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Simple and Affordable Valentine’s Day Fun

    Why say it with fancy flowers, expensive jewelry or extravagant five-star dinners when you can show love this Valentine’s Day with affordable gifts from the heart? Whether you are celebrating the holiday with your child or a significant other, these simple crafts will go a long way to show your special someone how much they mean to you: I LOVE YOU HEART BANNER Materials: 12×12 scrapbook paper in Valentine’s Day colors or prints Red, white or pink cardstock Scissors Ribbon Hole punch Directions: Cut-out heart shapes from the 12×12 scrapbook paper. Make one heart for each letter of … Continue reading →

Sweet and Simple Valentine’s Day

Who says Valentine’s Day has to be an elaborate affair? Unless you are being wooed by Donald Trump there’s little chance that your Love Day will include jetting off to a romantic locale, being showered with diamonds and rubies, and dining on a five-course gourmet meal while Luciano Pavarotti serenades you in multiple languages. Heck, most of us will be lucky if we find a crumpled handmade Valentine’s Day card in the bottom of our kid’s backpack. Celebrating February 14th doesn’t have to put a strain on your wallet. Forget about the fancy chocolates, chilled champagne, long-stemmed roses, and massive … Continue reading →

Office-Friendly Valentine’s Day Fun

Since Valentine’s Day falls on a Tuesday this year, you will likely be spending the majority of the holiday at work with colleagues you may or may not have a lot of love for. Not exactly F-U-N. While your office may not be the best place to be decking the halls with shiny foil red hearts or candy-tipped arrows being shot by underdressed, chubby babies with wings, it also doesn’t have to be a bastion of death. With a little creativity, some sensibility (and permission from your boss) you can host a whimsical Valentine’s Day party at work that includes … Continue reading →

Let the Valentine’s Day Fun Begin

Punxsutawney Phil is back in his hole, the NFL crowns its champ tonight, and 15-day celebration to usher in the Year of the Dragon wraps up at midnight. That can only mean one thing: Let the Love Day games begin. Valentine’s Day is just about a week away, and even though Wal-Mart and Target have been selling Love Day merchandise since December 27th, now is the time to really solidify plans for the heart-shaped holiday. If you are planning a Valentine’s Day party you’ll want to get your shopping list set. Think: pink, red and silver confetti to sprinkle on … Continue reading →

Cool Find: Shirley’s Prepackaged Crafts

I love arts and crafts time in my home. It provides a fun afternoon of creating from our imaginations and memories to treasure. My preschool area is filled with glue, markers, pom poms, buttons, paper, pipe cleaners, glitter, and so much more fun and colorful items. Coming up with ideas is never a problem. However, coming up with the time to create projects can be challenging. For many coming up with the ideas for arts and crafts time can be challenging. My two little ones ask to do a project daily. I may have a thousand pom poms and a … Continue reading →

Valentine’s Fun with the Kids

Are you celebrating Valentine’s Day tonight? If you have young children, then you may have opted out of partying ‘til the break of dawn this year because… it’s a Monday. Celebrating anything on the first day of the work week is about as anti-climatic as it gets. Then, there’s the whole babysitting factor. Securing a sitter on Valentine’s Day can be tricky. If you have a teenage sitter, there’s a good chance her parents won’t allow her to work on a school night. Meanwhile, older sitters often have sweethearts of their own and don’t want to spend the night wrangling … Continue reading →

Hunting for Hearts

Don’t forget the kids this Valentine’s Day. If you plan to celebrate Love Day with your sweetie by dining at a romantic restaurant at sunset, then spend the afternoon making the holiday fun for your children. If you have young children your job won’t be too hard, as preschoolers enjoy just about any activity which involves parental participation… and chocolate. A favorite game around our house is heart scavenger hunt. To play, have your older children help you decorate a dozen or so construction paper hearts cut into various sizes. Use buttons, stickers, glitter glue, sequins, markers and crayons to … Continue reading →

Cheap Valentine’s Day Fun

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be all about diamonds, champagne and expensive meals. Did I just write that? The adage: “It’s the thought that counts,” comes to play quite frequently during the Valentine’s Day gift-giving season, especially if you have young children. After all, what mother would choose a diamond tennis bracelet over a crooked construction paper heart made with love and a bunch of broken crayons? If you are looking for inexpensive ways your kids can share the love with their favorite family members, then consider these simple yet fun Valentine’s Day craft projects: Heart Plates: Visit your local … Continue reading →

Thanksgiving Fun in the Kitchen

One my family’s favorite holiday traditions is making at least two or three kid-friendly recipes and allowing the youngest members of the clan to create edible masterpieces with help from mom, dad, grandma or grandpa. Each year my mom, my sister-in-law and I comb through our recipe boxes to find simple yet tasty treats the kids can make with little assistance. I always make sure that we choose at least one dessert and one main or side dish, so they can feel as though they contributed to different aspects of the meal. This year I settled on the following recipes: … Continue reading →

Fun Chocolate Thanksgiving Treats

My best friend from Hawaii and her husband will be joining us for Thanksgiving this year. I couldn’t be happier. We’re already planning a special feast and my 6-year-old is thrilled to put her first grade Thanksgiving-theme crafts on display for all to see. Given that our friends are traveling such a long way to celebrate the holiday with us, we thought it would be nice to incorporate some of their favorite foods into the meal and decor. For example, since my BFF’s husband is a chocoholic we’re planning to make a special chocolate tart to add to the dessert … Continue reading →