valentine’s day crafty treats

we love creating unique valentine’s day cards and gifts! it’s our jam!

ok, so it was in three parts…1) they made valentines for their non school friends 2) they made valentines for their school friends and 3) olive created her own valentine’s day mailbox to bring to school to collect said valentines!

ellie is finally showing an interest in crafting! a few times before, this past year, she’s not been interested. she enjoyed accompanying olive during the journey but she would eventually lose interest within 10 minutes or so. this time around, she’s participated in everything and has worked diligently along side olive in creating her own unique crafts! oh, so proud of my girl!

olive and ellie created beautiful works of art individually and we happily sent them out to our friends with an added extra jazz on each envelope. they seriously worked so hard on each of them! i was impressed by olive and ellie’s van gogh capabilities.

next up, class valentines. i did all the prep work and the girls assembled everything, including all the bags! they did such a great job inserting the lollipops into each card too…i was surprised because it wasn’t easy! way to go girls!

finally, olive created her valentine’s day mailbox {mind you, they did NOT do all their crafting in ONE day! LOL it was over the past few weeks!}. she was so excited to create something fun. she did all the work except handling the hot glue gun. she picked all the decor, assembled, and glittered! what a pro!

enjoy the pics below…the girls worked so hard and i course, i had to post a gazillion similar pics of them, cause those faces can’t be denied! LOL

happy valentine’s day!

*****

D I Y  C A R D S

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[working so hard on their cards for their non school friends!]

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[showing off their works of art]

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[the yearly shot over olive’s shoulder]

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[olive was sooooooo detailed, each card was so meticulous with artistic details]

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[working so hard!]

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[showing off her yellow crayon colored card…she’s just getting started!]

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[her face has really changed this year. – insert crying mom face – ]

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[van gogh…right?!]

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[showing off her card! i ripped the washi tape but she did everything else!]

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*****

 S C H O O L  T R E A T S

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[bath bombs]

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[ellie’s face…i love her!]

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[they are the sweetest]

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[stickers and tattoos]

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[inserting the lollipops into her cards]

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[ellie doing her best to insert the lollipop herself]

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[the finished product!]

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[she’s so proud!]

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[happy valentine’s day!]

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[class treats]

*****

V D A Y  M A I L B O X

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[creating her mailbox]

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[her finished project]

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xoxo

makey valentine’s day cards

yayyyyyyy! it was our yearly ~ let’s makey valentine’s day cards for everyone!

i love doing this every year with olive and love that she has fun decorating all the cards. i can’t wait until ellie is old enough to do this with olive, it’ll be cuteness overload when that happens!

i rummaged out all the fun decor i had stored away and created a fun little space of heart explosions, lots of red, and crafty stuff galore. olive was so excited to dig into all the valentine’s day goodness. she started out with painting the heart cards but became restless and went crazy with the stickers. she totally loved putting all the festive stickers all over the cards and loved the little, what she called alien, poms! those were her most favorite items, although they were just for fun and wouldn’t mail very well in a flat envelope! ha!

ellie joined in on the fun for a bit but soon olive finished up all her valentine’s day cards in style. this mama then addressed and mailed them out to all her sweet little friends! we hope all her buddies enjoyed their sweet little surprise in the mail! olive wants to know if you will be her valentine?! muwah!

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[long story: i bought one heart envelope on sale {super cheap, yearssss ago} and ordered it to get embroidered with olive’s name. it arrived not embroidered! i was super upset but apparently i must have ‘deleted’ the personalization part of my order and that was why it arrived blank. i called the company and figured out what had happened and i wanted to order another one because i wanted olive’s name on it! the customer service person was soooooo nice and helpful and told me to not bother to send the other envelope back because it was so inexpensive and it wouldn’t be cost efficient to send it back. well, thought, what will i do with an extra envelope? i almost gave it away but ended up keeping and found it in my valentine’s day box of decor this year! how perfect?! i then got the second envelope personalized with ellie’s name! it was meant to be!]

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[copious options]

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[she loved her ‘aliens’]

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[painting away]

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[she did such a great job!]

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[i love her]

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[she’s so fun]

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[gahhhhhhh, i love these girls!]

