By Candie Cooper from Candie Cooper’s Journal

It's that time of year where I find myself reminiscing about decorating valentine boxes and picking out tiny cards and stickers for classmates. Anyone else? Here's a treat idea that you can make with your child--perfect for passing out at school.

Use a die cut machine (Sizzix shown here) or draw and cut out many hearts--2 hearts should be large and 2 small. Mod Podge the small heart on top of the big heart and then again so they just overlap at the points to connect them.

Fold the hearts in half so they look like flapping butterfly wings.

Kids can use the Cool Shot glue gun to attach a sparkly chenille stem to the center of the butterfly.  

Use the cool temp glue gun to perch a butterfly on top of a small heart box. These heart boxes were found at the dollar store in a package of 10. Fill the box with your favorite treat. Small stickers would be good inside too!

For variety, some of the boxes have tiny felt leaves as well. Children and adults alike would love to have one of these fly onto their desk! Simple and sweet.

Happy Monday! Welcome the start of a new week by creating this simple yet adorable Valentine’s Day projects. Sherrie Ragsdale created this project using FolkArt paints. This I Love You Flower Pot is a fantastic kids craft, and one teachers can have their students create in an art class. It will take about an hour to complete, but once finished you will have a wonderful flower pot filled with lots of love. Keep for yourself, our give as a gift to a special someone. All the supplies for this project can be found below, along with their instructions. Enjoy and have a wonderful week.

PLAID Supplies

·       FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Bright Baby Pink, 2 oz.

·       Simply ® Stencils - Value Packs - Shapes

·       FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Lipstick Red, 2 oz.

·       Stencil Decor ® Accessories - Dauber Set, multi

·       FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Wicker White, 2 oz.

·       FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Nutmeg, 2 oz.

Other Supplies

Brown construction paper
Pink construction paper
Red construction paper
Skinny sticks
Brown ribbon
Brown chenille stems
3 red buttons
2 1/2" rose clay pot
3/4" Flat brush
Black marker
2" Styrofoam ball
White craft glue
Scalloped scissors
Scissors

Instructions

1.    Draw and cut out two red hards and one pink heart using construction paper.

2.    Using the Dauber, make dots as shown in photo, Lipstick Red dots on pink heart and Bright Baby Pink dots on red hearts. Add Wicker White dots with the end of a small paint brush to all hearts.

3.    Using the permanent marker, write "I," "love," "you" on the hearts.

4.    Glue hearts to brown construction paper. Cut out hearts with scalloped scissors, leaving a small brown border.

5.    Paint the skinny sticks and styrofoam ball Nutmeg. Allow to dry.

6.    Paint the pot Lipstick Red. Allow to dry. Add the Bright Baby Pink dots to pot using the 1/4" dauber.

7.    Glue the stick to the back of the hearts to make a stem. Tie a brown bow and glue to bottom of heart. Take the brown chenille stem and wrap it around the back and back to front . Twist to hold in place. Make spiral by wrapping it around you finger.

8.    Glue the red button to front of bow.

9.    Insert ball into the pot and insert heart flowers into the ball.

Oh happy day, its Friday! The weekend is here and before you get swept up in running errands, cleaning, or preparing for your Super Bowl party, we want to share with you a great weekend project your kids can make. Cassie from Hi Sugarplum created these DIY Animal Bookends. How cute are they? Cassie made this project using a mixture of duct tape and FolkArt paints. This is such a creative idea, and we’re absolutely in love with it. To see how you and your kids can create these bookends click here.