Smoothfoam(TM) Valentine's Day Hedgehog

Here's a quick and easy

Valentine's Day project ... this

would make a great centerpiece for the

classroom or the teacher's lounge!

Supplies: 8" Smoothfoam(TM) Half Ball

Acrylic Paints: Red, White, Black, Brown

Sharpie Marker, Ruler, Stylus

Tracing paper & Transfer paper

(to transfer face to body)

 Base coat the Smoothfoam(TM) Half Ball

with two coats of Red paint.

Once the paint has dried, transfer the

hedgehog's face to the body

using transfer paper and a stylus

(or the handle of a paintbrush).

 Mix the red and white paint together 1:1

and paint the hedgehog's face pink.

Use brown paint for the inside of

the ears, the nose, and the patch of hair.

 The eyes are dip dots of black paint.

Use the ruler and measure out

1.5" from the head in the center of the

half ball ... use the stylus to poke a hole

every 1.5" along the hedgehog's back.

Repeat this until you have enough holes

 for the number of suckers you need.

(I only needed twelve, but there's plenty of

room for more if necessary!)

Paint a small heart onto each hole.

Once paint has dried, use Sharpie marker

to outline all the details.  Insert

a sucker into each hole.

~ Peace and Happy Valentine's Day! ~

Valentine's Day Goodie Jar

I love to upcycle ... here's a painted

Valentine's Day Goodie Jar ~

I don't usually skimp on chocolate,

but we've been battling snowy roads and

the dreaded flu ... somehow extra

chocolate evaded my consciousness as

I shopped for chicken soup and Be Kool strips

these past two weeks.

(I'll have plenty of time to stock up

before Valentine's Day!)

Supplies: empty jar with lid

Acrylic Paints: Red, White, Black, Yellow

Tracing paper and Transfer paper

(to transfer design to painted jar)

Masking Tape
Mod Podge (for sealing)

Use masking tape to tape off the

top and bottom of the jar ~

so you can paint a large band with

a 1:1 ratio of red and white paint.

(or use pink paint ... but I didn't have any

of that in my household stash

so I had to go all Old School and use

my paint mixing skills).

Paint the jar lid with the same color.

Use transfer paper to add the

main pattern lines to the painted strip.

Forgive me for not taking more
step-by-step photos ... perhaps my fever
was getting to me.

 

I painted the entire outline of the bee
with white.  Once the white paint
dried, I add the detail lines with the
transfer paper and painted
the bee black with yellow stripes.
I added tiny pink hearts to his wings.

 

Base coat the heart with red paint.
Once the red paint dries,
you can add the lettering with
the transfer paper and go over the
transfer lines with a thin brush
and black acrylic paint.
I also used the black paint and the
thin paintbrush to outline my
entire design ... you could use a 
Sharpie marker if you prefer.

Once everything has dried completely,
I coated the lid and the painted
surface with Mod Podge to
protect it from chipping off.  No
one likes chipped paint in their chocolate!
 
~ Peace and Happy Upcycled Jar Gift ~

~ Be My Valentine ~

I painted some names on these

buckets, and I think

they look much better now!!

 

 

 

Peace and Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Heart Day!!!

~ Happy Heart Day!!! ~

~

This is what's waiting for me in my studio today ~

These Valentine's Day buckets just

need a little paint (and maybe some glitter)

and then I'll inadequately position all the goodies

to look not quite as *WOW* as

my Crafty Girlfriend could make them,

but at least a little bit *wow*

for my sweet kiddos.

Oh!  Also of note,

due to poor driving conditions yesterday,

the tall people that live here ...

wait.

When I used to refer to the

"tall people" who live in my house,

that would have meant Doc and me.

If I say "tall people" today,

it means Doc and my oldest, tallest son.

(sniff)

Anyway!!

We have canceled

dinner reservations for this evening,

because we will be spending our

Valentine's Day in a school

gym, eating Frito Chili Pies and drinking

soda from a can.

(insert violent shudder here)

BUT!  On the upside, we will be

spending Valentine's Day with our

short(er) people ... watching

our oldest, tallest son play basketball.

