Happy Valentine's Day!!

 Happy Valentines Day everyone!!

I hope you are having a great day celebrating everyone that you LOVE :)

Here are two of my favorite little love bugs...

Have a fantastic day everyone!! :)

Last Minute Valentines Headband

Well, there's nothing like some last minute crafting before the big holiday, right?!

As I was thinking about our plans for tomorrow I knew I wanted to throw together some simple headbands for my girls to go with their cute little Valentine outfits.  I love having girls and how excited they get about little things like that :)

Luckily I had all the supplies already in my craft stash, and in less then 10 minutes I was able to throw together some simple, CUTE last minute Valentines Headbands.

All I needed for this cute headband was a dollar store headband, ( I have tons on hand always), 2 sweet tulle flowers I ordered recently from Pick Your Plum, a zebra print yo-yo flower I whipped up in minutes, and some E6000...best glue EVER :)

 

Once I had my flowers ready to go I....glued them on the headband.

That's it :)  Turned out pretty cute though!!

I love how simple this is, but how fun and festive it will be for tomorrow as well.  I love making things for my girls that will get a lot of use, and I know this 5 minute headband will definitely do that!

Are you all ready for tomorrow??  I have a few things my husband has to pick up at the store for me tonight, but I am pretty much ready to enjoy the day of LOVE with all the people in my life I love the most :)  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Linking up HERE :)

Conversation Heart Letters

Hellooooo!!  I can't believe its been so long since I've posted anything...but life here is crazy as always.  

With all of my pregnancies I always have to deal with pre-term labor, and baby #5 is making sure he's not left out of all the action ;)  I had my first daughter at 32 weeks, my second at 34 weeks, and then my next son and daughter at 36 weeks...we're learning as we go! ;)  

I always hope this MIGHT be the one that goes full term without any complications...but I am always quickly brought back to reality :)  Saturday we spent a good part of the night in the hospital getting monitored for contractions and making sure this little boy wasn't going to be coming ANY time soon...since I am only a whopping 29 weeks.  

All I can say is...I am SO grateful for good doctors that trust our intuition and good medicine that keeps me pregnant long enough to incubate these precious babes of mine!  After seeing I was only dialated to a 1 1/2 and the meds were really helping to stop the contractions my doctor let me come home on just partial bed rest...HOORAY!!  I mean...it still kind of stinks...but much better than the thought of FULL bed rest for the next 7 weeks, right?!  Even though I pretty much lay around all day I am so grateful I can take care of the basics for my family so I don't have to send my kids off to someone else every day.  I'm sure we'll have to go there before Baby Cohen arrives, but meanwhile I am going to be grateful for all of our blessings!

SO!  If you made it through that LONG story, you'll see I actually had an activity to post today :)

In my daughter's class, her teacher does not assign any actual homework.  She, of course, has to do her nightly reading, but then I am in charge of making sure she does two literary activities a week and two math activities as well.  Sometimes it gets a little tricky to come up with things for her to do...I mean...I'm not a teacher :)  But we did a really fun activity today with Conversation Hearts that I think any kids would love for Valentines Day!

This was wonderful because it was SO simple, but a fun break from just writing a normal story.

I just had Skylar grab a pen, piece of paper and a glue stick.  Then I came through with the most important part....

 

Once she had her Conversation Hearts out and ready to go, she was really able to get creative and write letters to friends and family USING the Conversation Hearts!  She had so much fun choosing which ones she wanted to use, and then writing the sentences around them to make them work.  Some were easy to use, like I Miss You...others like Puppy Love were a little more difficult ;)

It was so fun to see and read what she came up with, and homework time flew by today!

So if you have any spare chalky candies laying around, try this out with your kids!  It would be such a cute way to write a letter to their dad, or friends, or grandparents for Valentines Day too! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by Blue Skies Ahead today!  

Conversation Heart Hair Clips

Hey everyone!!  I just wanted to pop in with a super quick and fun project your little girls will love this Valentines Day!

If you were around last year you may have seen our Conversation Heart Earrings, or our Conversation Heart Rings.  My girls LOVED wearing these fun and trendy pieces and I wanted to throw something similar together this year that they would love just as much.

Here is what we came up with!

 

These took about 15 minutes to make and my little ones are crazy about them.  All you need are some bobby pins, nail polish, and Conversation Hearts.

