Magic Popcorn: valentines Day Edition

 For years we've ben "jazzing up" our movie night popcorn with little add-ins... goldfish crackers, chocolate chips, candy, fruit snacks, etc. and I had a reader tell me that she started doing it with her son who dubbed it "magic popcorn".  Magic popcorn is now the official name of "popcorn with stuff in it" as my kids used to call it ;)  I put together a fun little surprise for the kids (and honestly, for Dave and myself as well) for some game and movie time over the weekend and it was such a simple way to add some festive fun.

Valentine's Week Prep

Happy Monday, friends!  This weekend we hustled to prep for a really busy week including all kinds of Valentine's Day fun and activities.

My kitchen table was a HOT MESS for about 95% of the weekend but it was a happy mess ;)

Under $20 Valentine's Day Gifts for Kids

  In case you're on the market for a quick little gift for Valentine's Day I'm sharing  a few of my tried and true favorites for kids - all under $20!

I actually bought this little purse for Griffin last Valentine's day and she LOVED it so much (it's $10 and so cute!) but she left it at a basketball game and when we went back to get it it was gone. 

Strawberry Lemonade Bundt Cake

I'm a total sucker for anything strawberry lemonade.  It brings me back to my nineties days at Collin Creek Mall (shoutout old school McKinney/Plano people!) sipping on a strawberry lemonade from Frullati and browsing Forever 21 :)  When I decided to try out this recipe I was intrigued by the use of lemon zest and juice and was so pleasantly surprised by the amount of lemon flavor and how it paired PERFECTLY with the fresh strawberries.  

Valentine's Day Printables

 My Valentine printable post is one of my most viewed and most requested posts every year and I love that the post just continues to grow!  I only have two kiddos doing Valentines this year and they haven't quite made up their minds just yet but I wanted to get this out there so if your kids are thinking of ideas they can peruse these printables and hopefully narrow down their choice :) 

When I design printables I create them in a 4x6 format that you can right click, save to your desktop, upload to a photo printing service (I use Walgreens) then fold in half and staple to the top of a  cellophane bag with a treat inside or directly to the top of a snack (you can find the cellophane bags that I like  HERE or pick them up at Hobby Lobby).  The kids write their names (and the names of their classmates if the teacher prefers that) on the cards with Sharpie and we're done! 

It's the norm at our school to do little "favor bags" instead of just a card or candy.  Any of the ideas that I share today would totally work as a card if attaching a little favor isn't what your family or school does!

I'm SO HOPING that Griffin opts for this card for her friends at school.  I think it would be PRECIOUS with heart shaped glasses for everyone of if your kids are a little bit older maybe hearts for the girls and "cool" glasses for the boys.  

Valentine's Day Touches

I wouldn't necessarily call what's going on Valentine's Day Decor but more like "touches" to get us in the V-Day spirit.  It feels fresh but still festive and I thought I'd share in case you're looking for some simple ideas for your home as well!

Pizza Pasta

Today I'm sharing one of my go-to quick and easy dinner recipes - it's heary, crowd-pleasing and makes enough for leftovers for my kids thermoses (or dinner!) the next day which is a big bonus.  It's SUPER flexible and if you serve it in  this awesome heart casserole dish it's instantly festive.

Valentines Printables

My Valentine printable post is one of my most viewed and most requested posts every year and I love that the post just continues to grow!

When I design printables I create them in a 4x6 format that you can right click, save to your desktop, upload to a photo printing service (I use Walgreens) then fold in half and staple to the top of a  cellophane bag with a treat inside or directly to the top of a snack (you can find the cellophane bags that I like  HERE or pick them up at Hobby Lobby).  The kids write their names (and the names of their classmates if the teacher prefers that) on the cards with Sharpie and we're done! 

It's the norm at our school to do little "favor bags" instead of just a card or candy.  Any of the ideas that I share today would totally work as a card if attaching a little favor isn't what your family or school does!

I thought that this little rainbow clipart was the CUTEST and this card would be so sweet attached to a bag of skittles, jelly beans, etc. 

Valentine's Day 2018

Valentine's Day is always one of my favorite days of the year because it's a day to be intentional about showing and telling each other how much we love each other and I'm thinking we might have to implement a quarterly (or even monthly!) love day in our house :)

Valentine's Candle Jar

Tomorrow is the big day - card exchanges, candy, class parties, etc. and I'm in charge of the craft for Luke's class party.  It's not often that a school party works with my teaching schedule, but Luke's is in the late afternoon this year and so I got to sign up to help.  I'm doing the craft and had to make my example last night so I thought I'd share what we'll be making in case you're in need of a last minute art project this week!

Valentines - A few more :)

So after MUCH discussion at our house my kids finally settled on their class valentines and today I thought I'd share what we came up with.  

