S'more Friends Like You Valentines

Are you ready for Valentine's Day? You know I love any excuse to make something
cute and fun for my kids, so I usually go all out with handmade Valentines. We have
done some fun ones over the years - Minecraft valentines, Hi-Chew valentines,
Juice Box valentines, and my favorite, MUAH! Big Red Chocolate Lip valentines!
This year I had a blogger friend put out a request for cute "s'more friends" valentine
and so I decided to take the challenge and make one!

I made two sizes of the S'more Friends valentines. The first size is 3x4 and fits the Wilton

4x9 party bags perfectly! I got mini chocolate bars, marshmallow hearts and

graham crackers and filled each of the little bags. I put two graham crackers in the bag

so that they really could make s'more if you wanted to!

I loved how they turned out, but I initially had trouble finding heart shaped marshmallows

locally this year. So, as I was trying to think of how to get heart marshmallows without

having to make them myself and I figured out I could use my tiny heart cookie cutter

to make a heart impression in the big square marshmallows. I think it turned out adorable!

So, in addition to the 3x4 size, there is a 4x6 size that you can fold in half to make the

perfect bag topper for regular sandwich baggies. I folded them in half, like a hot dog bun,

and then stapled them to the tops of my sandwich baggies. The whole graham cracker

fit when I sued the sandwich baggies and the cute little heart impression marshmallows

were the perfect touch to let your friends know how much they mean to you.

You can make whichever size is easiest for you or do a combination of both and use the

square marshmallows in the 3x4 size or vice versa. Last year I was able to find lots of

different heart marshmallows from several brands, but this year I went to three stores

and only found one version from Peeps that came in a package of nine. I've seen that

you can order them online, but since I never do anything until the last minute and I like to

try and shop local, that never seems to work for me very well.

Both versions of the S'more Friends Valentine Printables are available for you to download

and print and make some cute (and yummy!) valentines for your friends!

Be sure to check out my other handmade valentine ideas and printables!

If you make any of them, I'd love to see them or I'd love a comment below which

of them is your favorite!

Happy Valentine's Day from Funky PolkaDot Giraffe!

Minecraft Perler Bead Valentines

It's no secret that we love Minecraft at our house. So we decided to mix two things
that we love - Minecraft and perler beads - and create the ultimate handmade
valentine creation last year. I loved these handmade valentines because JT enjoys
making perler bead art, so I wasn't just making 35 Minecraft perler bead hearts
all by myself the night before the Valentine's Day class party.

We worked together over the two to three weeks leading up to the Valentine's Day
class party making the cute little pixel hearts. He would put 4-5 together on a
perler bead board and then I would iron them for him. It was fun to have a craft that
we could work together on and spend a little time together to work on them.
 
Once we had all the Minecraft life hearts made, then I designed the front and back of
the cards. The back of the card says "Be Minecraft" and I used a fun Minecraft font.
For the front of the card I designed a Minecraft Creeper face. JT was really happy
with how they turned out.

Then I cut the front and back to the same size, used my adhesive tap runner to stick the

two together and then use Glue Dots to stick the perler bead hearts to the valentine.

I print the back of the cards on my home printer, since they were black and white.

For the Creeper side I print them four to a sheet as 8x10 at Costco and they turned

out perfectly.

They were a big hit with his classmates and JT was really happy he had helped to

put them together. A couple of years ago his class had a handmade yard sale of sorts

where the kids could make something and then sell it for class money. JT made a variety

of perler bead designs and made the most at the sale. Ever since then, he had been hooked

on perler beads and they are a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. 

The nice thing about the Minecraft hearts is that they only use three colors of perler beads

and so once you get everything organized, they are really easy to put together. 

In fact, the hearts are so easy that Isabella even made some non-Minecraft perler bead hearts

that I will share next week. 

If you'd like to give some Minecraft health and hearts to your Valentine, then you can

click the link to print your own Minecraft Perler Bead Valentines.

Do you like to make handmade valentines? Where do you find your inspiration?

Owl Love You Forever: Valentine's Day Printable

Be honest. You still have some Christmas decorations up.

You don't? Just me? Dang!

Well, I am resolved to get it all put away this week and get

the house all decorated for Valentine's Day!

I was ready for a cute new printable for the season,

so I whipped this one up to help get me in the mood.

It's an 8x10 print - perfect for framing!

Follow the link to download the Owl Love You Forever printable. 

What is your favorite piece of Valentine's Day decorations at your house?

I think mine is my scrap garland. I just love the pink and red color combination!

Fine Print:
Please feel free to use this tutorial/print for your personal use. 

Please be kind and give credit where credit is due. 

Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me.

Valentine Idea: Hi-Chew Valentine's Day Printable

My little Isabella loves Hi-Chew candies.

She has such a little sweet tooth, just like her mom.

So, I knew this year's Valentines for her preschool class would need 

to use her favorite candy - especially since Costco sells them in bulk!

So I busted out my trusty Silhouette machine and put to designing something fun

in Silhouette Studio that would pair perfectly with the yummy Hi-Chew candies.

I used the same steps in Silhouette Studio as I did with my Main Squeeze Valentines. 

The "print and cut" option is fantastic!

Once I had all the pieces printed and cut out, I used my Sticky Thumb adhesive runner

to put everything together and even hold the Hi-Chew candies to the paper.

We started with a plain pink letter "U" on our Valentines, but Isabella decided

that the girls needed theirs glittered. So I busted out the Modge Podge and glitter

and we glittered the heck out of the "U".

