Nature's Valentines

We went on a scavenger hunt today....for hearts created by nature. Some hearts were created by us too.

Do you see the little heart shaped lichen here?

We couldn't resist putting our Christmas cranberries left for the birds into the shape of a heart.

R made a heart of sticks.......

A chipmunk left this one behind....

F found these three made out of leaves.....

A little tree stump seat in the ladies' fairy cottage.....

We call rocks shaped in a heart fairy money....



A made this heart out of pinecones.....

A fluffy heart made of seeds......
F made a heart using the shadow of her hands.......

A wanted to look through her hand heart.....

The ladies send Happy Valentine's Wishes (while munching on white pine needles).

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Valentine Pocket from an Old Sweater

Make some lovely valentine pockets to fill with goodies for Valentine's Day. They are very easy and quick to make.

F (7yo), made this one in less than an hour!

I love making things from old wool sweaters bought from the thrift store. I bring home the sweater and give it a nice hot bath in the washer, a hot dry in the dryer and you end up with a great piece of thick felt to sew with.

To make the valentine pocket, pick your sweater color and the trim for the handle and embellishments.

Cut two hearts of the same size for your pocket, I cut my hearts from the sweater sleeve.

Grab your scissors, floss, needle and any embellishments to pretty it up.

Stitch on the little heart (you can save this step for last, but I find it easier to do this first).

Stitch on the handle to the back piece of the pocket.

Thread your needle with 4 pieces of floss, then whip stitch the front and back together.

Or you may prefer a blanket stitch....F (7yo) loves the blanket stitch!

I continued the whip stitch about 3cm past the handle ends, to make sure they were sewn into the pocket good and tight. Then knot off and fill your new pocket with goodies for your valentine! Happy Valentine's Day!

Little Sugar Love Shacks

We have made The Wall of China out of sugar cubes, it was fun, but then I came across Ordinary Life Magic's sugar shacks made of sugar cubes! We had to try these...so pretty, so pink and lovely! Warning, you will need to brush your teeth after viewing this post!

Building with sugar cubes is such a great lesson in spatial awareness, logical thinking and hand-eye coordination.....and of course it's lots of fun! It was neat to see how differently the little ladies built the shacks.

A (5yo), decorated from the bottom up in a very systematic manner, decorating as she built the house.

F (7yo) decorated here, there and everywhere....but there actually was some method to her madness.

After building and decorating, I insisted they go upstairs and brush their teeth...they couldn't help but nibble a little on the sweets! What a fun afternoon!