Free Valentine Printables for Cards and Gifts

Today I am going to share a few ideas for Valentines which we made this year as well as teacher gifts. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of our main Valentines for Hazel's class and her party was yesterday since tomorrow is a teacher conference day. However we had some foam hearts and sparkle letters to write the names and then on the other side we used a label that says "Make no mistake, you are my Valentine." and we used glue dots to put heart erasers in the middle. The labels are available here and we used Avery 8663 (clear shipping labels).

For teacher gifts Hazel decorated some small jar candles. I took the labels off them first. Then she glued on some hearts from scrapbook paper. Next she glued on tissue paper. We used Mod Podge glue for these. Next we used one of the scripture stickers that Current sent me. Then I did a thin coat of Mod Podge over all of it. We used the high gloss Mod Podge. We left them to dry overnight. The next morning I tied on bows and added heart labels. One side of the label said, "Happy Valentine's Day!" and the other side said, "You light up my world! Love," and Hazel wrote her name. We also made labels for some Lindt Chocolates that I bought on clearance at Christmas time for all of her teachers (she has three specialty teachers--music, gym and library) that on the back said, "Thank you for being so sweet! Love," and she wrote her name. All of these labels are available here. I printed them on card stock and glued the fronts and backs together.

Since Hazel does not have school and she has been asking for a playdate with her four best friends at school, I thought we would do it on Valentine's Day. Only two of the friends can make it (next week is vacation week so a few are taking advantage of the extra day to leave). Hazel insisted on exchanging Valentines with them again. So this time we used some Valentine themed pencils and made these:

 

Hazel is writing her name on them and decorating them. These Valentines are available here.  She also wanted to have a book swap so we asked the girls to bring an unwrapped book as well. I thought it was perfect for International Book Giving Day. And since it is International Book Giving Day, I got a book to give Hazel--one of her favorites, The Little Moon Princess by YJ Lee. We also gave a book to her classroom, Jan Brett's Mossy, and will be giving The Colors of Us by Karen Katz to our public library. We made a donation earlier this week at the library for their book drive for this day as well. I love the tradition of giving her a book for Valentine's Day since it is not something wasted or candy. What do you do for Valentine's Day with your kids?

The Lesser Known Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement--Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, we are looking at different Civil Rights Movement Leaders. We are joining other blogs and sharing all of these wonderful stories at Multicultural Kid Blogs Black History Month Blog Hop. The theme of Black History Month is the Civil Rights Movement in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. So far we have explored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and the song: We Shall Overcome. Today I am going to share a fictional book based on the author's father's life. It tells the story of a lesser-known hero from the Civil Rights Movement. I am sure there were many like this that were probably only heard of in their area of the country. Luckily Pamela Tuck took her father's story and changed it a bit to tell us a tale of that time in As Fast As Words Could Fly.

The story is about a 14-year-old African American boy whose father is part of the a group fighting for Civil Rights. The boy, Mason, helped the group by taking notes from his father and transforming them into a business letter. The group is so appreciative they buy Mason a typewriter. In the summer Mason and his brothers picked tobacco on a nearby farm with the white farmer's sons. In the evenings Mason taught himself to type on his typewriter. At the end of that summer the boys' father announces that they will no longer take the school bus to the further school for black children, but will get on the bus for the white children. The first couple of days the white children's bus slowed down but did not stop for the boys. When there father made a call, the next day it stopped. Mason stopped to say hi to the boys they worked with over the summer, and did not get much back in return. Mason was very excited to take typing at the school even if the school was not welcoming and no one really talked to him. The typing teacher did not talk to him, but he paid attention to her teachings and how she helped other students. One day there was a Neighborhood Youth Corps sponsoring after school jobs. He got one in the school library. The librarian asked what he could do and he said type. She was surprised at how fast he could type--even faster than the typing teacher. The typing teacher became a bit more friendly with Mason since he took away her library work. One day there was a typing contest and the winner at the school's contest would go on to a county tournament. Mason won the school's contest. Since they already had several issues with the Board of Education due to the treatment of Mason and his brothers the school felt they had to let him represent them.  The principal and typing teacher took Mason to the contest, but did not speak to him. At the contest he was the only black contestant. He was allowed to pick a typewriter to work on either electric or manual. He chose the manual one like his at home. All the other kids chose the new electric ones. Mason won this contest. When his name was announced no one cheered and no one applauded when the principal accepted the plaque for the school. When the principal asked on the way home why Mason picked the manual typewriter, he replied, "It reminds me of where I come from." 

I was fascinated by this tale since segregation was already declared illegal, but was still being practiced. When Mason's father pushed the issue his boys got to go to the school but dealt with much prejudice. Yet it is a wonderful story of success. Plus it brings a history of the typewriter, which so many children will not know anything about. I am sure there are stories like this throughout the country of the families who forced the schools to desegregate and the children who dealt with the issues of that. So to all those people, we honor you today. I hope each and every one of you passes your story on so more people will know it.