I quickly painted my bobby pins with different colors of nail polish and let them dry.  I am going to do this with ALL our bobby pins from now on...they look totally cute just like this! ;)

Once they were all dry I simply hot-glued some Conversation Hearts on each bobby pin and our clips were ready to go!

I told you they were easy ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!

Linking up HERE!

Let Your LOVE Show countdown!

 

Hey everyone!!  I know this is kind of last minute...but since I just got mine put together during naptime today I figured I would share :)

My kids LOVE holidays, and I love doing countdowns and advents to draw out the fun for even longer.  I thought for Valentines it would be fun to do a Let Your LOVE Show Countdown for the first 2 weeks of February!

This was SO easy to put together and turned out really cute.

All I did was cover a bunch of clothespins with Washi Tape.

Then I got some more of these SUPER cute striped bags I had from Pick Your Plum.  I printed out numbers 1-14 and glued them onto the front.  Then in each bag I wrote down an activity for us to do and sealed the bag with a little more Washi Tape :)

The activities I chose were really simple for young kids...just anyway my kids could let others around them know they love them.  Some that I did were:

Heart attack a good friend

Write a thank you note to your teacher

Do a secret service for one of your siblings

Call daddy at work and tell him how much you love him

Make valentines for Grandma's and Grandpa's

and lots more!

In case you want to do something similar, here are the numbers I used for our countdown.

Thank you so much for visiting today!  Please share...how are you helping your kids to Let Their LOVE Show this month?? :)

Crazy Kool Valentines!

 

Hey everyone!!  How are you all doing this COLD, icy, Thursday?  Or maybe that's just where I'm at ;)  My oldest daughter is home sick from school today so we decided to take an hour and put together her Valentines for her classmates.  These were SO cute, cheap and easy to put together!

I originally saw THIS idea on Thrifty Decor Chick last year and thought it was SO cute.  Then when I was at the Dollar Store the other day, I thought it would be fun to add a crazy straw and our Crazy Kool Valentines were born! :)

I had these awesome treat bags I ordered around Christmas time from Pick Your Plum.  They were the perfect size and color for these super simple Valentines.

We just stuck a Kool-Aid packet and crazy straw in each one, and then glued on this printable I made on Picmonkey.

I made two different versions depending on what color bag I was using, please feel free to click, save and print! 

Have you started thinking about your kids Valentines yet?  If so, what are you doing??  Share in the comments!

Linking up to THESE great parties!

Valentines Doughnuts...the easy way!

Are you all getting excited for Valentines Day??  I know we are at our house!  The last couple of years this has evolved into one of our favorite holidays.  I thought of a simple, easy treat to make this time a of year a little more fun :)

All you need to make these SUPER easy homemade donuts are a few small heart-shaped cookie cutters and some refrigerator biscuits.

I used a larger heart cutter for the main shape, and then used a small heart to cut out the middle.

Once you have your heart doughnuts, all you need to do is drop them in a pot of hot oil for just a few minutes.  Watch closely and turn once to make sure they brown evenly.

 

After they are done use a slotted spoon to get them out of the pot and drain on a paper towel.  Then sprinkle with powdered sugar and you have your super easy Valentines Doughnuts!  I also used the small heart cut-outs....TASTY!!!

These would be fun for your family, or a super cute gift for anyone special in your life.

I may or may not have eaten 3 of these while I was making them during nap-time today :)  They are quick, cheap, and fun for your whole family!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!! 

Valentines Day Mantel, EASY burlap banner!

 

Today I am sharing with you my Valentines Day Mantel!  I am so excited about how it all came together...especially since I actually made some of it myself!  If you know me, you know a craft that actually turns out is pretty rare ;)

On one side I framed the printable I whipped up that you can find HERE.  I also found this blue birdcage I fell in love with...and inside are my two little love birds ;)

On the other side I framed a piece of fabric that matched our LOVE sign and covered a foam heart in pink tulle and twine.  I also scored some burlap balls 90% off in the Thanksgiving Clearance section...perfect!!

I made this LOVE sign last year, and updated it just a teeny bit this year.  I re-modpoged 3 of the letters to update the color. and I absolutely adore it.  Its the perfect focal point for my mantel.

