On Monday, a precious homeschool group we are part of met up for a Donut Shop Valentine’s Party. A family in our group owns a donut shop, so they invited everyone to come see the process of making donuts on a large scale, and then, the kids decorated mini donut king cakes (‘tis the season in Louisiana). It was so sweet (in more than one way) and special!

After the tour and decorating fun, the kids all exchanged Valentine’s cards and little gifts. Side note: homeschool kids still get to do all the fun things! I kind of had an idea of what Brigsby would bring, but didn’t make a final decision until the night before (with his help). Honestly, that’s usually how I roll.

His gift and Valentine’s card came together sooo cute, and I was proud because I created it myself. Super easy. So, thought I’d share. And bonus: IT’S NOT CANDY!

I searched Pinterest a week or so ago for some Valentine’s exchange ideas. Found some cute things, but not a combo of anything I liked (or wanted to pay for). In searching, though, I came across these cute shuttle pens! I ordered them just in case since Amazon returns are pretty simple.

I moved on from them thinking we’d do some cute stickers with a card that said, “Stuck on you.” But the night before, Brigsby and I decided we preferred the pens for the exchange.

So, Monday morning, I quickly (which isn’t usually the case) pulled up a flash card template in Canva, deleted everything except the layout, and made these “cards” that say, “You color my world.” Perfect for the colorful ink in the shuttle pens! I printed them on card stock, and they came out so nice!

I should’ve pulled out my paper trimmer to probably speed up the process a bit, but it actually didn’t take long to cut them out. And I would’ve had to do the rounded corners (which I think make things look extra nice!) with scissors anyway.

After I got them all cut, we stuck the cards in the pen clip, and voila! Homemade, purposeful, and not super cheapy Valentine’s gifts!

Yesterday afternoon after @mtt got home, I told the kids I was running to Target. Ro immediately runs to her room. She comes out with this “list.” She made it a few weeks ago. Very tediously, as you can see. She told me it was her birthday list (which is 3+ months away), but that I could use it as my shopping list with the stipulation that I not mess it up and bring it back. 😊

We did a quick Mother’s Day craft with stuff we had on hand. I got the idea from Pinterest. The original craft used foam for the “blooms” and leaves, which I’m sure would be a little more durable (and not show the bleed through of glue). But I didn’t have any, so I just grabbed the card stock. Amazingly, both my 3-year-old and 13-month-old let me quickly trace their hands! My expectations were low, but highly exceeded. Brigsby carefully painted the popsicle stick “stems” while I cut out handprint “flowers” and leaves (I just quickly drew them with a pencil). Although it’d be super easy to finish quickly, we actually didn’t get it all done in one day. Brigsby probably spent about 20 minutes painting (crafts aren’t typically his jam, but he connects with painting here and there), then was ready to move on. So, I set everything aside and finished up today. I love how they turned out! 2 are for my mother-in-law, 2 are for me, and 1 is for my husband because Brigsby wanted to make him one too. 💙 If I had planned ahead (story of my life, but I’m working on that), I would’ve done a few more to gift to my MIL because the little wrapped bouquet is so fun! Maybe we’ll make some more later. This would be a great keepsake craft, birthday gift, Spring/Summer activity, etc. Definitely not Mother’s Day specific. But that’s how I found the idea, and I’m glad I did!

PS - I might have had as much fun taking pictures of them as I did putting them together. 🙂🙃

Books Pictured:

Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World by Julia Rothman Everything is Mama by Jimmy Fallon