesavers, and a rubber band (preferably not the hair kind, like me).



If you are interested in cleaning out your crayon box, this craft is for you! Get all the little broken crayons together and unwrap them. Fill up a small heart shaped bake pan with random pieces. Bake at 250 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until they are melted. Let it cool and then pop out. My kids loved this.

Paint Chip Valentines

I had some extra paint chips around the house this month, and I decided to put them to good use! Simply trim off the words and numbers, and use the ready-made frames for cute stickers or a message!

For the card, I just trimmed the edges off the paint chip, and mounted it on a white card; added two strings of ribbon and the x's and o's. Quick and cute!


Then, I decided to make little bookmarks for my kids.

Joy To Everyone

To receive some joy, click here.

Earmuffs for Mr. Snowman

This is such a cute sugar cookie idea. Simple enough for the kids to actually do all by themselves!

You will need sugar cookie dough, white frosting, licorice (Pull n Peel), mini chocolate chips, m&ms, orange gum drops, and life savers.

Christmas Morning Sticky Buns

If you make these sweet rolls on Christmas eve, you can put them in the refrigerator overnight and they will be perfect to bake and eat warm on Christmas morning!

SWEET DOUGH:
3/4 c. buttermilk, warm
2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1/4 c. sugar
6 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled until warm
3 large eggs
4 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt

1. Combine yeast and sugar in mixing bowly, add warm buttermilk, stir and let sit for 15 minutes or until yeast is bubbly. Add eggs, salt, melted butter and two cups of flour and m ix until smooth. Addremaining flour and mix until dough leaves the sides of the mixer but still sticks to the bottom of the mixer. If dough isn't doing this, add more flour 1 Tbsp. at a time until dough leaves sides. Mix until smooth. Place dough in an oiled blow and raise until doubled in size, about two hours.

NUT TOPPING:
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
4 Tbsp. butter
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. pecans, toasted and chopped coarse

FILLING FOR BUNS:
3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves (optional)
pinch of salt
flour for the counter
2 Tbsp. melted butter, plus extra for the pan

1. (The nut topping goes in the bottom of your 13x9 pan first. You will add the rolls on top, bake it, and then flip it onto a platter, so the yummy carmel/nuts is on top.) For the nut topping, bring the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the vanilla and pecans. Spread the mixture in the bottom of your greased 13 x 9 pan.

2. For the filling, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together in a small bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and roll or press into a 12 x 16 inch rectangle. Brush the dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the filling over the dough, leaving a 3/4 inch border along the top edge. Press on the filling to adhere it to the dough. Roll the dough into a tight cylinder and pinch the seam closed. Roll the cylinder over so that it is seam side down. Pat the ends to even out.

3. Slice the cylinder into 12 evenly sized buns, using a serrated knife. Arrange the buns cut side down on top of the nut topping in the baking dish. Let rise in a warm place until rolls have doubled in size, 1 1/2 or more hours. (If you want to eat these in the morning, make them at night, and stick in refrigerator overnight. They will be perfect for baking in the morning! The cold slows down the yeast.)

4. Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake until the buns are golden and puffed, 25 to 30 minutes. Let the buns cool in the pan for 5 minutes before flipping out onto platter. (Put platter or cookie sheet on top of pan, firmly hold edges of both pans, and flip them so the hot one is on top. Careful, it is hot!) Scrape any leftover filling onto the top of the buns.

Simple Christmas Kid Crafts

Here are a few simple Christmas crafts for kids. I always love the things they make with their handprints, and both of these use hands/feet. For the reindeer, trace both of your child's hands and one of his/her feet on a paper bag cut them out. The foot becomes the reindeer's head and the hands become the antlers. Glue them together, and add a red pom pom for the nose and googlie eyes. Or, let them color and decorate it. You could also turn this into an ornament by adding ribbon.

We made this for playgroup a few weeks ago and we made them again for the kids' Christmas cards. Use a sponge or stipple brush to put green paint on your child's hand and help them make a handprint. We also painted a small wooden star yellow and glued it on, but you could use a pipe cleaner, or simply yellow paper for the star. We cut a stem out of dark brown paper, and then the kids added sequins for the ornaments. We cut the tree out and glued it on a larger card. This was the girls' favorite one- "so sparkly and bootiful!"