More Valentine's Day Ideas!

Last week I shared four little ideas for things to do for Valentine's Day. This week I come back at you with several more ideas. Love has filled the air around here and everywhere you look there's hearts and the scraps of materials that came from making them.

Yarn wrapped heart ornaments are a neat, and time consuming, thing to make. You just need heat outlines cut out of thin cardboard, scissors, yarn, and something to fasten the yarn with. We used tape but I have read of others using hot glue and even school glue. We didn't make hangers for these and simply hung them from the branches of our "Valentine's tree" however it would be a simple thing to add a loop of yarn to hang these from pretty much anywhere.

The obligatory hanging hearts that remind me of my early elementary school years. A different drawing on each side (or saying) makes sure that you can always see something on these as they dangle from the ceiling.

 "Chocolate covered" strawberry smoothies!!! I love love love LOVE chocolate covered strawberries but lack the patience to make them most of the time. I also have been attempting to cut back on the sweets. I "concocted" a smoothie recipe that tastes remarkably like the real deal. All you need is vanilla flavored yogurt, a ton of frozen strawberries, white milk, and chocolate milk. I did add half of a banana for some potassium. Taste this as you go until you get the "right" flavor. These were a HUGE hit around here and the entire mix was drunk within 20 minutes!!



Conversation hearts also seem to be a must have this time of year. They can be used just as treats, as math manipulative's, as something to kick start your writing, and so very much more. We always buy a big bag instead of the little boxes as they'll get munched on for a few days and used in several math examples.

I'm not sure what to call these little things and I saw a post about them somewhere or another. But, the idea is you take two heart shapes (I used printer paper instead of card stock) and draw a different design on each one. Then glue them, design sides out, around a pencil. When dried you can spin them between your hands quickly and you can see both designs at once! They really do work! I just couldn't get a good picture where you could see both designs.

Valentine's face collages are an interesting way to capture one loving moment of your child's life each year. I've thought about doing these for a few years and only just now got around to it. I doctored a picture each of the children by altering the tint and cropping so I just got their faces and then printed them out at about a 3 x 5 size print. We used the white paper left from all the little hearts I'd cut out from the pencil craft as "frames". You tape your picture in place along with a colored piece of paper (try to get them to fit under the "frames") onto a regular piece of construction paper. Glue the "frames" where you'd like over the picture and the other slip of paper and allow to dry. Write a cute or loving phrase on the colored paper that's now framed and go to town decorating the page! Ours are still currently drying or there'd be some completed pictures here.

Talk about the real Saint Valentine. I wrote a quick post about him here but it is far from all inclusive. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. I did get my information from sources that I trust and would urge you to google (or otherwise look up) Saint Valentine for more information. There's a reason this guy is a saint!

Make valentines for each other and family members! This is always a fun thing to do. Of course you can always use the ones you purchase and fill them out, we just like making a lot of our own things. If my kids have an excuse to make a mess they'll do it every time! We've made little ones, big ones, ECJ even made a pop up one for Papa and Grandma! Don't forget, you can always make a few (or fill out a few) for some of your neighbors or some residents at a local nursing facility and be a secret valentine!

There's so many other things that could be done. But, this mamma is a little tired and *gasp* crafted out for the next day or so. I'm calling this one day that has been "done" enough until the actual day. 

Linking up this week with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for List It! {Tuesday} ... (OK, so it's Wednesday now.) And also linking up with Unschooling Mamma for her weekly linky party.

Find us on Facebook here or subscribe to the blog for tips on homeschooling, book reviews, how to get your children helping out in the kitchen, and to see many pictures of the cute kiddos, plus much more!