Happy February!
“I don’t understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine’s Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.”
– Author Unknown
Huzzah for February!
January is finally behind us, and we find ourselves one step closer to spring!
But before we get that far we have a minor holiday or two to celebrate while the weather is still on the chilly side – and next in line is good ‘ol Valentine’s day! What fun!
I should prolly take a moment before starting festivities to make my own feelings clear about this one. . . I don’t really believe in Valentine’s day. I am of the opinion that, like several other supposed ‘holidays’ in the lineup, all this day really comes down to is a way for card, stuffed animal, and chocolate manufacturers (not to mention florists) to make an extra buck. . .(or thirty).
That said, I am now the proud owner of a very small girl-child, and you must know by now that I’ll jump on any and every occasion to make her life just a little bit more exciting. So, along with the myriad of change that motherhood has brought me, I now find myself to be an avid celebrater of any and all holidays – Valentine’s day included!
So bring it ON!
The fun is already underway! First step was the window clings. Puff ran about like a teeny tiny loon festooning every glass surface in the house with hearts and ‘kissy lips.’ Our door hanger is also in place and ready to go! And for our first Valentine-y craft of the season, we made some LOVE BUGS!
These were very simple and amazingly fun crafts for little hands to put together – and cheap! Everything she used for these we got either from the craft store or from the dollar store for one dollar or less, and we still have TONS left over for other projects. These projects were all so simple, that T was able to do everything pretty much by herself. Since then they’ve been floating all around our house, bringing smiles into the hearts of Scrooges everywhere! We made several species of critter. . .
First up – lady-love-bugs. . . We made these using a glittery red foam heart. T drew a line right down the center with a permanent marker (go T!) to show wings, and then glued a smaller foam heart on for a head. Obviously, googly eyes came next, and T chose to make the lady-bug spots with craft gem hearts. Finally, we glued some gimp behind the head for antennae, and ta da!
Next up, butterflies! We used the same heart-shaped craft foamies and glued 2 of them onto a popsicle stick. . . actually, it’s a tongue depressor. Given the size of the wing/hearts, these were much easier for T to handle. T’s tattoo artist father gave us some from his stash (I’m not quite sure what he uses them for, but we’re glad to have some among our arts n’ craft supplies) Then we glued foam hearts down the center of the stick/body to hide the stick (a bit), added eyes and antenna, and. . .Huzzah! Puff had created butterflies!
After T had made a few and mastered the butterfly technique, she decided that she just had to make a dragonfly. After a few moments of head-scratching on my part, I came up with the idea to use tissue-paper for the wings, which Puff approved of and it worked out very well!
Finally, my favorites. . .
I don’t even know if these little creatures count as bugs. . . but they are. Because Puff said they are!
Foam hearts became feet, tinsel craft pom-poms for the bodies, and great big googly eyes! That’s it! Super-simple. PLUS I was thrilled to find out that, things stick to tinsel poms (and vice versa) very easily with plain old white glue, as opposed to the regular fluffy poms. T was able to do these all by herself. These little critters are sooooooo cute, and the coolest thing is that their feet are actually stickers, so we can peel off the bottoms and stick them to things, which is loads of fun – believe me!
Hope you all have a super-happy February!
Huginn, Muninn, and me 