Valentines counting

Today Kaitlyn helped me to make her Valentines for her little friends. We worked on colors and numbers. She had to count out 15 candy hearts for each bag, fill the bag and then pass it to me to put the topper on...it took a lot longer than me just doing them peacefully during naptime. But they mean a whole lot more to her than you can imagine. She helped to make a list of a couple friends she wanted to give them to and even knew exactly which bag she wanted each person to have! Great way to reinforce those basic skills while including your child in making their own valentines.

It's not too late to purchase these printable just go to Magic By Marcy and get them for just $3!

Print at home on cardstock in just a few minutes you can have unique valentines for you little one to share with their friends.

Hearts...Hearts...Hearts

Making a heart bouquet

We had a lot of fun playing with some old crayons the other day. Kaitlyn sorted them into colors and chose her two favorites red and purple. We peeled back the paper and placed them into a clear ziploc bag. She practiced her hand eye coordination by using the hammer to smash the crayons inside the bag...I have to say she is pretty good at swinging the hammer, I see lots of DIY projects in her future.
Next we sprinkled the smashed crayon pieces onto a layer of wax paper, then covered it with another layer. I used the iron...on a medium setting.... to iron the wax paper melting the crayons. Once the color had transferred onto the wax paper I placed the left over crayon pieces into a ziploc bag to keep for future projects. Kaitlyn helped me trace some hearts I cut out of old file folders and then I cut the hearts out for her. I glued wooden dowels onto the back of each heart using a hot glue gun. added a little tuelle ribbon for grass in a small pot and viola...a heart bouquet!

Love is in the air....

It's starting to look like Valentine's Day around the house!

Kaitlyn and I had a lot of fun decorating for Valentine's Day. We came up with some pretty crafty ways to use things we already had on our craft shelf....in fact I put the entire mantle together without making any trips to my local Hobby Lobby! Which my husband definitely appreciates! Here's how you can get this look using things you might already have around the house.

To make the hearts banner I used heart ornaments I bought from Target after Christmas for 90% off....I bought 4 packs for $1, I went to my fabric bin and found all the scraps I had in reds and pinks, I cut them into 3 inch long strips and layered them to tie the hearts together.

Each season or holiday I try to utilize my glass jars on my fireplace mantle to reflect the season, but I ran out of ideas and money for February....so I simply used what I had. Kaitlyn used her cutting skills to help me cut small squares of fabric, they weren't perfect and it made quite a mess but that was half the fun. I filled the jars halfway with my fabric pieces and then added some left over glitter candles from Christmas....and Viola! A great look that didn't cost a whole lot of money!.........How do you decorate for valentine's day at your house?

A sweet treat!

I love to change things up each month and keep things fresh! One way we do that is by decorating for each holiday, its something Kaitlyn loves to do and looks forward to. She loves holidays and parties as much as her mama does. I made this cute centerpiece to serve two purposes...to be super cute for Valentines day and to help reinforce positive behavior at the dinner table...how do you ask????
We have struggled with getting our oldest (3 1/2) to use good manners consistently at the table since her brother arrived on the scene some of her manners have regressed....which I don't need! Especially when I already have an infant to clean up after. So I found a way to kill two birds with one stone :) Each day Kaitlyn has a chance to earn 3 candy hearts ( one for each objective) each time she eats, she has to show good manners, eat all her food, stay seated and clear her dishes and her brothers when we are all done. If she follows all of those expectations then she receives all four....and since the jar is filled to the rim with fun super cute candy it is a constant reminder for her to make good choices.

To make your own candy jar just get a large glass vase and set a glass cup inside ( this will keep the amount of candy needed to a minimum and give you a place to put fresh flowers, decorations etc in the center of the vase. Then fill the large vase with your favorite holiday candy ( candy hearts, jelly beans, sweet tarts, peeps.....get as creative as you would like!) and Viola! you have a great motivating centerpiece that is sure to please!

Circles and snowmen!

What to do on those chilly winter days....

We had some fun with our shapes! We worked on writing by practicing our circles...and boy has it been a challenge teaching my little lefty to write...The teacher in me keeps saying stay calm she will get it soon enough....the mommy in me is becoming quite frustrated. We worked on tracing and writing circles in our skills workbook and on her chalkboard, then we went on a circle hunt around the house. She gathered 5 toys from around the house that had a circular shape.....she had a lot of fun gathering her items. This is one of her favorite activities to do. You can play this game with letters and shapes and eventually words as they move on to elementary school.

Kaitlyn used an old aluminum foil roll ( it is best because its diameter isn't too wide) she dipped it into the white paint and then added circles all over her paper ( this was the falling snow :)
To make her snowman I traced three circles onto white paper and cut them out, Kaitlyn put them in order from biggest to smallest and then glued them onto her paper.
She tore strips of white paper into small pieces to cover her snowman. She glued them down with her glue stick. At the end she colored a nose and we added google eyes and a ribbon for a scarf, and black tissue paper for the hat. It was an O' so cute little snowman :)