DIY Valentine's Day Box, Card and Craft

In preparation for Gabby's very first Valentine's Day party, we put together a mailbox for her little friends to put cards in. We didn't have a shoe box to use so ended up using an USPS box. It is larger than what we need but I had to make due.

First, I cut a hole into the box wide enough for Gabby to reach in and grab her cards out. Then, I wrapped the box in plain hot pink wrapping paper. After the box was wrapped, I gently cut a slit into the wrapping paper and folded the wrapping paper over the edges of the hole. This way, the mailbox opening has a nice clean edge.

DIY Kid's Valentine's Day Mailbox for Cards:

Gabby decorating her mailbox with self-sticking foam hearts:

Peeling stickers is hard work:

This box is also good for holding random toys and balls: 

I wanted to make cards for Gabby to pass out but didn't have much time. I looked around online for free printables and just found something that worked with what I wanted. Kit Kats fit inside these perfectly. I just rolled up some tape and stuck one Kit Kat inside each card. I used a heart punch to make holes to tie a red ribbon through.

DIY Valentine's Day Card:

You can download this tented card file and edit your own wording to print out yourself. To see the rest of the collection, go to Catch My Party. The best part is that it is free!

At the Valentine's Day party, we read Snuggle Puppy, sang songs, passed out Valentine's, had a snack and made this simple craft.

Supplies Needed:
* Regular school glue
* Small bottle of pink acrylic paint
* Thick white cardstock cut into a heart
* Foam brush
* Candy Hearts

Mix some pink acrylic paint in with the glue. Let your child "paint" the glue onto the heart-shaped paper and decorate it with candy hearts. Lay flat to dry. Make sure you have a decent coat of glue or else the candy will fall off.

If it doesn't rain, we are going to another party at the park on Valentine's Day. We'll have food, let the kids play and do a few crafts. One of the activities we're planning to do is having the kids decorate cards to give to the senior citizen home. Now I just have to figure out what goodie to bring. Any ideas?

DIY Felt Valentine's Day Envelopes

One of Gabby's favorite gifts she received this past Christmas was this Step2 Neat and Tidy Cottage. Every morning she comes downstairs and says, "Hi, House!" At night before bed, she says, "Goodnight, House!" It's her little hiding place where she throws tea parties for her stuffed animals. As small as this house looks, my husband, Gabby and me can actually all fit in this house just fine. Sometimes she'll even hold us as a prisoner inside and not let us leave.

There is a little mail slot built into the house so we would stick random paper and junk mail through it for fun. I thought it would be cute to have something Gabby wouldn't crumple so easily and that she could reuse. Since Valentine's Day is next week, I figure it'll double as a Valentine for her as well.

DIY Felt Valentine's Day Envelopes: 


You've Got Mail:

Small Envelopes for Small Hands:

I'm working on a few more Valentine's Day crafts this week and can't wait to share it with you.

DIY Baby Sock & Washcloth Cupcakes & Lollipops

I was excited to go shopping for baby shower gifts last month because it meant looking at newborn clothes. It's been awhile and it makes me nostalgic. There is something just so sweet about those tiny little baby socks.

I ended up picking out staples like everyday onesies, baby socks and washcloths as opposed to going out clothes. As cute as those little girl dresses and little boy cargo pants are, I know they won't get much use. In the first few months, Gabby went through so many onesies even in a single day. You really can't have enough.

If you have a Carter's store near you, consider yourself lucky. They have the best deals and coupons that you can use on top of it all. I rarely buy anything without having at least a 20% off everything coupon in hand. The main reason I love Carter's is that there is no time limit on returns so I was free to hoard baby clothes up to a year in advance and return if not needed. I would venture out to say that Gabby's first year wardrobe consisted of over 80% Carter's.

A pack of Carter's baby socks comes with three pairs of socks and a pack of washcloths comes with six. The combination was perfect to make these delectable yet calorie free cupcakes and lollipops.

