diy valentines

I love decorating my son’s classroom for the holidays this year. It’s the first time I haven’t been working in an office full-time, so it’s something very special to me. My son (who is in elementary school) is jazzed about it too.

Getting cute decorations on a budget isn’t easy, so I went to Michaels to peruse their eye candy. And what did I find on sale? These shiny, fun, ribbon heart wreaths/door decor and some uber-cute red heart boxes that look like message hearts from back in the day…of my youth…like the Stone Ages.

Anyhoo, I grabbed a few items and headed to the school. The class mascot is the undeniably and infinitely popular SOCK MONKEY. All hail the sweater ape! And this classroom has a bunch of them on the shelves.

I was trying to work some magic with my hearts for the centerpieces, but I needed something to prop up the hearts and bring them to life. Enter sock monkeys! I picked various monkeys to put in various hearts, gave them each a monkey Valentine to hold and scattered the cute heart boxes. LOVED the bright colors! Thanks to Michaels for making this sometimes-crafty mom’s life easier.

HI RES PICS BELOW:

What happens when it’s 23 degrees outside and my son needs a homemade Valentine’s Day card box? MommyQ resorts to doing a craft project with her MacGyver skills. That’s right, folks! I made this card box with random stuff I found in the house, because I refuse to go out in this ridiculously frigid weather. It’s not perfect, but I’m nice & warm and didn’t have to spend a dime. It took me about 15 to make it and it was so easy!

Materials:

– Wooden puzzle box
– Wrapping paper
– Decorative tape
– Scotch tape
– Red ribbon
– Yellow craft paint
– Coupon book

I used an old puzzle box that was already painted yellow and blue. I covered the removable sliding lid with black & white, polka dot wrapping paper. I used tape to adhere the paper to the lid, making sure to pull the tape tight at the ends. I don’t want to paper to start ripping when my son slides the lid open and closed. I found an old red ribbon, which I cut down to fit the box. I remembered my ultra-awesome role of Damask decorative tape from TapeSwell and used that to decorate the box. Wow, decorative tape is the BEST for stuff like this.

Keep in mind, this box is for a little boy to take to school, so I didn’t want it to be too girlie. However; I wanted to add something with hearts. My true Richard Dean moment occurred when I saw a coupon book sitting in our pile of mail. I flipped through it and just loved the Dunkin’ Donuts ad for heart-shaped donuts, so I cut out the pictures and used them as my hearts. Nothing says love like donuts, right?

Tell me about your ‘MacGyver’ moments as a mommy!

Tag: diy valentines

Sock Monkey Love: Crafty Centerpiece for Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day Project: A Card Box MacGyver-Style