Holiday Ideas--Valentines & Easter

Valentine's day is quickly approaching & last week I realized I'd better get going on the Valentines Rachael will be handing out to her classmates!  

Initially I thought about doing the "I totally Dig You" theme with plastic shovels & candies, but since it's a peanut free classroom (because of my daughter) I thought we should try something else.  Plus, I kind of like the totally dig you theme for next year for Daniel's friends, and maybe get tiny trucks to put in with candy.  He'd love that!

So, Rachael & I thought up a few ideas but settled on 

"I'm a sucker for you."  I ordered some suckers for really cheap on Oriental Trading Company & then Rachael just had to stick on the label stickers.  So Easy!  We want to dress them up a bit with a Red or Pink bow & they'll be completed. Quick, Easy, Cheap & so cute!

This I made for Easter, since the flowers weren't popping through yet, just for a little color.  Started with a simple wooden circle from Joann Fabrics & a wooden dowel, I spray painted black, & a hot glue gun.  I bought a few boxes of Peeps to make this.  When you take the Peeps out of the box, they're stuck together in sets of 4.  You want to keep them that way, so don't separate them!  Start hot glue gunning the wood & hold the peeps tightly until it has time to dry.  You will want to work slowly & be sure the glue sets or otherwise when you set it upright, the weight of them will cause them to unpeel.  Just be patient & work around until you've filled the circle.  

We also used Peeps in our place cards.  My kids like to "help" me with everything, so this was easy for them to do. My daughter cut out all the place cards & my son (2 yrs) used a glue stick to paste the cards to the different color Popsicle stick.  Then, they just stuck them into the belly of the Peep.  Easy & cute for kids to do.

 On some of the place cards, there was a colored feather.  Those were for the kids for the Easter Egg Hunt after brunch.  I bought polka dotted plastic eggs in a variety of colors & filled them with age appropriate candy or toys.  This way each child was guaranteed to collect the same number of eggs & would pass the eggs that weren't theirs.  Plus, my son who couldn't have gumballs or small round objects, got things he could have & wasn't forced to give up anything.  It actually worked out really well because when the older kids were finished, they helped the little ones find theirs. 

my son had yellow, but the green polka dotted ones were "bonus eggs" that everyone could find 2 of...they had money in them :)