DIY Cupcakes Using Baby Socks & Washcloths:

I Taking one sock, fold it in half and roll it into a small ball. Fold a washcloth in quarters and wrap it around the sock and secure it with a rubber band. Wrap a piece of wide ribbon around the cupcake and use glue dots to hold the ribbon in place. Place inside a cupcake wrapper.

I picked up a package of three plain white Wilton Cupcake Boxes from Michael's (about $3-$4 after 50% off coupon). You could opt to get boxes with designs or in different colors, but I just kept it simple.


Cupcakes Boxed Up:

For Baby Girl:

For Baby Boy:

Since a cupcake box only fits four, I was able to make two lollipops with the extra socks and washcloths. The technique is the same as the cupcakes except you fold the washcloths more to make it thinner. Place in a square plastic bag and secure with a rubber band tightly to help hold its shape. Insert a lollipop stick into the rubber band and tie it with a ribbon.


DIY Baby Sock and Washcloth Lollipops:

It's a simple and sweet gift that is also practical and useful. Even to this day, Gabby still uses her washcloths. I ended up not using the onesies as part of the "sweet" gift and just wrapped them inside a gift bag. Next time I'll have to figure out a way to turn the onesies into something else - maybe a cake or ice cream sundae. 

DIY Wedding RSVP Card Keepsake Book Tutorial

Doing the birthday card keepsake book for Gabby inspired me to see what else I could bind into a book. I dug through our box of wedding stuff and found stacks of wedding cards. We had over 200 guests and tons of out of town guests who sent cards. I think I'll save that project for another time.

I found our RSVP cards that I have been saving for the day I figure out what to do with them. We had asked guests to write some wishes or words of wisdom on the back of the cards. We received quite a few creative and funny ones. Some people drew pictures, glued on photos or wrote quotes. One even attached a saying from a fortune cookie. I'm really happy we still have these mementos from our wedding.

The difference between this book and the birthday card book is that this one has a hard cover and I didn't need to sew the spine together.

Pictures of the materials used and more details on the process can be found under this post.

Materials Needed: 

• RSVP Cards
• PVC Glue (I still had a tub I bought for $8 four years ago from Paper Source, but it's $10 now). 
• 2" Wide Book Cloth Tape in Blossom (10 foot tape roll is $6.50 from Paper Source)
• 3-4 Large Binder Clips or Clamps
• 3-4 Craft Sticks or Cardboard
• 1 Foam Brush 
• Scissors
• Bone Folder (Optional)
• Bookboard or Thick Cardboard
• Exacto Knife
• Two sheets of decorative paper
• Extra paper for the first and last protector page

All the RSVP Cards:





Cards Ready to be Glued: I made a mistake and forgot to add one or two blank protector pages at the beginning and end of the book. These pages will be glued directly to the hard cover of the book and help secure the book to the cover.

Glued and Waiting to Dry:

Close-up of the Glued Spine: Again, make sure you have blank pages at the beginning and end. I had to add it after the fact and is not as secure.

Inside the Book:

Supplies for the Book Cover:

Cut the Bookboard with an Exacto Knife: My cutting skills need work.

I cut and glued a decorative paper sheet to each board, leaving a small gap for the book tape. I accidentally cut the pink book tape a little short so patched it. I used a thin strip of cardboard from a notepad I had to use as the spine. Leave a quarter inch gap between the spine cardboard piece and front/back cover so that you can close the book.


Putting Together the Cover:

The Inside Cover: 

The Front Cover:

Take your book and spread glue on the front page, back page and spine. Lay the text block straight onto the spine of the cover and close the book. This will bind the book right to the cover.

The Finished Wedding RSVP Card Keepsake Book:

DIY Superhero Cape Tutorial

I'm always on the lookout for fun things to take Gabby to during the week. It breaks up the day and she gets a chance to play with other kids. Our city hosted a one hour Superhero party for kids ages 2 to 5 so I thought it would be something fun Gabby would enjoy. For $10, the kids drew, painted, danced, played a few games, went on a parade and had a snack.