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[i couldn’t help but post every pic of her making the cards…she was so into it!]

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[her favorite items from the day!!]

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xoxo

diy advent calendar

i have always waited around for olive to reach an age where she understands certain things and rituals. i have always wanted to make an advent calendar for her but i wanted her to enjoy it and understand what it is about.

i loved advent calendars as a kid. it was a christmas favorite of mine. i always looked forward to the little surprises behind the doors and wondered what sweet treat lay hidden inside.

i decided that this was the year to make an advent calendar for little miss olive. i already had most of the supplies in my crafting closet but i needed a wreath stamp and let me tell you how hard it is to find a wreath stamp! well, at least a design i had in my mind and that was going to fit inside the muslin bags i already had. i searched and searched online, in craft stores, and tried different shops to see if they offered the right sized wreath and shape. all i wanted was a round shaped wreath that looked real, christmasy, and would fit inside the size of the bag. i.could.not.find.it. isn’t that crazy?! i found a stamp that i really liked but hesitated on the sizes because i wasn’t sure which one would fit and it’s so hard ordering online because i couldn’t visually gauge it!

so i gave up and decided to not waste any more of my time trying to buy a damn stamp! maybe next year i will embellish on the design but this year, it was going to be simple and plain with just numbers on the bag.

when i say this is easy and quick, it’s super easy and quick. i stamped each bag {24 was my magic number of bags}, trimmed the extra strings on it, and then strung it onto red and white twine. ta da!!!! simple, festive, advent bags to help your cutie countdown to christmas day!

i eventually decorated the twine with green garland to add an extra touch of holiday magic and filled each bag with candies, toys, and random goodies! let me tell you, olive looooooooves her advent calendar. it helps her learn her numbers but she absolutely loves opening up each bag every day and i find such joy in watching her do so! it’s so darn cute!!!! she’s so patient, doesn’t peek inside the bags and always waits for us to say it’s time to open up her advent bag!

we do this every day as a family after hc comes home from work. it was really important for us to do this together and revel in olive’s joy! plus, she’s sooooo sweet about it. she always says thank you and will come up to us and say, “i love it! i love my toy!”. oh my goodness…i love her so much!

well, that was my easy, simple, diy advent calendar for christmas! i am hoping to find a lovely wreath stamp or holly stamp by next year and make our cute little muslin bags more fun and festive for the season! yay!

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[supplies: ink, stamps, bags, twine, and goodies to fill the bags with]

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[muslim bags stamped with numbers]

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[free hand stamping]

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[pj’s, coffee, and crafting…yesssssss]

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[i have boxes of stuff in my crafting area and found some fun things to fill her bags with!]

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[i asked her to stand next to her advent calendar and this sour look is what i got]

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[i asked her to look at the camera and she gave me the blank stare. oh olive! i decorated the twine with green garland later to make it more festive!]

xoxo

snow globes

a few years ago, i created these little snow globes for our place and as gifts. i just love them! they are so easy to make and so cute to have around during the holidays. this year, from our move {chicago to the burbs}, a few of my snow globes were jarred from the bumpy move and needed some tlc. so i decided, why not share on how they are made? it’s so simple and fun!

what you will need:

ball jars {wide mouth or regular…whatever preference or size and height} i like a bit of a variety in sizes.

snow. you can buy it at any craft store. i bought frosty snow and iridescent snow to give it some bling.

i added in confetti gold stars to add some shine.

little pine trees. a package at the craft store comes in a variety of sizes.

a glue gun.

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[i also used iridescent snow…it was camera shy]

first, undo the ball jar so you have the round, flat lid bottom side up. i put a generous amount of glue onto the bottom of the tree and firmly place it onto the lid. hold onto it for a few seconds to let it set.

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i then take the snow {both types} and confetti, and mix it into the ball jar. you only need a little bit. maybe a inch or half an inch {depending on the size of your tree}. a little goes a long way.

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some people add water to the jar, but i prefer not too. i then place the lid {with the tree} back onto the cap and screw it back onto the ball jar. flip it over and ta da! you have yourself a snow globe! easy peasy!

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i love making these. i hope you have some fun making them too! like i said, they make great gifts or add just the right amount of festive, holiday decor fun to your house.

xoxo