Valentine's Day Project
/Thank you DancescapeLA for Aiden's "up and coming artist" tee. click this link to find out more info about dancescapla.
Valentine's Day isn't super high on my priority list. My favorite Valentine celebrations have included an In-N-Out picnic on the living room floor, another eating Chinese food straight out of the paper take-out container. I don't especially enjoy going out to dinner on this particular day, only to be forced to order off a pre fixed menu and rushed to give up the table for the next reservation.
Since having a child, my Valentine's celebration has become more about appreciation and less about gifts and a fancy dinner. This year is no different. In trying to find creative ways to include a 2.5-year-old in the process, I turned to my Pinterest board and found some fun ideas I'd pinned ages ago.
Side note: If I'm being real honest, before Aiden was born, I would pin ideas on my board that I dreamt about doing with my future children. Silly? I know! Oddly, in my struggle to get pregnant, dreaming and planning in such a way was therapeutic. Perhaps it's because I knew if it was on my Pinterest board, it would totally get done. (Add sarcasm here.) Does anyone else have an abundance of pinned ideas on their Pinterest boards, most of which haven't been attempted or thought of since the day they got pinned?
I digress...
Aiden is now old enough to appreciate, even request, to do art projects. Tapping into this JOY of his, I decided to try out two projects.
Wall of Hearts: I got the original idea from Skip TO My Lou, but put my own spin on the process, making it more of a family project. For the past few nights, we've come together as a family and wrote what we appreciate about our family or what brings us JOY. Once they were written out, we took turns explaining what we wrote and why, then added it to our JOY banner. Over a few nights, it was neat to watch the banner grow. (Even Aiden's poop obsession got a shout out!) More so, it was a lovely way to connect and laugh together.
Will ZOO be mine?: I was intrigued with the homemade valentine cards found at Blue Robin Cottage, and knew Aiden's obsession with animals would be a perfect match. We used these self-inked stamps (perfect for lil' toddler hands) from Recollections, ordered some animal figurines like these on Amazon and used paper and a paper puncher we already had as part of our craft collection. Not only was it fun for Aiden to make his own valentine cards for his buddies, but it was also low cost! So much more fun than giving candy!
How do you celebrate Valentine's Day?