There aren't too many Superhero costumes for girls so I put together one for Gabby. It ended up being more cost effective than if I just bought costume from the store. I was lucky and found a Superhero t-shirt on clearance at Old Navy to pair up with Gabby's tutu from her Halloween costume. All she needed was a superhero cape, which was fairly fast and inexpensive to make. 

DIY Toddler Girl's Superhero Cape and Costume Tutorial:

* Old Navy Tshirt (about $4-5 on clearance)

* Tutu (recycled from Gabby's Halloween costume)
* One half yard of yellow felt (about $1.50 - It was $3/yard after 50% off coupon from Joann's)
* One inch square piece of stick on velcro
* Optional: One 9.5 sheet of purple felt (on sale for $0.20/sheet)
* Optional: One 9.5 sheet of purple felt (on sale for $0.20/sheet)
* Optional: Purple floss or thread
* Newspaper to use as a template pattern

Step 1: Using a sheet of newspaper folded in half, loosely draw an outline of the top of the cape. I just eyeballed how big I thought Gabby was. Once cut, I used the newspaper to put it around Gabby's shoulders and adjusted the size as needed.

Step 2: Use the newspaper as a template to cut the yellow piece of felt. Adjust the length as needed. I made Gabby's a little on the longer side so she can use in dress up play as she gets older.

Step 3 (Optional Superhero Badge): There is an "S" on Gabby's t-shirt so I went with that for the badge on her cape. Find an image of an "S" online, print it out about 7" long and carefully cut out an outline. Using the backside of the felt piece, flip the image over and trace an outline of the "S" directly on the felt piece. This way, when you cut out the felt piece, you don't have to worry about the pen marks since it is on the back.

Step 4 (Optional Superhero Badge): Once the "S" is cut, sew it on a yellow piece of felt the same shape. I suppose you could iron it on as well but I am not familiar with using iron ons and figure I would mess it up. Besides, I thought the thread gives the badge a nice embossed look. I added another layer of dark purple felt underneath to make the badge stand out on the bright yellow.

Step 5: Add an one inch square piece of velcro to the straps of the cape and you're good to go. It's super simple and you have an instant Superhero.

Super Gabby:  Whenever Gabby is in a new environment, it takes her a little while to soak everything in and warm up. With a squirmy toddler, it's hard to get a smiling picture but she had fun!

Super G Playing Games with the other Superheros: She's the smallest one out of the bunch.

 Super G Painting with Mama K:

Overall, Gabby and I had a great time. It is so bittersweet seeing her grow up and participate in big girl events. She is definitely not a baby anymore. Once she goes off to school, I know I will be crying more than she will.

Thick and Chewy Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

If you're looking for something to bake, here is my favorite classic chocolate chip cookie recipe. It turns out slightly crispy on the outside but soft and chewy inside. Yummy goodness. If I have time tomorrow, I may bake a fresh batch for our Christmas Eve dinner. 

Thick and Chewy Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen


Ingredients:

• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 salt
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• Optional: Any ingredients or combination of toppings you want to add.

Step 1: Pre-heat over to 325 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside. 


Step 2: In a large bow, mix butter and sugars together until thoroughly combined by hand or with an electric mix on medium speed until smooth (1 to 2 minutes). I usually just mix it by hand. Beat in egg, yolk and vanilla until combined (about 30 seconds).


Step 3: Add in dry ingredients and beat a low speed (about 30 seconds) just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips (or whichever toppings you choose). 


Step 4: Roll scant a handful of dough into a ball. Hold dough ball in fingertips of both hands and pull into two equal halves. Place each half with jagged side facing up on cookie sheet. Leave about two inches between each ball. 


Note: dough can be refrigerated up to two days or frozen up to one month. 


Step 5: Bake cookies one sheet at a time reversing position of cookie sheet halfway through baking until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy. Bake about 15-18 minutes but check starting at 13 minutes. It took exactly 17 minutes in my oven. Frozen dough requires an extra 1-2 minutes to bake.