All of these printables (as well as the ones I shared in January) are ready to be right-clicked and saved to your desktop and then uploaded to a photo printing place (like Sams Club, Target, Walgreens) and have printed as a 4x6 photo.  Once you have the print, fold it in half and staple it at the top of a party favor bag filled with whatever goodies you choose :)

At first Griffin wanted all things unicorn and rainbow and glitter - we had to rein her ideas in a bit (we weren't sure the boys would be super pumped about a glitter unicorn necklace and they ask that all the valentines in PreK are the same) so we decided to put 10 or so GIANT water beads in the little bags and attach them to this...

FREE Valentine's Day Printables

Hey, friends!!!  Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I always have fun coming up with creative (and inexpensive!) ideas for little class valentines and am excited to share some "oldies but goodies" as well as a few new printables!

When I design printables I create them in a 4x6 format that you can fold in half and staple to the top of a  cellophane bag with a treat inside or directly to the top of a snack (you can find the cellophane bags that I like  HERE or pick them up at Hobby Lobby).  The kids write their names (and the names of their classmates if the teacher prefers that) on the cards with Sharpie and we're done! 

ALL OF THE VALENTINES BELOW CAN BE RIGHT-CLICKED, SAVED AND THEN PRINTED.  ENJOY!!!

The Day It Rained Hearts

We've been reading The Day It Rained Hearts in preparation for Valentine's Day and the premise of the book is that it starts raining hearts and Cornelia Augustus collects them and makes special Valentines cards for each of her friends.  We've been talking about sending valentines and who we want to spend special notes to and we decided to send them to one of our very favorite organizations - Cards for Hospitalized Kids.

Cards for Hospitalized Kids collects homemade cards and distributes them to children in hospitals all over the country.  There are a few requirements (no glitter and a few restrictions on the messages you can write), but other than that they just ask that they're encouraging!

Once you're done with the cards, you just pop them in a big envelope and mail it to

Cards for Hospitalized Kids

6567 N. Olmsted

Chicago, IL 60631

I set out a bunch of different supplies including our new heart punch (seriously - so easy!!! Luke can do it and he had the best time punching out lots of hearts for all of us to use) and let the kids go to town.  I had a few ideas in mind, but they had their own ideas, so I didn't stress :)

  

You can't put any identifying information on the inside, but you can sign your name and say where you're from.

 We ended up with close to a dozen cards and before we packaged them up we prayed over them and the kids who would be receiving them.  We prayed for their families and doctors and that they would feel Christs love and our prayers when they received the cards.

This was a super easy and fun way to spend some time after school.  The cards don't have to be elaborate and it's a great way to craft and then not be overwhelmed with keeping all of the art. ;)

I'm hoping to do this with the kids a couple of times a month and challenge you to pop a few in the mail as well.

If you need more ideas (and a few templates) you can read about the cards we made last time HERE... just keep scrolling... it's at the bottom of the post.

See y'all tomorrow for Friday Favorites!!!

PS - This post contained affiliate links which means that if you clicked on a link and purchased an item, I may receive a small commission.  THANK YOU!

Valentines Decor

I kept my Valentines Decorating pretty simple this year.  Christmas decor was INTENSE and I've been enjoying the "less is more" look since the holidays.

On my kitchen buffet I put out this sign from Vine and Branches as well as a tea pot full of tulips.

The lamp and shade are from Wal-Mart.  Yes.... Wal-Mart.

You should totally order one online and then pick it up when you pick up your groceries :)  hahaha

I'm still figuring out what (if anything) to put inside the big lantern... I'm looking for big white pillar candles... but don't want to spend a ton.  I'll keep you posted.

I've mentioned before that my mom's parents immigrated to Canada from Holland after WWII and tulips always remind me of them - especially my Opa.

The super cute towel was a gift from Shay with a set of her new cookbooks!  The color is awesome and I am LOVING the towel!  Which sounds weird, but it really is awesome. It's really soft, absorbent and it's a great size.

 I filled the apothecary jars with giant marshmallows, circus animal cookies and strawberry wafer cookies (which, by the way, were a childhood staple for me.  The. Best.)

  

Sign HERE.

 My FAVORITE candle just happens to be festive ;)

I'm a huge fan of the latte bowls from Anthropologie and was happy to add a few pink and red ones to my collection.  They're a great size for ice cream, cereal and everything in between.  And they're probably not as expensive as you think.  I have plans to take out the red and add some yellow to the pink and white for Easter and then take out the pink and add navy for summer.  They're an easy and practical way to add some festive fun to your counter.

Leftover marshmallows from our marshmallow day :)

Several of y'all have asked lately about our little table.  It's from Pottery Barn and it is fantastic. 

You can read all about our kids table HERE ;)

The plates are from Pottery Barn as well - but two years ago I think. 

But their plates this year are sooooooooo cute!!!

The chair backers are from several years ago as well, and I had them embroidered by a friend locally.

I had big plans for a banner, but then I had to grade and Griffin wasn't feeling well... so we're bannerless.  Gasp :)

Hope y'all are having a WONDERFUL Thursday!  See you tomorrow for Friday Favorites!!!

PS - This post contained affiliate links - which means that if you clicked on a link above and purchased an item I may receive a small commission.  Thank you!!!