Since my two oldest

(including my tallest)

sons were already in the vehicle

impatiently waiting to get to school

early enough to shoot baskets before the

bell rings, here is a pic of my

two youngest, shortest Valentines.

Sweet little boogers.

They'll probably be taller than me by

next Valentine's Day.

At least my feet reach the pedals in

my swagger wagon.  They still need me!!!

Have a Super Terrific and Wonderful

Happy Heart Day!!!

Clever Valentines

Happy Almost Valentine's Day!

I turned all this (^) into this (V) in just four hours!

(LOL!!  I had actually planned to spend

a little time each day on these for a week - but

that old stomach virus foiled my plans!)

So ... I had to get 92 Valentines together

yesterday, for the kids' parties this afternoon.

I'll show you more detail, but first -

I have to brag on my crafty girlfriend for her

*ULTRA* Clever Valentine's Day Card Idea!!!

(soooo stinkin' clever!!)

 I LOVE THIS!!!

And I also need to show you the

groovy Valentine Mailbox

she made from a race car shaped gift box:

We spiffed up the wheels a bit AFTER I took

this photo ... and then I didn't

remember to take another photo of the finished

box.  Cuz that's how I roll.

I forget to remember things.

And then Crafty takes a super relaxing trip

over the weekend and I can't

dash over and take the pic I forgot to remember

to take after we spiffed up the wheels.

But, whatever.

CUTE, huh??

Anyway ... here are the ideas I put together

for my munchkins, please keep in mind these are only

slightly clever and shouldn't be categorized

with the ULTRA clever skunk and whoopie cushion idea

posted above.  Also, because I had zero

intention of writing out 92 (that's ninety TWO) 

To and From Valentines cards,

I cheated and ordered cards online.

I didn't even design my own.  Sheesh.

What a cheat I am!!!

For my 13 year old boy,

the only suitable Valentine short of designing

my own (which again, I did NOT do)

was this groovy Dragon card.

The only suitable goody to go WITH the

groovy Dragon card, was the Chinese New Year

Dragon gum tape from OTC.

Even though said 13 year old boy wears

braces on his teeth, and cannot eat the treat

that goes along with his groovy Dragon card.

But I DID score these super cool dead head stickers!

What 13 year old boy wouldn't want

THIS stuck on his school notebook??  Huh??  I ask you!!

But then I realized the super cool dead head

stickers would not fit into ANY of the SIX treat bag

packages that I had picked up for treats.

So ... I compromised (time was running out and

I still had 77 more Valentine goody bags to make):

I stuck them in freezer bags.

Ugh!!  I'm sorry Brady!!!

But I did put lots of candy in there, too:

 And the boy CAN eat the fun dip and the

gummy hearts and the suckers.

And he can play with the super sticky gel

hearts on a string which I think are

disgusting, but boys seem to love them.

eew

Next up: my 11 year old creature-lover

chose the shark card:

I found shark squirters and gummy sharks

and lots of un-shark-related candy

to put into his goody bags.

My 7 year old boy is an astronaut

in his version of the Valentine card, and I

found the create-a-space-scene

sticker cards to go along with his theme.

Also, lots of tiny trinkets and yummy candy

and disgusting super sticky gel hearts on a string.

Now, my 9 year old girl was a tiny

bit more particular.

For instance, she wanted boy and girl treat

bags to be separated and filled with different treats.

I don't know where she gets her creativity.

(hee hee)

Her little Valentines are dancers,

and they include her photo on the inside.

For our competition dance girls,

we bought 7" ballet fairies and candies,

and put them in the fun zebra treat bags:

Then for her classmates,

everyone got the same candies, but the 

girls got a bendable ballerina doll and a token

bling ring (in tiny sizes! so cute)

and the boys got WHOOPIE CUSHIONS 

because what 7 year old boy doesn't need one

of those to play with for three minutes

until they pop?  Huh??  I ask you!!!

And then I cheated (again!) and bought the

teachers a box of candy instead of

painting a super cute container and filling

it with clever theme-related gifts.

But, remember!  I did paint little

Valentines "chalk boards" for them, so I get

a little credit for that.

