17 different women, 36 crazy children, 0 babies in utero
Adventures, Advice and Questions from a group of Mormon women who met in Queens, NY and have now scattered all over the place.
 

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Make Stuff: Last Minute Valentine's Treats

"Crafting" takes a lot less energy for me than cleaning (and it's way more fun), so while I have been in recovery mode this past week, Princess and I have put together a few fun Valentine's treats for her teachers and friends.

1. Felt Teddy Bear: Kage's daughter made Princess a hand sewn teddy bear a while back and it is a much treasured item in our house. So, we decided to make a similar Valentine's bear for Princess' best friend next door. It was a fun and inexpensive project (felt .20 a color, embroidery floss .25, we already had the beads and stuffing but you could sacrifice an old stuffed animal and get some for free). You can click here for the pattern.

2. Flower Pot Valentines: I found these tiny flower pots prepackaged with pink and purple flowers at JoAnn's a while back and thought they would make perfect "non-candy" valentines for Lucy's school teacher and primary teacher. All the spring seeds are out now, so you could also make a cute valentines card out of a packet of seeds too.

3. Homemade Marshmallows: You can't keep sweets completely out of Valentines Day, so for the neighbor kids, we made strawberry flavored, pink marshmallows. I have been a fan of homemade marshmallows since my days in NYC working across the street from The City Bakery which makes and sells their own marshmallows every winter. Delicious. I use Martha Stewart's recipe and add the coloring and flavor at the very end. It's gooey and messy, which is exactly why the kids love to help.

posted by This is Carrie @ 2/13/2008 07:50:00 AM   add to kirtsy


10 Comments:

  • great stuff! We had 15 cards to make yesterday for Max's preschool class and I was down sick with a cold and low on supplies. So I cut a kitchen sponge into two hearts and we stamped away at some cardstock. A little glitter paint dug out of the back of the closet, and voila, Valentines!
    posted by Blogger marian at 2/13/2008 09:49:00 AM  



  • looks cute! home made marshmellows are the absolute best. definitely gets me in the mood for a nice warm mug of cocoa!
    posted by Blogger kelly at 2/13/2008 12:38:00 PM  



  • BTW, Sorry to hear about all the sickness! Ohh- me too about the crafting- definately easier than anything else (for me).

    I love the teddy bear! Those are always so cute and special.

    We made homemade V-day cards too this year- using pretty scrapbook papers,satin bows, and buttons- I cut hearts out of the paper and let DD glue it all onto white cardstock cards we made.

    The marshmallows do look intimidating though- are they hard?

    I like to make V-day cream cheese cookie cutouts and cook them on a stick, and frost them really cute. Then you can make like a cookie bouquet.
    posted by Blogger Rachel H at 2/13/2008 01:15:00 PM  



  • are you kidding me? on a good day crafting is overwhelming for me, and you do this in recovery mode? wowie.

    and how did i not know homemade marshmallows exist? how? can't wait to try them out and next time I am in the city, definitely going to city bakery.

    happy valentine's day!
    posted by Blogger Melissa at 2/13/2008 02:48:00 PM  



  • oh yes, and I meant to share this as well - last year, I took a bunch of Max's paintings (you know, the ones that are just scribbles of paint on a page, nothing "memorable") and cut them into heart shapes, which Max then glued on to pieces of construction paper. He was too young to make it through hand-creating a dozen valentines, but this way everyone still got something special that he made. It worked out very well.
    posted by Blogger marian at 2/13/2008 02:54:00 PM  



  • I love this! I think Valentine's Day is all about doing things "homemade", and maybe getting a nice dinner out of it, or some chocolate. T and I made Valentine's for his grandparents and cousins and it was so fun. He's almost 2 so we just used stamps, stickers, crayons, and some old glitter I had (which he LOVED and I'm still finding all over our apartment). It was all very inexpensive, and I've gotten so many calls about how much people loved the cards.

    Thanks for these ideas Carrie. I'm kinda like Melissa when it comes to crafting, so it's good to hear about other people's experiences. I'm trying to get a little better so that my kids can try being a bit creative.
    posted by Blogger Beth at 2/13/2008 04:23:00 PM  



  • Everyone has such creative ideas for valentines! So much better than the Barbie and Spiderman crap you buy in the stores.

    Rachel H - The marshmallows are not hard at all - I don't have a kitchenaid mixer or a candy thermometer and it still wasn't that hard. If you had either or both of those tools, it would be a snap. Clean up is a different story though. All I can say is let it all soak.
    posted by Blogger This is Carrie at 2/13/2008 09:41:00 PM  



  • I love that you just whip up some awesome handcrafted Valentines treats WHILE recovering from pnemonia...and 32 weeks prego...and potty training Pumpkin. You are my hero :)

    Great ideas, btw - I was inspired to have an afternoon of Valentine crafting with my kids after reading your post!
    posted by Blogger Sara at 2/13/2008 10:20:00 PM  



  • yumme marsmelos
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 2/14/2008 07:53:00 AM  



  • seriously, you're insane. I was feeling pretty drained this valentines and wasn't sure i was going to do anything. but you're post inspired me to get the sewing machine out and re-size an XL Ratt tee to fit my hubby. he was so excited and wore it to work today even though he's meeting with some fancy shmancy director.
    posted by Blogger tamrobot at 2/14/2008 09:14:00 AM  



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