Our Valentines

We are almost finished with our Valentines. We like to exchange with our classmates as well as our neighborhood family. So, for Christopher and Parker, that means a lot of Valentines. Since Anna is only exchanging with the neighborhood, she opted to get a little more crafty.

Christopher is deep into Mad Libs right now (And don't think for a moment I'm not relishing in the chance to practice adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns....). So, it's only fitting that he would stuff some silly stories with pixie stix (Can't you see the rush now? Oh the sugar-induced giggles we are gifting.). Thanks to Gabby these are a synch to make (Tag printable here.)

Parker's very simple tags are affixed to a bag of sweet-tart conversation hearts. He likes a low profile but joneses hardcore for the sugar. We find this quite suitable for the 37 Valentines he is distributing.

Anna's gifting stems from some of her favorite things...Writing, crafting and good conversation. She stitched 'I love...' booklets together and stamped a Happy Valentines Day message on the inside. Our inspiration for the heartfelt hearts comes from the Purl Bee and these. I love that she considered each recipient as we made our color selections (not all hearts have to be red). Our packaging is finished off with some lovebird pencils and, of course, some conversation hearts.

I have a couple of crafty projects up my sleeves for my dear Valentine, but since he occasionally reads this here blog, I'll have to share those next week. Don't want to ruin the fun.

A little behind postscript 'making of' moment I have to share:

Anna was so excited to be able to stitch her own love booklets with the machine. She carefully considered her project and opted for a zig zag stitch--thought it gave her look a little more pizzaz. She was an attentive student through her orientation to sewing (Which is very funny coming from me--I barely know how to make a thing!). She did a fabulous job staying in control and completed all her books on her own.

Christopher noticed some good times underway and casually popped in to assess the situation. In spite of his reservations, curiosity won out and he wanted to give the ole sewing machine a whirl.

And so, my student became the teacher. Anna patiently explained the importance of control and speed and how the needle must be down....And Christopher happily stitched himself a bookmark.

Amazing how empowering a sewing machine can be on a Saturday night. [Having an Oh, how my life has changed moment.]