Step 6: Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for about 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to completely cool. Serve or store in an airtight container.


I was able to make three dozen cookies for a cookie swap. I did one dozen of each of these and stored them in this container to give away.

plain chocolate chip

chocolate chip and crushed peppermint candy canes 

chocolate chip and chopped up Andes Chocolate Mints

Cookie Swap Container with Printed Recipe Card:

I also like making cookies with these toppings. The possibilities are endless. 

• white chocolate chips with chopped macadamia nuts
• chocolate chips with nuts (chopped walnuts or pecans)
• toffee chips

My husband's favorite are the s'mores version. With about seven minutes left into baking plain chocolate chip cookies, insert small pieces of Hershey's Bar and mini marshmallows. Next time I will try adding rough chopped pieces of graham crackers and see how they turn out.

Happy baking!

DIY Salt Dough Handprint Ornament Tutorial

I've been so busy with shopping and errands that I haven't had a chance to post much. I'm going to try to get all my Holiday-related posts done before Christmas. We still have a few people to buy for but the hard part is figuring out what to get. I might end up baking some cookies or something. Our family always celebrate on Christmas Eve so that cuts down on my remaining shopping time.

Anyways, I wanted to share all the salt-dough ornaments Gabby and I made last week in case there is anyone that wanted to do some last minute gifts for their family.

DIY Salt Dough Handprint Ornament (Heart with Gabby's Thumbprint):

Supplies Needed: 

• 4 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 1.5 cups of water
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters
• Coffee straw or skewer to make the holes for the ornament.
• Acrylic paint
• Optional: rubber stamps

Note: This recipe makes a LOT of dough so you may want to cut the recipe down. I was greedy and used every last piece of dough so we made 50-60 various sized ornaments. It took a long time to roll them all out especially with a curious toddler helping. 

Step 1: Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and knead for approximately 10 to 15 minutes until thoroughly combined. This is what ours looked like mid-kneading. Not very pretty at all.

Salt Dough Mixture:

Step 2: Scoop out a handful and roll out the dough. Shape into a circle or use cookie cutters to make whatever shape you want. Press down handprint and make a hole or two for the hanger using a straw or skewer. I used a straw and the hole came out clean. I used rubber stamps to imprint letters, numbers and shapes.

Step 3: Line up ornaments on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden. I think I slightly undercooked them because they started getting puffy if I baked them too long.

Step 4: Let air on cookie rack for about a day. You could just leave them on the cookie sheet but flip them back and forth so the back dries too.

Baked Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments Before Painting (Set 1 of 2):

Baked Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments Before Painting (Set 2 of 2):

Step 4: Paint with acrylic paint. You can add glue and glitter if you would like. Hang with a string or ribbon. I painted them using acrylic paint.

Disclaimer: Sorry the next several pictures turned out so poorly. I usually take my pictures during the day in natural lighting but ran out of time so took these at night with bad lighting. Gabby hung the ornaments on the tree so I don't want to pull them down to take the pictures again. At least you get an idea of what they look like.

Salt Dough Ornaments with Gabby's Handprint:

Salt Dough Ornaments with Gabby's Fingerprints:

Salt Dough Ornaments with Random Cookie Cutters:

Salt Dough Ornaments Imprinted with Initials for Gifts:

Failed Salt Dough Ornaments:

I tried to get fancy and painted on a clear acrylic coating to make them shiny but they dried with this thick cloudy film. Next time, I will try using an acrylic spray paint instead for a thinner and more even coat. I got tired and painted the mitten pretty poorly. Gabby's handprint is on it so I'm keeping it. Maybe I will repaint it later. 

As you can see, my painting skills really leave something to be desired. You can really tell they are "Do It Yourself" but I am glad we did it. Gabby had a lot of fun helping me. It was a long and messy endeavor but well worth it for the memories.

My Little Helper with Dough Everywhere Even on Her Face:

Gabby Deep in Concentration:

It's time for us to get ready and battle the crowds. Good luck, everyone!  Drive safely out there.