Finally this year I made a burlap banner to hang up.  This was SO easy and quick to put together, I think it adds the perfect finishing touch!

All I did was cut triangles out of burlap and hot glue them to some pink bakers twine.  Then, using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, I painted hearts on the burlap with acrylic paint.  

And there you have it!!  Do you decorate for Valentines Day?  It is quickly becoming one of my favorite holidays...just for the decor! ;)  

Bakers Twine Valentine Wreath

 I had a great time yesterday and today during my little ones nap time finally updating my front door!  I mean really....it was time for the Merry Christmas sign to come down ;)  I dug through my craft stash to use anything I had on hand...and this fun Bakers Twine Valentine Wreath is what I came up with!

All I did was cover a wreath form in turquoise bakers twine I bought a few months back from Pick Your Plum.  After a few minutes of neatly wrapping it around I got bored and started doing it a lot more messy :)  I have serious attention issues when it comes to crafting.  Once I had the form covered in twine I haphazardly wrapped natural twine a few times around.  

Once I had that all done I cut out triangles of burlap and hot-glued them on the wreath.  Finally I made a bunch of fabric yo-yos and hot-glued them all together and PINNED them on the wreath.  Then, once spring time rolls around I figure I can make a new embellishment and turn my valentines wreath into my spring wreath! :)

I love the pop of color my new wreath added to my brown front door, and I always love anything with Baker's Twine ;)  Thanks for stopping by today!

Linking up at these great parties!

Valentines Day Printable!

 

This weekend I started getting out my Valentines decorations.  I usually wait way too long and then it seems like I don't even really get to enjoy them ;) 

 

Once I put everything up I realized I really wanted a cute printable that went with my color scheme.  Unfortunately for me...I am the ONLY person that doesn't do red at Valentines :)  SO...I had to get creative and come up with something myself.

 

I thought I would share just in case anyone else is crazy like me and thinks turquoise is a festive color for ANY holiday ;)

 

Feel free to right click, save, and print away!!  I made it in an 8x10 size, perfect for the finishing touch on a mantel.

 

 

Anyone else decorate in different colors???

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope no matter who you shared it with, you are all having a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Can you believe I got a shot of them ALL smiling?! :)

Valentines Day Scavenger Hunt

Can you believe we are almost half-way through February?! Craziness!!

On Valentines Day I always try to do a fun project or craft for my kids. I thought it would be fun to switch it up this year and have a little Scavenger Hunt that will lead them to their after school snack I blogged about HERE.

When they get home from school they will find different clues leading them to their yummy treat! The theme of the scavenger hunt is I love you more than...with each clue being in a place that I LOVE...but not more than my kiddos :)

I thought I would share my clues with everyone in case you want to do this with your kids too. Super easy and fun way to show your kids how much you love them. Here are the clues I came up with:

The first clue will be out where they can't miss it, on the couch probably. Then the second clue in the dryer, the 3rd in the freezer, 4th in the car and so on. Finally they will find their treat on a tray in the oven with individual love notes from mom.

I hope you enjoyed out Scavenger Hunt, and I would love to know: What fun things do you do in YOUR home for Valentines Day??

Where Does Love Come From craft

We read the sweetest book and did a fun little craft to go along with it.

This is a sweet book about where love comes from. Does it blow in the wind? Does it bloom in the garden? In the end we find out what we already knew, true Love comes from your heart. It was a sweet little book that my oldest daughter enjoyed reading to all of us.

The thing that caught my eye about this book was the cute heart cut-outs on each page. The kids loved trying to guess what was on the next page and seeing through each heart. It inspired our heart craft for this week :)

All we did for our craft was get out 12x12 piece of cardstock and some paint. Then I got out all the different paint brushes I had and let the kids go at it. They made polka dots, they used their fingers, they mixed the colors...it was awesome! It was fun to see how free they felt, and what they would come up with when they had no instruction. They especially loved seeing how the colors changed when they were mixed together. They were having so much fun, I got into it myself! :)

Once we were all done painting we took another white 12x12 paper and folded it in half. Then I cute some hearts in different sizes and we placed the cut-outs over our paintings. The kids LOVED seeing their finished creations, and the girls helped me cut the hearts for their masterpieces.

I love how our projects turned out! The kids had a great time experimenting with paint and seeing they could create something truly beautiful.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a great weekend!!