Then, Isabella added her signature and after the Modge Podge was dry

I again used the Sticky Thumb adhesive to adhere the Hi-Chew candies to the valentine.

We also used some rainbow alphabet stickers to make the Hi-Chew candies say

"Hi-Chews" so that the little clever saying was slightly more grammatically correct.

Isabella didn't really care, but she is all about rainbow stickers.

These are quick and easy Valentines to put together for a small group of preschool friends.
If you'd like to use the printables I made, there are are PDF files and Silhouette Studio cut files
that you can download from the Google Drive folder.

Fine Print:
Please feel free to use this tutorial/print for your personal use. 

Please be kind and give credit where credit is due. 

Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me.

Valentine Idea: Fabric Heart Bookmark

I've already confessed my love for corner bookmarks and I think they
would be the perfect gift for the book lovers in your life.
So, when I saw the tutorial for making a heart shaped fabric bookmark
over at Sew Many Ways . . ., I just knew that I needed to make some!

 

I followed her tutorial exactly, but my heart template for the bookmark was slightly
larger than hers. So, if you use my heart template then you will need to cut two squares
that are 4.5" and one square that is 3.25".
They are easy to sew up and they are a perfect scrap buster!



I made a cute Valentine printable that you can put with your fabric heart bookmarks
and give to all your book loving Valentines.
They would also make a great gift for a teacher!

I made mine for a handmade Valentine party and I just fell in love with how cute they are.

They don't take much fabric, so be sure that you use your scraps and

give them to the book lovers in your life for Valentine's Day this year!

Fine Print:
Please feel free to use this tutorial/print for your personal use. 

Please be kind and give credit where credit is due. 

Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me.

Valentine Idea: What Does the Fox Say? Bookmark Valentine

I just knew once I heard "What Does the Fox Say" for the first time that

I would need to incorporate it into our Valentines this year.

Weird? Yes.

So is the life of a DIY crafty blogger.

I love corner bookmarks, and the fox's cute little face shape lends

itself perfectly to being a bookmark.

It works perfectly for 2nd graders because they have to be reading fools

to take all the Reading Counts tests that are required this year.

I just think that little fox face is so cute peeking back at you and fits the book corner perfectly.

It also works well that it is food-free Valentine, since there has been a push

at our school to do less sugar-filled treats for birthdays and parties.

At first I was kind of bummed, but on the other time, it stretches my 

creativity and we've had fun getting creative with non-food Valentine ideas.

When JT saw the fox Valentine, he thought it was pretty cool and was sure his friends

would love it. However, he did say, "Why don't you just make them out of fabric?"

And I thought - "Yeah. Why don't I make them out of fabric?"

So I grabbed some felt and got to work.

It turned out awesome and JT loved it even more, but the thought of making

34 of these fabric fox valentines left me thinking of all the sleepless nights ahead.

So, I made one, gave it to JT and called it good!

I'm sure I'll make some more of the felt foxes one day, but for now, 

my rad paper version of this foxy bookmark will make some 2nd graders very happy.

So, if your kiddos are as obsessed with "What Does the Fox Say?",

then you're in luck, because I have files you'll need to make them!

I made two versions - 

a regular PDF file that you can download, print and cut out yourself,

AND
a Silhouette Studio print and cut file that will do all the dirty work for you.

The advantage to the Silhouette Studio print and cut file is that it does all

the cutting for you and your fingers won't fall off cutting around the fox noses.

However, only two foxes fit per page, so you'll use more paper.

If you need a tutorial for using a print and cut file in Silhouette Studio,

I found this video on YouTube to be most helpful!

You can get all the files you need for your own foxy valentines in my Google Drive!

Fine Print:
Please feel free to use this tutorial/print for your personal use. 

Please be kind and give credit where credit is due. 

Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me.

Valentine Idea: {You Blow My Mind} Bubble Valentines

I realized last week that I never shared the Valentines I made for JT's class last year.

I had found these adorable little heart bubble vials at Target and once I saw them

I knew they would be incorporated with our Valentines somehow.

I had seen the phrase "You Blow Me Away" associated with Valentines

but I wanted to do something a little different and came up with 

"You Blow My Mind, Valentine!"

I took JT's picture on a neutral background, extracted it in Photoshop, and then dropped

it into this little fold over tag that I attached to the bubble vials.

I put the bubble vials into bags for treats from the chocolate/Wilton aisle and

then staple the fold over tag to the bags.

I loved how they turned out and they were so easy!

Plus, I love making Valentines that include a picture of the giver.

If you need other ideas for photo Valentines, you should check out my:

{I love jUice!} Valentines

{MUAH!} Chocolate Lip Valentines

{You TOAD-ally make me FLIP!} Jumping Frog Valentines

 

If you want to make your own, here are my little bubbles

on a pink background. Just right click and save!

Fine Print:
Please feel free to use this tutorial for your personal use. 

Please be kind and give credit where credit is due. 

Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me.

Valentine's Day Printable: I {HEART} U

Are you ready for Valentine's Day?

I saw cute ideas all over Pinterest this weekend,

 and it got me all excited to make something pink and happy to get ready.

So I made a fun Valentine's Day printable and I'm sharing it with you!

You can download you 8x10 Valentine's Day Printable by clicking {HERE}!

If you love this one, you'll also love:

 

Fine Print:

Please feel free to use this printable for your personal use. Please be kind and give credit where credit is due. Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me.