Valentine Countdown

Here's a repost from last year - a few days early in case anyone else is looking for a cute countdown...  We'll be doing our Valentine countdown again this year :)

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Valentine Countdown

I started with my sweet dollar-store-tray turned magnetic-chalkboard-tray from last year.  I bought a few packs of these conversation heart boxes from Walmart.

I like that they're Valentine-y without being pink.  This is, after all, a boy's Valentine countdown calendar.  While I like the colors, I did not like the words on them.  Enter a little Goo Gone from the Dollar Store

A few wipes of the Goo Gone and that print was, well, gone

To make the heart boxes magnetic, I just cut up a few old advertisement magnets and adhered a piece to the back of each box with a dab of hot glue.

Now for the fun part - numbering the boxes.  That part'll be easy I thought - just buy some white number stickers and {bam} cute countdown.  Oh silly me.  Nothing is ever that easy.  I couldn't find any white numerical stickers that were the right size for these boxes.  So instead, I cut each number out of felt and hot glued them on.  After all the boxes are numbered, just fill with a few Hershey Kisses, or your sweetheart's candy of choice:

On a totally random tangent, I think all month's should have fun countdown calendars.  Idea for Christmas gifts - a year of Kisses.  A Hershey-Kiss-a-day calendar.  Now that's my kind of calendar!

I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Marvelously Messy, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Cottage Chick, Running with Glitter, One Artsy Mama, Dittle Dattle, Southern Lovely, Naptime Creations, Ladybird Ln, Sew Many Ways,

Munchkin Theme - SNOW

It's been awhile since I posted any of Munchkin's workboxes.  The first two week of January we've been working on snow themed activities (and we're finally supposed to get some snow tonight!)  Here's a peek at some of what we've been working on.  Click here to see my snow theme board on Pinterest!

working on some snow themed patterns

 snowflake sorting using dollar store stickers & confetti

snowflake punches

(we used the snowflakes on the marshmallow snowman picture)

working on snowflake matching - this one is really challenging!

hanging up some snowflake window clings

some snow themed flashcards

working on a marshmallow-snowman art project

finished marshmallow snowman

(we used the french vanilla snowman shaped marshmallows - yum!)

the makings of a water bottle snowman -

Munchkin will stuff the cottonballs into the 8 oz bottle and then glue on the face :)

There's lots more over on my Pinterest board - hop on over :)

I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Marvelously Messy, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Cottage Chick, Running with Glitter, One Artsy Mama, Dittle Dattle, Southern Lovely, Naptime Creations, Ladybird Ln, Sew Many Ways,

The Pirate's Life for Me

Last week I shared this Pirate Kit over at Darling Doodles for her 12 Days of Gift-mas.  Here it is...just in case you missed it :)

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I have a just-turned-four-year old boy.  And like lots of little boys I know, he loves to pretend!  We recently discovered the new Jake and the Pirates cartoon on the Disney channel, and my little guy is hooked (heh heh).  This Christmas, my little first mate will be finding this Pirate Kit under the tree:

I just so happened to score this perfect treasure chest at JoAnns.  With my 40% off coupon, it was cheaper than one of the unfinished chests!  And so my kit began...

Every pirate worth his jolly roger has found some treasure, so I made a few stenciled booty bags and filled them with Queen's Gold (Dollar Store) and some Crown Jewels (vase filler from Walmart).

I added in a pirate vest (modeled after the one Jake wears in Jake and the Pirates)

And a foam cutlass (from amazon), eye patch and pirate hat (local party store)

And of course - I had to add in a DVD of Jake and the Pirates!

This was such a fun theme kit to put together for my little Muchkin!  I can't wait to see him open it on Christmas morning!

I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Marvelously Messy, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Cottage Chick, Running with Glitter, One Artsy Mama, Dittle Dattle, Southern Lovely, Naptime Creations, Ladybird Ln, Sew Many Ways,