Of course, as it happens, I forgot to remember

to put the hanger on the back of

one of the teacher's "chalk boards" 

(made from a ceiling tile - see previous post!)

so now I have to run back out to the

studio and hopefully remember that I'm there

because I forgot to remember to glue

the hanger to the back of the "chalk board" so

that I can get that done and get it to school.

Hopefully in time for the Valentines party,

but at this point, just getting it there today would

make me happy.

I did make quick little gift tags for the boxes

of candy - just to personalize them

a tiny bit.  I asked Crafty Girlfriend to cut

me some tag shapes from Kraft cardstock and her

Cricut machine.  Then I stamped a groovy

heart at the bottom, and cut some circles out of

colored paper.  I stamped those with tiny

stamps and chalked them in.

Talk about a craft fail!

I've had the chalks for years, but just

pulled the wrapper off yesterday.

I couldn't get good coverage with the tiny

applicators so I wet a brush.

A Big Fat WHATEVER because that didn't

work.  And I didn't want to paint them.

~And for the record, it's okay that I can't chalk.

I mean, I'M okay with it.

Or maybe not.  I will tackle it again,

but first I will do some research.

Just not right now.~

I don't remember how many goody bags I still

had left to make, so I just did this:

Strung them all together and attached them

to the Kraft tag and wrote the teacher's name

with a permanent marker.

And in case you're wondering,

NO, I did not get the hole punched in the

right place on this particular red circle tag,

and NO I did not fix it.

I'm giving it to her just like this.

I am.

Unless I decide to run out to the studio

and fix it.  Because I'm OCD like that.

Sheesh.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

I hope this post was mildly inspiring at

least, and WILDLY inspiring at best!!!

Peace and May You Be Wildly Inspired!!!

Valentine's Day Teacher Gift

 WELCOME!!!

It's a dark and dreary day here,

so I thought I'd buzz out to my studio

and create something FUN!!!

Here's a quick and easy teacher's gift idea

for Valentine's Day:

Supplies: *Ceiling Tile (mine is 12" square)

*Fringed Valentine Garland

*Acrylic Paint (Black and White)

Hot Glue

Scissors, Paintbrush, Transfer Paper

and a Sawtooth Hanger

 I used a sponge roller to paint the

ceiling tiles black.

Next, write the teacher's name

in 3" block letters on tracing paper.

Here's a TIP:

The copier is your friend.

If you aren't comfortable writing in 3" block letters,

write the name in normal-sized lettering

and use the copier to enlarge

the letters to the desired size.

Also, I love graph paper.

And I love enlarging graph paper with

my copier, and using it as a guide

for all my handwriting patterns.

Hope this helps ya.

Center the words on the tile

and transfer your pattern lines

using light colored transfer paper and a stylus.

I thinned white paint with water to

an ink-like consistency, and

painted over my pattern lines with

a round paintbrush.

Allow the paint to dry thoroughly,

and trim the Valentine garland to 48".

Starting at one corner of the tile,

use the hot glue gun to attach the garland

to the outside edges of the ceiling tile.

I used the hot glue to secure

a sawtooth hanger to the back of the 

ceiling tile for easy hanging.

Line up the hanger and mark

the holes with a pencil.

Two dollops of hot glue

right on top of each of your marks.

Smoosh the hanger in place for

exactly a quarter of a second and VOILA!!!

Instant hanging awesomeness.

Peace and Super Easy Giftyness!!!

a silly poem for Valentine's day

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

When searching for the perfect goody

for my four littlest Valentines

I stumbled (literally - but that's another story)

upon this tackle box

of treats.

Just the right size ...

not too BIG nor too teeny.

A variety of sweets ...

chocolate, crunchy, and gummy.

 And just gross enough

for my pack of three boys,

while still pretty to look at - 

chocolates wrapped in fish foils.

and upon closer inspection,

I wasn't disappointed, but intrigued

at the colorful bait selection choices.

There were bobbers and

worms and tiny fish bait, and 

even small frogs to fish with ... but wait ...

what kind of thing would be

looking to eat

this selection of bait, so

sticky and sweet?

Why, my little things,

of course, for you see ...

they like the treats that don't 

appeal to me.

My four littlest Valentines

my four special kids

each have a new bait box

with tight-fitting lids.

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Peace Out