Tuesday, January 19, 2010

I Heart Valentines

First off, my Great Grandmother's last name was Valentine.So I guess you could say, Valentines is in my blood. My grandmother was Mary Valentine. I think that is just the cutest name ever. Of course when she married my Grandpaw her last name changed. Still Valentines Day was always very special to my mother. We usually got presents at our seat at the breakfast table. Something nice like a red shirt or a book. My mom would wrap them in red and white paper. For dinner she often made a meal out of red and white foods. She always made the day very special.
Loot From My Students
As I teacher I am beyond blessed on Valentines Day. In all my many...many...many...single years I never felt sad on Valentines Day because to me it has always been about family and of course my students.No matter how poor my students are they shower me with love on Valentines Day.

Here are some cupcakes I made for them. It's a mutual admiration society we have going in The Crayon Box. These were so simple. Just place two mini candy canes in the frosting to form a heart. I got these at the Target 90% off sale after Christmas sale. They were "tropical flavor" thus the bright colors.
love letter
I always have my students write conversation heart letters to their parents too. It's super fun to read what they come up with. This is one I made for my hubby. You can click on it to enlarge it.
Seasonal Shelf: Valentines Day
Around the apartment I display pictures of my loves and put out my heart shaped rock collection.

heart shaped rocks from Malibu

 Valentines Day Love
I also have fun with my salt and pepper shakers. These are couples and symbols of  love.

For the past three years I have participated in the Heart to Heart Swap over at Sarah's blog.
Red Work Valentines
The first year I made these red work hearts. I used handkerchiefs from the dollar store and images from google images. These took a long time but I love how they turned out.

Redwork Valentine
I made one for me on a dishtowel.
The next year both my parents and my inlaws went to Russia. In honor of their trips I made these Matrioshka Valentines.
Matryoshka Valentine
This year my Valentines for the swap are already done and mailed, and I am dying to share them with you!
Seriously. Dying.
Dozens of Paper Rolls
Here's a behind the scenes peek. :)
Anyway, Someday Crafts is having a Valentines Craft show and tell today and I had to join in. Now I am off to check out everyone's great ideas.

Photobucket

16 comments:

Allison @ Room Mom 101 said...

I love the idea of using conversation hearts for writing a love letter. Too funny!

Sandy said...

I like the whole post. Thank you for the idea to use mini candy canes on the cupcakes!

Alea Milham said...

Thanks for the great ideas! My youngest child loves Valentine's Day. He actually makes valentines through out the whole year and distributes them. I want to make the day especially fun for him and will incorporate some of your wonderful ideas!

michelle@somedaycrafts said...

OH Wow! What fun! Love all your ideas, but especially the conversation hearts letter and the heart rocks! I want to start a collection! I'm going to feature the conversation hearts idea at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com Grab my 'featured' button.

laterg8r said...

gorgeous valentines and the candy letter is an awesome idea :D

Room to Inspire said...

OH, I love the collection of heart shaped rocks! Very fun.


Chelsea

My Slice of Heaven said...

I love the conversation heart writing idea! I think I might try this with my second graders. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a me a comment.

Unknown said...

So much fun. I always thought I'd be a teacher, but my life took a different turn. Then when I my stepsons moved in, I thought I'd teach them. Well . . . no. Now, with a 2 yr old grandson, I finally get to share my love for art with a little one. We have such fun, but he always wants Grandma to draw rather than do it himself. It's something I'm working on with him so he feels the joy.
Thanks so much for following!

Linda@Coastal Charm said...

LOVE those cute cupcakes...will pass this idea on to my daughter who teaches K4...thanks for sharing!

Blessings,
Linda

The Mixing Bowl said...

I LOVE the heart rocks. --Laura :)

Lissa said...

LOOOOOOOVE the convo heart letter. I wanna do one for my hubs. For some reason it won't let me see it bigger? Not sure why. Really cute.

Wendy @ Ramblings from the Sunshine State said...

Cute ideas :) I wish we were allowed to send homemade treats for my kids parties. Store bought only :(

littlemissmk said...

cute idea with the candy heart letter! and i love the matroshka (sp?) valentines. so sweet. you are full of great ideas!

Stephanie Lynn @Under the Table and Dreaming said...

Wow what great ideas! I love the letters written with the conversation hearts...How Clever!!!

Dilla said...

hello,
great idea with that supercute love letter. somehow I cannot see the enlarge version.

Angela said...

I really like the letter idea, I added it to my round up of things to do with candy conversation hearts.

Angela