Valentine Presents: Photo Albums

Technically these were supposed to be stocking stuffers… two months late isn’t so bad right? =)  I got these little photo albums from Target and printed some of my favorite pictures from the year to fill them.  I ended up printing more than a hundred pictures when I only needed 72, but it was hard to narrow them down that much!  I have one for each of my children, so they can easily enjoy looking at our pictures.  I’m so behind on scrapbooking I really wanted to do something!  Serenity loves seeing pictures of us when they’re on our website, I thought she’d love this. =)  A quick, easy, and sugar-free Valentine for them. =)  We got PLENTY of candy from class Valentines =)  

Valentine Post Office Party!

Valentine Post Office Party!

When I was trying to plan Serenity’s class party, I asked her what made her most excited about Valentine’s day.  I really had no idea what she thought about Valentine’s Day, since we’ve only ever done a few heart related crafts in the past, and she has a book or two about it.  She told me she was excited to deliver lots of Valentines to her class!!  So I decided the theme of the class party should be Post Office!

The party was a success!  All the kids in Serenity’s class seemed to have a blast pretending to deliver mail.  We kept recycling the letters so they got to deliver them over and over during the party.  I made the huge mailbox out of cardboard.  I had the big box and red paint on hand.  It has a slot in the top, a door in the back to get the mail out, and the drawer at the front that opens just like a real mailbox.  To make the curved top, I just creased the cardboard at regular intervals by folding over a yardstick.  We also added white wooden letters that spell mail.  If we keep playing with it at home, I may add a key slot for the door at the back. 

The pretend mail was one of the kids favorite part!  Each child had three pieces of mail to start with.  One was addressed to a classmate, one to a teacher, and one to a generic family member like Mama or Daddy.  For the teachers, I actually wrote out the address of the school for each one.  That way if they take it home and play more they can learn about addresses, zip codes, and so on.  I made lots of postcards using craft foam, and then addressed a few envelopes as well.  I put a few dozen pieces of extra mail in the mailbox to get them started too.  We kept recycling the letters throughout the party, and the kids were happy to deliver them over and over!!!

Each child also had a mailbag.  To see how I made them, check out thispost.  Basically I used some canvas to make a little messenger bag with a red grosgrain ribbon strap and wrote “mail” on the side with Silhouette vinyl.  Oh, I still need to write about the joy of using my Silhouette.  I know it can be awesome…I just seem to need a Silhouette for Dummies instruction manual.  I managed to get 24 of these finished in time for the party though, and so I’m content for now =) 

I found the perfect little tin mailboxes in the Target dollar spot, and had one for each child to decorate with stickers.  We wrote their names on labels, which turned out to be a great idea, as they kept getting lost.  Turns out a class party for three year olds is a bit chaotic.  =) 

We also decorated cupcakes and the other parents in my class brought other snacks and treats!  It was so much fun!  I’m on a party high right now, I so want to plan another!!!  If anyone needs help brainstorming for a party, leave a comment and let me know!  I’d love to help. =)  

As far as decorations, we couldn't decorate before the party because it would be too distracting to the students.  So I kept that simple and just picked up balloons from the Dollar Tree.  They had heart balloons in four different colors so you could get a neat ombre effect.  The kids all went ooooh when Eric walked in the classroom with them. =)  The dollar tree lady was very helpful loading them up.  She tied them to balloon weights very short in groups of six, so I was able to carry them in two regular grocery sacks and fit half in my trunk, half in the floorboards.  I could even see out, which was a neat trick!  I was worried about driving those across town in my little Honda but it was fine! =)  

Mail Bags for Valentine Post Office Party

The Mail Bags for the Valentine Party are done!!  Just in time as the party is tomorrow.  Serenity loves hers!  I’ll have to make sure it gets back in the pile with the rest.

