Valentine's Day Playdough Cookies

I wanted another opportunity to play with the white winter playdough again. We've already made snowmen with it, and Little O has played with it independently at her desk. I decided to pull out the same accessories we used for the snowmen and add some circle and heart-shaped cookie cutters. Little O couldn't get the hang of rolling the playdough flat, but she enjoyed mushing it with her hands and ripping it apart. Great work to develop those fine motor skills!

Once I rolled my dough flat, she was interested in helping push the cookie cutters into it. I cut out two circles and two hearts for each of us to play with. I wound up with one heart and one circle, and she got the rest.

I made sure she could reach the decorating supplies: buttons, sequins, heart-shaped sequins, bows, and googly eyes. Then I started decorating mine.

She got the idea pretty quickly. She really liked the small, multicolored sequins. She grabbed handfuls at a time and sprinkled them onto her cookies.

She also enjoyed taking the supplies out of the box and putting them in a pile. I had to let go of my OCD tendencies for this. It is Ok that she mixed the sequins and the googly eyes. It's is.

In the end, this is what we wound up with. They are not beautiful, Pinterest-perfect playdough cookies. But they are perfect to Little O and to me. Process. Not product.

Happy Crafting!

Valentine's Advent Calendar for Toddlers

Last year I made my husband a Valentine's Day Advent Calendar to count down the days to Valentine's Day. I decorated 14 white craft bags with paper, stickers, stamps, and other crafting supplies. Inside each bag, I included a note about why I love him and some candy. It was great. He thought I was really romantic, and it gave him two whole weeks to come up with something awesome for me!

I saved the bags because I really love how they turned out, and I'd love a chance to reuse them. This year, I'm going to give them to sweet Little O. I won't set them all out at once because at almost two, she isn't old enough to understand waiting to open one each day. I'll just give her a new one every day. And instead of candy, although I think a piece here or there is ok, I'll fill them books about Valentine's Day, supplies for small Valentine's crafts, and other Valentine's Day related activities we can do together as a family.

I will have to make three new bags, as #1, #10, and #14 are definitely geared toward a husband.

Once I get them filled, I'll post what I put in each one and what the new #1, #10, and #14 bags look like.

Have you made any

Valentine's Day Advent Calendar

I created this Valentine's Day Advent Calendar for my husband. I thought it was a very clever way to say I Love You to him on the days leading up to Valentine's Day.

I got the idea from a fellow blogger in blog land. Here's where I found it.

First I went "shopping" in my craft room. I had tons of scrapbook paper, stickers, ribbon, and embellishments. All I needed were the bags, some more glue (all my glue sticks were dry!!), and a few other odds and ends. I found everything else I needed at Hobby Lobby. Google eyes, heart-shaped sequins, Valentine's Day cards (for the love notes), stamps, and the white craft bags.

I spent several hours playing with my Cricut while the baby was sleeping. And while she was awake too. She loves playing with paper scraps in my craft room.

I decorated each bag in a different way, including a number that corresponded to the date. Each day, he was allowed to open on bag. Inside he found a little love note that told him one reason why I love him. He also got a sweet treat. I put a few yummy candies in each bag.

I put the calendar up after he went to bed on January 31. And I left him this note on the kitchen counter.

This was such a fun project, and so easy. My husband really loved it.

Next year, I'll probably make one for baby O too.

One added benefit, aside from telling my hubby how much I love him, he now has 14 days to come up with a really awesome Valentine's Day gift for me! Thanks to my best buddy for pointing that one out. I swear it didn't occur to me!

I'm thinking I've caught Advent Calendar fever. I might make these for other holidays too. I'm thinking Easter, Halloween, and of course Christmas.

Jessica