diy valentines.

I decided to (ever so slightly) step up my DIY game from last year and make a different version of the same class and teacher gifts.

Candy-Free Valentines for the Kiddos:

Because these melted crayon hearts are everywhere, I had to give it a try. A little time consuming, but very easy, and they turned out super cute!

What You'll Need:

• Crayons (I've read that Crayola or more quality brands work best. I'm just lucky that those were the ones in my kiddo's crayon box. We have had so many! I made 36 hearts and used about 2 crayons per heart) 
• Silicone heart mold (bought mine from Amazon) 
• Flat cookie sheet
• A sharp knife (shh! don't tell my husband, you know the one who actually cooks, that I went to town on these bad boys with our 'good' paring knife!) 
• Plastic bags (ideally snack size but I made do with sandwich size) 
• Paper (I used card stock to print on) 
• Stapler
• A little bit of patience :) 

What You'll Do: 

• Preheat your oven to 275 degrees 
• Lay your crayon down on a surface that you don't care about or a cutting board and carefully use your sharp knife to cut the paper on the crayon - if you go along the seam, this makes it very easy. Really dig in because it will come off so much more easily. I started out peeling paper and that is for chumps. The knife method was so much faster! 
• Call your kid over to help. Mine was not interested until I told him that he could break the crayons into pieces
• Have your kid mix colors into the heart-shaped mold until he/she loses interest and wanders away
• As soon as their backs are turned, re-arrange to your heart's content. They will be beautiful! 

• Put the silicone mold onto the flat cookie sheet for some stability and put into the 275 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until all of your crayons melt. 
• Remove carefully so that the marbling of your colors doesn't agitate too much. They should look something like this: 

• Wait 30 minutes before popping the hearts out of the molds or, if you're impatient like I am, put a little bit of ice and water into large Pyrex dish to create an ice bath. Once the silicone cools for a minute or two out of the oven, place the silicone mold into the ice bath and then your hearts will be ready in about 5-7 minutes! 
• Carefully pop the hearts out of the mold. I'm not going to lie, I broke a few -- but you can just re-melt and re-set. So pretty! 

• Put your hearts into your sandwich/snack sized bags
• Type or write something cute (I'm all for bad puns) onto the card stock and then staple onto the bag. Our message on the front says, "COLOR me happy to be your friend! - Nathan" and on the back it says, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

And there you have it! Super cute valentines that cost me only the price of the silicone mold...but it will be put to good use. I am a creature of habit and have an inkling that I'll be doing these for the next few years. 

Super Inexpensive Valentine's Gift for Teachers; 

Also a repeat of last year's gift, even less changed than the kids' valentines. 

What You'll Need: 

• 1 box of Betty Crocker brownie mix, per teacher
• 1 Betty Crocker spatula, per teacher (found at the beloved Dollar Tree!) 
• Paper (I used card stock to print on. Saved this in a Word document so that I don't have to worry about re-sizing next year!) 
• Hot glue gun 
• Double-sided tape
• Twine

What You'll Do; 

• Hot glue the spatula to the brownie box - I did mine at an angle. Make sure that the brownie box can still sit upright 
• Print or write out a sweet, pun-filled message for the teacher and tape onto the brownie box. Our message says, "Ms. Kristin I'm aiming for brownie points! ;) Happy Valentine's Day! - Nathan"  Again, saved this so I have a template already done for next year. 
• Tie twine around the box horizontally at the center (totally optional - no function other than to look cute)

And we have another adorable, inexpensive Valentine's Day gift for the teacher. I forgot to look for brownie's on sale in advance, but even with that oversight this cost about $2.30 per teacher. 

preschool lately.

N's preschool program, aptly named 'junior kindergarten,' has been kicking into high gear lately. The majority of the year so far has been unstructured, with regard to learning letters....coincidentally my biggest concern before he gets to kindergarten. Now they've implemented a letter of the week, show and share based upon that letter, and - get this - homework. They send home a little packet every weekend. It's a great idea to get him used to the routine of having homework and to reinforce what they learn but it is like herding cats. It's not uncommon for N to spend up to an hour on a single worksheet just because he would rather be doing anything but that. It makes me relieved that we delayed starting kindergarten and I'm trying to use this time to spark some curiosity and help him be as prepared as possible.

With the aid of some of our own supplies, including a two-minute sand timer (which works like magic, by the way), we've been able to practice pretty writing regularly at night. This dry erase board from Dollar Tree is great for practice and the gloves (his choice because they make him "evil") made for easy clean up.

Hand in hand with writing has been some fine motor skill practice that, to Nate, is all fun and games.

Thematic show and share has also been fun to have him rifle through his most precious belongings that start with the letter of the week. It was "G" a few weeks ago and he was excited to take in pictures of his grandparents.

Finally, we're continuing our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten journey and we're halfway there! Nate was proud to write his name on an animal and hang it up on the bulletin board in our local library. This has been a great little program that's free and offered in many public libraries. While we have a good number of books at our house, I'm always glad to add in a little more variety to the mix and expose Nathan to new stories.

And that's what's preschool shaped up to look like lately! I'm excited to make some great progress before we get to summer break.