The bags are SUPER simple.  I just cut a rectangle 26 by 12.5 out of some canvas.  I happened to have some of that on hand, and I thought the thick texture would be realistic for a bag like that.  Then I hemmed one short side.  Next, I folded up that side eight inches and sewed the sides of the bag.  Then I did a “pinch” where you open up the bottom so it looks like a triangle on each side and sew perpendicular to the hem.  Here’s a pic of that, I hope it makes it a little clearer, or you can Google it just like I did =) 

the pinch bottom to give it dimension

fold up eight inches

After that, I hemmed the rest of it, just a quick single fold on these.  Then I added a strap.  The strap is cut to 32 inches, so it can be worn on the shoulder or across the body.  At least a 3 year old can. =)  The strap is just grograin ribbon.  I’d planned on twill tape or that heavier strap but they didn’t have enough in red, and I just had to have red straps.  This was cheaper and works just fine! 

My last step was to use my Silhouette Vinyl to iron on the letters… more on that later today if I get time.  I have not yet found the words to describe my recent Silhouette experience.  At least not ones that aren’t four letters.  My Silhouette and I have issues.  We’re working on them. 

One very happy Mailman! 

She helped me make play mail to go inside.  I addressed postcards made of foam to the students, teachers, and some generic ones to Mama’s and Daddys.  Then I got envelopes and addressed them to each student, putting a contruction paper heart, a few stickers inside.  Serenity added a sticker as a stamp to each one.  Each mailbag is loaded with three pieces of mail, and there are lots of extras in the big mailbox.  I don’t imagine they will all get delivered, but hopefully it will be good for plenty of fun!

Class Valentine Idea

We just delivered Serenity's class Valentines!  I thought it would be fun to make our own, and when I asked Serenity she wanted to make a picture for her classmates.  I didn't think,however, that she would be willing to sit and make all 24 that we needed individually. =)  So we made one picture, and then I scanned it into Photoshop and printed four to a page.

Then we taped a Smarties to each one.  They had already decorated their Valentine bags so when we got to school this morning we put one in each bag.  Serenity really wanted to put one in her own bag... so I'm not sure we quite get the idea behind this yet.  Ah well, lots more Valentine's Days to come. =) 

Here are pictures of the files I actually printed.  I made them a basic 4inch by 5inch square, and then trimmed the edges and cut them apart, printing on both sides of course. 
She wrote her own name!  I was so proud =)  Although looking at it now I hope her classmates or their parents can figure out who it's from ;) 

  

The turtle was made using all green hearts =)  We had tried this project a while ago when we checked out the My Heart is Like a Zoo book, but this time she was actually able to place and glue herself.  Then she colored grass for the turtle to eat, and some flowers, and some other things I can't identify.  I love how much her artwork is evolving!  It's fun to watch!!!

Valentine Class Party Planning!!! (Post Office)

Well, after way too much mental debate, I settled on a theme for Serenity's class party: Post Office!  I asked Serenity if she was excited about the Valentine party and she said yes, we need to deliver things!  So I thought we could play post office.  I had seen this great cardboard craft on ikatbag.com and I made my own version of the big mailbox!  It has a slot at the top, and a flip down drawer thingy, and a door at the back to get mail out of.  I plan to make lots of pretend mail for the kids to deliver to each other and their teachers.

At Target I got little tin mailboxes out of the dollar bin and some stickers to decorate them with.  Easy and inexpensive favors!!!


And see this inconspicuous pile of canvas?  Well, that is the prototype for my next project... mailman bags!  I'll tell more about those later, assuming I can make 26 of them in time. =) 

Some other awesome Valentine ideas that my sister has done with her older sons class include an Iron Chef party, where she got tons of ingredients for crazy rice krispie treats and the kids teamed up to make the best concoction.  Andes Mints, Fruity Pebbles, chocolate chips, all kinds of choices.  Some kids put everything in, and then didn't even want to eat their own creation, but they all had a blast!  Judging was difficult =)
She's also doing a lego party, where the older kids are challenged to make Valentine-y things out of legos in teams.  Hearts, bow and arrows, that sort of thing.  Sounds like fun, I wish I could go!!!