I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. My day was fantastic. Sure, there were a lot of tantrums going on (we're going through a dramatic phase), but in the morning, Annabelle asked me to pick her up, then she petted my face gently and said, "Mama pretty. Pretty Mama." Heart melt! And then this evening, Andrew came home with a delicious dinner, my favorite chocolate chip cookie on the planet, and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I surprised him by telling him I got us a sitter for an upcoming evening, so we can enjoy that couple's massage gift certificate I got him for our anniversary (back in October!) All in all, a great day.
I had some fun making Valentine's Day related crafts this year too. One on my own and one with Annabelle's help. On my own, I used my best friend's heart hole punch (I must have one of these) to cut heart shapes from old playing cards, scrap paper, and some paper I'd painted. They made such a pretty garland. I really wanted to make some vertical garlands, so that's what I did, but next year, I think I'll make more and make a regular long garland too.
With Annabelle, I wanted to make a Valentine's Day card for her daddy. I saw a great idea on Pinterest for making a hand card that made a heart shape when it opened. I wanted to adapt it, so that she would be more involved by letting her paint the paper we made it with. We spent one day while she was home sick, playing with red and white paint, so she could see how the colors mixed, making a new color, pink (one of her favorites.) I let the paint dry and on another day, I traced her hand on some paper. She loves doing this and she likes to see me trace my hand too. Then when she'd gone to bed, I cut out the shape of her hand and used the cut out to trace her hand onto her painted paper, which I'd folded in half.
Cutting the paper with her pinky finger and thumb touching the fold, creates a card with a heart shape in the middle. What a sweet memento. And her daddy loved it.
Sending love out to all of you. Have a great weekend!