Together Box--Product Review & Discount Code

Disclosure: I was sent this box to review free of charge from Together Box. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Today I get to share with you the fun we had with a Together Box and I get to give you a discount code at the end of my review. Now Together Box is a company that sends you a box with three to four activities in it every month and it has everything you need to do the activities, and I mean everything. Hazel is always excited when we get packages and she was really excited with this one. I noticed it by the side of the house when I was going to pick her up and grabbed it and put it in the car. She could not wait to get home to open it.

She was even more excited when she saw what was inside. She wanted to do all the activities right away. We received the Balloon Box. Now Hazel LOVES balloons, so she was even more excited to see two packages of balloons in there.

Hazel pulled everything out, so she could check it all out. Each box comes with an instruction booklet that also provides more ideas beyond the three to four activities. It also gives clear steps for each activity including which materials to use. The only thing we had to add on our own was water. Literally everything else was sent from a Sharpie marker to food coloring and flour.

Now there were four activities in the Balloon Box, but I am only going to share one with you. The rest were more activity based and I was having too much fun with Hazel and Steve to get pictures. Yes, we did these activities and had some quality family time!! These boxes are perfect for that! The first activity only Hazel and I did. We started with making yarn bird cages. Now Hazel and I had made yarn Easter eggs before, and I knew this was not a craft Daddy would want to do, so we did it while waiting for him to get home from work. Hazel knew it was going to be messy, so she put on her apron and then we mixed the glue.

Then she helped cut yarn. Next we glued them to balloons. We had to make more glue since Hazel put it on a bit heavy and we made two rather larger bird cages.

Hazel got bored and really doesn't like messy hands for long, so she colored the birds for the cages while I finished them up. Then we hung them from our kitchen light to dry overnight. We woke up to find the orange balloon had been popped by one of the cats. Oh, well. After popping the other balloon, I cut out the birds and hung them in our bird cages.

After doing this and waiting for Daddy, Hazel wanted to play with balloons. They happened to do an activity with balloons in her gym class that day, so she was so excited to try it more at home.

Daddy enjoyed making marshmallow shooters to aim at ninja balloons and the balloon powered fountain with us. We still need to do the balloon rockets. Overall our experience with Together Box is wonderful. They give you some fun ideas with all the supplies to have some quality family time. The activities are fun and educational and the instructions are easy to follow. Now Hazel of course wanted to expand her lesson and began asking questions about how balloons are made. I went to the library and we found a book: Balloon Trees by Donna Smith. It explains the whole process from tree to package.

Now if you want to try Together Box, they are offering my readers a special of 50% off your first box with the coupon code: "crafty".  The prices per month range from $24 - $29 depending on how many months you buy. If you are looking for a way to add some fun family time into your busy schedule this box program is for you. They send you everything you need and the activities are fun and easy and with three to four activities in a box, you have one for each week or so in the month. I would love to hear about your family experiences if you order them!!

Virtual Book Club for Kids: The Amazing Pig by Paul Galdone

It is time for the Virtual Book Club for Kids!! This month the featured author is Paul Galdone. Since so many of his books are classic tales, I considered doing Cinderella and counting it as my Fairy Tales in Different Cultures, but to be very honest, I couldn't think of a fun craft or activity to do that we haven't already done with some form of Cinderella. So we decided to feature The Amazing Pig.

Celebrating Valentine's Day with 1 Corinthians 13

I love teaching Hazel about God when talking about love. I saw this wonderful craft over at Meaningful Mama: Heart Peacock Craft Teaches True Love. I fell in love with it and knew we had to do it. I love that it visualizes 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8:

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. (Source)

We used the patterns provided at Meaningful Mama. We added and eye for the peacock and some legs. Hazel told me it needed legs, so we used a pipe cleaner. To make the peacock, we used cardstock. I cut out 16 hearts and one body. Glue the hearts together so they overalp and then add the body. Hazel put the body on, so it is a little crooked. Then you add the words.

The words are of course from the Bible. We taped the pipe cleaner on at the end--folding it in half and then folding the ends to be feet.

Besides reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, we also love the picture book by Lisa Tawn Bergren, God Gave Us Love. We wrote about it during Advent for the week of Love. For some more Valentine themed ideas check out:

• Valentine's Day Crafts some with Scripture and Bible References
• Simple Felt Hearts for Garland or Wreath
• For the Love of Geometry: Geometric Love Poems
• Strawberry Heart Muffins
• Felt Heart Gift--Hand Sewn
• Lavender Heart Sewing Lesson (Hand Sewing)
• Preschool Made Simple Valentines
• Valentine Tea Party
• Valentine Swap & Lots of Valentine Crafts
• My Valentine's Day Pinterest Board