Some Handmade Valentines

A few weeks ago, Amy Lee and I decided it was time for a glitter fest again. This time we decided to glitter bomb my house and make some valentines. Actually, through some contact at her work she had heard about a program that was distributing handmade valentines to the kiddos in Children's Mercy Hospital. And not that we needed a cause to glitterbomb one of our houses in a crafting frenzy... but we thought this sounded like a GREAT cause. So we invited a few friends, busted out the construction paper, glitter glue and heart stickers, and got together for a Sunday Crafternoon.

Dude, check out the MESS of papers on that table. We were into it. (Also Winston cameoed in this picture... it's like Where's Waldo? Can you find him?)
Here are the Valentines I made... I guess I thought I had taken pictures of everyone's? But my camera ate those or something? So here are mine:

Most of those cards are stacked several deep, I know it doesn't look like a a ton... but we each churned out around 20 valentines. I was trying my hardest to make some Male and gender nuetral valentines-- as valentines with their red and pick and hearts can get rather effeminate fast. Hence the dinosaur and dump trucks.

 Actually, the dump trucks were totally my fav. I hand cut all the pieces which made them a smidge time-consuming, but if you were mass-producing them (Say for a whole class of kiddos?) You could easily use a truck shape on a cricut or silhouette type cutter and it would go pretty fast. Topped them off with some sparkly hearts... and I think they are adorable and fun for boys and girls!
Meanwhile, Melissa was using a circle punch and making adorable 'leggo' valentines (I'll never 'leggo' of you, Valentine!) and cute cute elephants with big floppy heart ears, (You're unforgettable!). And Amy was churning out every animal on the planet... but the favorite were her alligator valentines. Maybe one of them has pictures I can share? Ladies?
Anyhow... we had a fun afternoon putting these together, and I think we sent more than 50 valentines to give to kiddos. So I hope they make some kiddos smile on Valentine's day.
Have you made any valentines or gifts this year? I'd love to see what you put together!

Simple Pretty Christmas Projects (Thanks pinterest!)

Just wrapped the first gifts of the season. Don't have wrapping paper yet. But I do have white boxes and pretty ribbon. Simple and pretty. So I think that worked.
Used this method to get pretty bows:
 

Source: chatelaine.com via Valerie on Pinterest

So pinterest was useful today.
Also, along the theme of simple, pinterest inspired, holiday stuff... This is what is happening with all the Christmas cards we receive this year.

(Those are my cousins chillin' there on the front, Hey guys!) In past years I have piled them up, or clothespinned them to ribbons on the doors... but that seemed like a lot of work this year. So when I saw this...

Source: Uploaded by user via Valerie on Pinterest

... I was like, DONE.
Trying to keep Christmas simple and manageable this year. (You can read more about that here, if you care...) So far... no meltdowns, so we are good.
So what about you? What kind of simple, pretty things are you filling your Christmas with this year?

TRY THIS: Shutterfly Christmas Cards

Okay, here's my thing about Christmas cards: They are awkward. I get a piece of cardstock with a Santa pictured on it that says Merry Christmas, and has the signature of my 2nd grade playmate whom i have not heard from since 2nd grade and will not hear from again until next year's card. WHAT GOOD IS THAT??? It's silly. I throw the card away, and don't think much of it. Save your 44 cents... or however much they charge you for a stamp these days.
Okay, here's something I love: Every year, my cousin sends out a photo card with pictures of her kids and her holiday greetings. LOVE IT. Love seeing pictures of those little buggers (who actually, aren't so little anymore). I keep it on my fridge year round... (until i get next year's picture card) It has even on occasion prompted me to call or email my cousin (...the kids are getting so big, thanks for the card... oh and how are you doing... etc) often resulting in a conversation with someone I don't often talk to-- WHICH I think is kind of the point of a card anyway... keeping you in contact with your loved ones.
My Cousin has been sending out photo cards since before it was 'cool' and definitely before it was easy...
I was just having a conversation with My friend Erin the other day trying to explain to her how EASY it really is. And for the same price as those dollar store Christmas cards with Santa on them that will be thrown away... you can send personal photo cards that I PROMISE your friends and family will enjoy SO MUCH MORE.
I have professed my undying love for Shutterfly before HERE when I showed you the photobook I made for a guestbook at my wedding.  Their photobooks kind of rock. I have since convinced several friends to make them for various occasions, everyone has been super pleased. I am sure I don't need to remind you, but Christmas is coming and photobooks make super gifts! But I digress...
We were talking about cards, and Shutterfly has a huge selection of holiday cards with lots of cute creative designs. And they are super simple to personalize, just drag and drop your photos in. If you start right now, you are approximately 45 seconds from personalized Christmas cards. I really love this design:

With glitter, hello?!?! Or this one:

I'm sure you can't guess why that caught my eye...
Anywho... on top of all that Shutterfly is offering 50 FREE CARDS for bloggers... and that pretty much rocks. So I am pumped to create my Christmas cards this year... and you should probably do the same, you know, because you don't want to be the Santa card in the trashcan.

TRY THIS: Recipe card maker

I recently threw a lovely shower for a girlfriend, and we asked everyone to bring a recipe card for the bride. It turned out well, and everyone did great-- except me. Well, you know me I can't be short and sweet about anything, especially a recipe, and my big loopy cursive made it extra hard to get the whole thing on one 4x6 card.

If only... if only I had known about something like this: http://www.skiptomylou.org/recipe-card-maker

Click on the link, pick a design, enter your info, and PRINT.

Clean, clear, readable instructions. Adorable designs. Super simple, professional, but still personal. Love it. Easy as pie. (mmm... pie)

Here are two I printed up this morning in about 3 mins:

Cute, right? Go on... just click on the linky-loo and print up a few of your own today. It's like instant gratification. And I needed an instant gratification project today! Ten points.