was she paid for this idea?

I don't know. Maybe it's just me. But I found this to be amusing.

I indulged in a little piece of chocolate today. I've been so good this week on avoiding unnecessarily sugary treats, but I believe life is too short to cut them down to 0% of your diet. So I caved in a little without guilt.

Back to my point.

So I go to throw away to the wrapper and noticed some writing. Oh! What's this? Have I inadvertently been ignoring some candy wrapper wisdom all this time? What could it possibly say? Will I be promised good fortune and perfect health? Maybe learn of some lucky numbers.

Oh, honey. It was better than that.



Ohhhh. Because I was almost about to reach for my Christmas tree punch.

Just finding a little humor in the day.

happy valentines weekend

Wanted to wish you a wonderful weekend. Happy Valentines Day!



Also wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you. I have felt for a long time now, that I have the best blog readers. Some of you check in daily. Some of you just once in a while. Some of you chime in with a kind word, a question, a suggestion, or something to share. Some of you are local to me. Most of you are not. You're in every state. And you're all over the world. Russia, New Zealand, Australia, India, Thailand, Norway, almost every country in Europe, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Japan, even Ghana and Nepal. Too many countries to mention.

Some of you are stay-at-home-moms. Some of you are full-time professionals. Some of you travel the world and some of you have never left your hometown. Anyway, you get the point. We're from all walks of life. But one thing you have in common is that you drop by here on my blog and that means a lot. I love to share and I'm glad you're finding something useful here in my little corner on the world wide web.

Love,
Becky

valentines for the kiddos.

So you have an idea on what to share with other families for Valentines (see "Post-it Love" below if you missed it), but how about the kiddos? Most kids will be exchanging Valentines with their friends, so here's a simple idea for that.

Something I try to do with any of these little holiday exchanges, is make it personal. I want my kids to be involved in creating these little gifts that they give to their buddies. Plus, it's awesome, creative togetherness time. Here's the end result of Porter's Valentines that he'll be exchanging next week with his first grade classmates:



(Claire's art is pretty darn cute too ... she just needs to finish coloring it.)

And this is how it's done. Put some goodies or yummies in small, clear bags. Check the craft store or use plain ol' ziplock bags. I use those most of the time, but happen to have like a thousand of these sturdy poly bags, so that's why I used those instead. Anyway, no matter what you use ... give the bag some sugar. : )



Have your child create a little bit of Valentines art. Let them be creative and express their wishes however they choose. You just need to provide the paper already cut down to a horizontal rectangle, knowing that it will be a bag topper. Porter wanted to write this message and add a few hearts. Appropriate. Then ... scan the art and pop that image a document a couple of times, keeping in mind that the width needs to be adjusted to be whatever your bag width is. Also keep in mind that it will be folded, so your art is toward the bottom with space above it for the folding. This is what my finished document looks like.



Then of course, you print as many as you need, cut the labels, fold them over the bags, and staple. Done.

Here's what the kids did last year. Again, personalizing with their own creativity: "Valentines & Another Give-away"

And another idea from the year before: "A Simple Valentine"

post-it love: more downloads

Jessie left a comment that was probably going through some of your minds as well. Great idea, Jessie! Here is the note card in a blank version so you can print & hand-write your own personal message. I'm also sharing a file that has a generic message already on it so you can just print & sign your name at the bottom and be done. : )

(I'm referring to the post right before this one.)

Blank card: blank.card.pdf

Card with message: note.card.pdf

post-it love.

More on love today. Wanted to share with you an idea with Valentines Day coming up. This is actually something that we did for a few friends at Christmas time. The idea behind this -- with love being on my mind so much lately -- is that love is shown in so many different ways. Small and big.

One of the small ways that we can show love for our family is to leave quick notes for one another. Notes of encouragement, paying a compliment, expressing gratitude, saying we're sorry, and even just a simple "I love you". I have fond memories of my brothers & I putting post-it notes on the bathroom mirror for my parents. My mom kept them collaged all over the inside of the cabinet door for years.

Little expressions of post-it love. That's it. Simple.



This is how we shared some post-it love with our friends. You can find little containers in the organizational section of WalMart or Target or the dollar store.



1. I "decorated" the top of the box with a simple label (attached with a piece of clear packaging tape). I'm more simple when it comes to decorating, but you could get really creative with your presentation.



2. The first thing you see when you open the box is a card with a note from our family, explaining what the post-it notes are for.



3. The next little card is a scripture to remind us that love is a commandment.



4. Then you see a couple of pens and post-it note pads.



5. And who wouldn't love some candy at the bottom? Some fun red & pink wrapped Valentines candy would be so fun.



In case you'd like to do this for Valentines Day, here are a couple PDFs, ready to print.

Box label: box.label.pdf

Scripture card: scripture.card.pdf

The personal note from you should be, well ... personal. So while I'm not sharing my file for you to print, here's what our note said (click on it to see it larger):