Valentine's Day is at the end of the week and there's plenty to think about with class parties, daycare friends, kids, spouse, and anyone else extra special in life. If you're like me and looking for something a little different for your children's friends that you won't spend a ton of money or time on, here are a few suggestions:
Make your own Valentine's. So, there are some SUPER cute ideas on Pinterest, but they're much too time consuming for my tastes......and is most likely the case for the majority of parents. To keep it simple and cute, I traced hearts onto poster board and had the kids cut them out. Then I laid out markers, crayons, glitter glue, heart stamps, and stickers and let the kids decorate away.
Tired of attaching candy to those wonderfully decorated Valentine's??? Two words: Dollar Tree. Dollar Tree has tons of things you can pick up for a great price and won't give kids that I'm-not-going-to-bed-because-I've-had-too-much-sugar mood. Here are a few great ideas I found at Dollar Tree during a recent shopping trip:
Slime in little heart containers. Glue-.34 cents, heart containers-$1.00 for a 10 pack.
Bugs attached to the back of Valentine's: $1.00 for a dozen bugs.
Glow bracelets/necklaces: $1.00 for 5.
Bubbles: $1.00 for a case of 6.
Tattoo: $1.00 for a book of wash off tattoos (each tattoo has perferrated edges so you will have to take the time to rip each one out of the book).
Stickers: $1.00 for a sticker book. Again, you'll have to take the time to cut stickers out but there's enough for each Valentine to get several stickers.
Army Figurines: a huge pack for $1.00
Crayons: 3 pk for $1.00. This would be a great idea if there aren't many children to do Valentine's for.
Play Dough: I was considering a make your own recipe, but I noticed an 8 pack at Dollar Tree.
Balloons: Attach a single balloon to the back of a Valentine (deflated, so it can be blown up once child is home). Balloons are like crack for kids.
Erasers: Dollar Tree has numerous eraser packs that are all cute and colorful, there's even a special Valentine erasers pack. This would be great for school age kids.
Don't like any of my previous suggestions? Check out Dollar Tree's party favor section and take your pick. There's packages ranging from 4-8 party favors for only $1 (duh, but have to say it) making it more than affordable.
What are my little loves getting for Valentine's Day? This year we're going with a Lego theme, since Lego's have been my life saver this winter as they preoccupy all three minis. Only 4 more days until kids excitedly pass around Valentine's, high school girls get giddy when they get flowers, and the day where it's totally acceptable to stuff one's face with chocolate covered strawberries.