The Day Of......

has come and gone!

I hope everybody shared it with their loved ones and had a great day!

***

I'm finally sharing my version of the "52 reason why I love you" using playing cards. I saw a few versions of this in a couple different places and never saved the link...sorry =(

But I loved this idea and here is how my version turned out.

Instead, I did 35 reasons why I love you + 17 little promises = 52 for a Happy Valentines Day!

I thought it could also work good for an Anniversary!

This is another great idea from Tatertots and Jello to use with playing cards. Something you can create for the kids as well. I love this site, check it out!
Happy Crafting!!

Valentine Cookie Suckers & Cookie Sucker Bouquet

These Cookie Suckers are so fun and pretty simple! What you need:

*Pre-packaged Sugar Cookie dough

*Frosting

*Sprinkles/Candy Pieces

*Popcicle Sticks

*Curly Ribbon/Tags

*plastic wrap or treat bags

Roll Cookie Dough into about a 1 1/2 inch ball, stick popcicle stick in about 1/2 way. Put on sprayed cookie sheet overlapping popcicle sticks as neccesary. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cool on sheet for about 2 minutes and then cool completely on cookie rack for about 10 minutes. Frost and add sprinkles and candy pieces. You can eat them right then (Yum!) or wait for frosting to dry before you put in plastic wrap or bag. Tie with curly ribbon, add a Valentine tag if desired. Now you have a cute cookie Valentine Sucker.

Gather them in a vase or pot to make a Cookie Bouquet!
This is a cute way to pass out to a class or give to Grandma and Grandpa, neighbor or any other special someone. I think it would be cute to make smaller pots for your visiting teaching ladies.

All I did was get one of those Clay pots for 1.00 at Walmart. There are smaller and bigger sizes. Paint with Craft paint and Tie a Bow. I put in some green floral foam to stick my suckers into. You can then add some basket filler. It would be really cute to add Vinyl lettering on your pot saying, "I pick you Valentine," or something cute like that.

School Valentines- Melted Heart Crayons

This is a fun Project to do with your kids.

Everytime our crayons start to get old and broken we Recycle them. Since it's close to Valentines Day we decided to make hearts! Sooo Cute! All you need:

*Heart-shaped metal (or silicone) cookie or muffin tin.

(My hearts are about 1 1/2 inches across in size)

*Broken up Crayons (soak crayons in water to easily remove the paper)

{Most of our crayons we just break in half and they fit into the mold nicely, but you can use smaller pieces if you want it real colorful.}

If you are using a metal mold you may want to spray with cooking spray before you put the crayon pieces in.

What to do: Preheat oven to 250. Fill up mold with crayon pieces. Put on a cookie sheet and Bake about 15 minutes or until crayons are completely melted. Let cool completely and remove from mold. Smooth any rough edges by rubbing them on a piece of scrap paper.

And there you have it....Cute Recycled Crayons read to use. Try out many different shapes or simply use a small muffin tin for circles.

You can make some simple School Valentines, just stick it to cardstock paper with 2-sided sticky Foam pieces. Another fun saying is "You color my world Valentine!"

Scrumptious Cookie Dessert

{I first came across this dessert from a recipe exchange years ago and I Love it. It's easy and it's a great dessert to bring to a party! Try it out and let me know what you think.}

1 Lg. Pkg of Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 cup Buttermilk
(Whisk together until smooth, consistency will be thick.)

Add a 12oz container cool whip and mix well.

3 cans mandarin oranges. (Drained)
1 can crushed pineapple (Drained)(I actually never use these)
Large bunch of bananas (we like a lot of bananas)
Stir together then add 1 1/2 pkgs of Keebler Fudge Striped Cookies (Broken up)
Mix well. Sprinkle remaining cookies over the top of dessert.
Eat up and enjoy!

Family Game Night!

I wanted to start the tradition of having family game night. Not only doing that more with my own little family and friends, but getting together more with family that lives nearby. I think we need to spend more time together and not only get together on important occasions, but get together once a month, switching houses each month and having some fun together by playing some fun family games! What do ya think? Does your family do this?

I know there are a lot of fun board {type} games. I also love games that you need nothing to play that are silly and creative. Here are a few little links that I found for a few different ideas: Here, Here & Here.

I'd like to know what you and your family does for fun and if you have any games that you really love. Give me your ideas, I can't wait to hear them!!

Reward Systems

I lOVE Organization and rewarding good behavior in my home and I tried THIS great idea with a point system for chores and good behavior with my kids. They actually love it! You can change it to personalize it for your own family. It's also great with setting a time limit for playing there DS' and things like that. (example- it costs 15 tickets to play your DS for 30 minutes). They earn the tickets by having good behavior and doing their chores, etc.
Try it out and let me know how it works for you or any other ideas you come up with. I also Love, Love, Love THIS blog & I can't wait to try this Rewards Points System Idea out. I'd love to hear what you've tried and what works for you and your kids!!

Bottlecap Stocking Stuffers!

Some fun designs I made for bottlecaps I was making for my music students and Christmas gifts.