Dollar Crafts: Valentine's Day Bookmarks

The girls wanted to give their teachers a Valentine's Day gift.  Not just a card, but a real gift. I saw some felt Valentine's Day stickers at Michaels and Valentine's Day ribbon in the dollar bins at Michaels (score!) and thought maybe they could make some bookmarks to go with a gift card to Half Price Books (one just opened by us!).

To make the bookmarks, we cut a piece of ribbon and stuck to matching stickers together over the ribbon on both ends.

Then you just stick the ribbon in the book to mark your page!  I probably could have found a cute Valentine-y book, but this was what I came up with when I dug through Tim's nightstand books.  

We'll just string this bookmark through a gift card envelop and hope the teachers appreciate the thought!  My girls LOVE their teachers.  A good teacher really makes a difference in a child's life.  And I just love them for loving my girls.  Valentine's Day is such a great holiday to remind teachers how important they are.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Letter of the Week - Mm

M is for Mouse
Here's what you need for this project:
- cardstock (4 different colors)
- googly eyes
- red pom pom ball
- glue

Click here for free printable Upper Case Letter templates.

M is for Marshmallow
Here's what you need for this project:
- cardstock (2 different colors)
- marshmallows (we used the Kraft Holiday Mallows)
- glue

Click here for free printable Lower Case Letter templates.

Sight Words
This week's Sight Words are:
- me
- my
- make

Handwriting

Books
Here are some library books we reserved to go along with our theme:

Clara's Train Birthday Party

My baby turned 2!  And it turns out she doesn't want to be called "the baby" anymore :( When I refer to her as my baby she corrects me and says, "I Clara".  This mamma's kitchen is closed but man I miss my baby.  I can't handle her getting older.

Despite my grief, the show must go on!  Clara has been into trains for quite a while, which is odd because we don't really have trains at our house.  But who cares!?!? This was the perfect opportunity for me to throw a train birthday party and get us some trains! 

Here are some pictures from the party.

Table Decorations

I found the "train cars" at Michaels on sale 50% off during a fall sale.  I lined them with napkins and filled them with different snacks (popcorn, pretzels, chips, etc.).  And my mom provided the train engine :)  I found the train track table runner and mini train whistles on the Train Party website.

Drinks

I ordered the water bottle labels (along with the matching invitations, thank you notes and address labels) from PMC Invitations.  I found the super cute train drink cups on the Train Party website.  I made the Chugga Chugga sign.  There are lots of free train clip art images online.

Photo Booth

I made the backdrop for the photo booth and I bought the kid-sized train engineer hats and bandannas on the Train Party website.  If you want to spend more money on a super cute hat, check out the All Aboard Whistle Etsy shop.

Dessert

I found the train cupcake wrappers on Amazon.  And I found the train candle holders on the Train Party website.  I made cupcakes because Clara and Sidney couldn't eat the cake.  Click here for the recipe for these dairy, egg and nut free cupcakes.  Clara didn't touch the cupcakes.  All she wanted to eat was Chili Cheese Fritos!

Train Table & Train Set
After considerable research, I decided to go with the Modern Tots train table and I couldn't be happier with it.  It was not the most expensive or the least expensive table but the quality is great and I love the look.  The train set I picked is the Brio Travel Switching Set.  The blue subway car has a battery operated engine, which Clara loves.  She loads the subway cars with as many bouncy balls as she can fit and sends them around the track!

  

When Clara woke up from her nap and saw her brand new train table she honest to goodness said, "Hey look!  So cool!"  It was priceless.  I love seeing my baby smile.

Outfit

I bought the train shirt from the Wiggles and Giggles Etsy shop and the pink pettiskirt came from the My Princess Palace Etsy shop.  They were both so comfy - Clara wore it all night!

Train Craft

Hobby Lobby has the cutest wooden trains.  They're $2.50 each but Hobby Lobby always runs sales on their wooden items.  Ava and Sidney painted all but 1 train that I made them save for Clara to paint!

Happy 2nd Birthday Clara! x0x0x0

Letter of the Week - Ll

L is for Lacing
Here's what you need for this project:
- cardstock (2 different colors)
- yarn
- tape
- glue

I tied a knot at one end of the yarn and taped the other end to make it easier to lace.

 Pulling that yarn all the way through...

Sidney didn't want me to cut off the extra yarn so she could fling it around like a kite.

Click here for free printable Upper Case Letter templates.

L is for Ladybug
Here's what you need for this project:
- cardstock (3 different colors)
- googly eyes
- circle punch (if you have one)
- glue
- black marker

Click here for free printable Lower Case Letter templates.

Sight Words
This week's Sight Words are:
- little
- like
- love

Handwriting

Books
Here are some library books we reserved to go along with our theme:

PS - Did you know that Nordstroms offers a free class for kids to teach them to tie their shoes.  It's held once a month on a Saturday morning in the kids shoe department!