When Life Gives You Fourteen Degrees, You Give it Felt Valentines in January

It continues to be ridiculously cold (I know, January) and it continues to be my least favorite time of year (Christmas is still over!). And so to that I say: Valentine's Crafts.



Ellie and I started working on this little ditty on Saturday afternoon while the twins napped. And here's some funny info which speaks volumes: I bought the materials for this "garland"…LAST YEAR. Along with a glue gun. Which I finally took out of its package this weekend. Hey, better late than never, right? Yes, I've long dreamed (for a whole year, apparently) of creating a little Valentine's Day garland (you can make garlands for pretty much any holiday-I'm already planning my Halloween version).



We worked furiously while they slept, in an attempt to get as much finished in the absence of the twin-nadoes precious darlings. I knew as soon as they woke it would be Game Over. We accomplished a lot, I'd say about 3/4 of the garland was complete before Lucy woke up.

When she came downstairs she was wide eyed at the craftapalooza. She announced, "I want to paint!"

Well, OK then.


Lucy, you're such a great artist, I told told her. "No I'm not!" she protested. "I'm Lucy!"

There was a time when I would have felt itchy to have so many projects going at once (shortly after Lucy started painting, she asked for lunch, so at one point I was simultaneously making a cheese sandwich, slicing berries and glue gunning burlap cord and felt hearts). The kitchen: Oh it was quite a sight. I guess I'm just much more accustomed to chaos than I used to be (Gee! I wonder why!). It still makes feel a little nuts, but I know in the back of my mind that everything is washable and everything has a place (eventually) and everything will get cleaned up.


Harry woke up a little later and joined our "salon."


He may have been a bit more interested in the paint water than the actual painting (don't worry, he took a drink when it was clean, before he'd dipped his brush).

Ellie alternated between decorating felt hearts for the garland and painting with watercolors. At one point I took a break from felt heart glue gunning and worked on some water colors too. This is so much harder than it looks, I mentioned to Ellie, who was working quietly beside me (It's been a while since I've used water colors).


"Not for me," Ellie replied. "I'm a natural."

By the way, about that working furiously? A funny thing happened. We were able to finish the garland after the twins woke up. This might sound silly, but I have to say that completing this did a lot for my confidence. I love being creative. I miss doing stuff like this. Yes, things have been pretty hectic for the last few years (Hi Harry and Lucy!). Dare I say we are seeing a glimmer of the future? A future in which creative projects can be completed at a time that doesn't involve nap time? A future in which it's not just the big kids participating, but the little ones too? I mean, don't get me wrong. There was still a toddler pulling on my leg the whole time I finished that last quarter of the garland and I'm sure at least two people were shouting MOMMY! and asking for a snack. But we finished the garland! We finished it! And I swear I didn't ignore the children. Too much.



Perhaps best viewed in darkened room, while squinting. But we had fun.




Felt, buttons, rick rack, ribbon, pom poms and sequins.

More. Is more.

Love Note

Leo's, to Lucy:

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

This weekend was the full of the usual last-minute Valentine's Day prep.

I was so proud of Leo. He sat and wrote the names of each of his classmates. He thoughtfully selected a valentine for each of them (his whole class isn't here but you get the idea). I had the idea to attach the valentines to a larger piece of paper, since I really wanted Leo to address them, but the space provided on the cards is ridiculously tiny.

We also made cookies. As you can see, Leo is more the "taster" type than the baker. He is ALL about the frosting. Oh and look, there's the crazy hair I was talking about. I know, I know, he just looks like a cool surfer dude here but trust me. It's just about time. Next week I guarantee you'll be able to braid it. While Ellie also enjoys sampling, when it comes to decorating with candy she has the focus of an air traffic controller. With those M&M's and sprinkles, she does not mess around.

The finished product, seen along with one of the cutest little chubby hands I know.

Here's hoping your day is full of even more love than usual.

Happy Heart Day

This was what our kitchen table looked like last night, much like the homes of families across the country, I imagine. Side note: There are FOUR Davids in Leo's class. That must get confusing.

I went with last year's leftover Elmos. Not too creative, I know but honestly, at their age, does anyone really even look at the valentines? I found this cool looking set at Tarjet a few weeks ago. They're all vintagey.



I think I'll save them for when the kids are a little older (who am I kidding? that's when they are actually going to care and not want my cool vintagey valentines). Anyway, they're punch out cards with little envelopes that you have to "make" (tape together). They are based on images from Little Golden Books, which I love.


These are the valentine themed art projects Ellie brought home. They had asked for a milk cartoon a few weeks ago and this strange little creature above is the result. I expected it would be for a mailbox for the valentines but...no. One of the cards was quite sweet, it was signed "To Mama Erin and Mama Maya." And I am always a sucker for anything with a hand print.

And of course, a holiday wouldn't be complete without me trying to get a group shot. Excuse Leo's evil red eye. Stupid iPhoto doesn't fix demon eyes very well (or maybe it's my lack of photo editing skills). By the way, I am all about the dressing up for whatever holiday it is. I realize the actual day is tomorrow but Leo is having a party at his school today (Ellie's was yesterday) and it's Valentine's Eve and there's no school tomorrow to dress up for, so there you go.



When he feels like it, Leo can really pose. Here he's doing his best to get his arm around Ellie. Most times she wants nothing to do with it.

Here's the best picture I could get of Ellie's Valentine's jeans. And if you squint you can kind of make out the heart buckle.

Whatever, Ellie. Look at hammy little Leo here in his Valentine (OK, it's a red t-shirt) outfit.

And me? I look forward all year to the day I get to wear these: