Happy Valentine's Day from Alyssa! {Tutorial}

Today Alyssa is having her Valentine's Day party at her pre-school and she just couldn't wait to give out her Valentine's treats to everyone! All weekend she kept asking if it was Valentine's day yet!!

I always love to hear my good friend, Meredith's crafting ideas for any special occasion because she's so creative and enjoys making craft projects for her daughter's class. When i asked her what her thoughts were for Valentine's day she mentioned melting crayons into heart shapes? --WHAT? i said really? She sent me a few links and then i was off to round up all the broken crayons we had lying around and then headed out to look for heart shaped baking pans!!

The kids were really excited to help out so here's a quick tutorial on how we did it!

1.Heat the oven to 250°.

2. Crayola Crayons work the best. Peel all the paper off the crayons. (Soak in warm water if they are hard to peel) To speed up the peeling process have the kids help out! : )

3. Fill each mold with crayon pieces. (I used a regular metal baking pan and some silicon molds. I preferred the shapes in the metal baking pan over the silicone molds but the kids wanted to use both so we did)



Don't over fill like Alyssa is doing..! That's a no no.. ; )
How could i tell her to stop...look how focused she is! Doing such a great job peeling and filling! The kids had fun choosing which colors they wanted to mix up!--the boys had fun breaking the crayons and making a mess all over the counter and floor with the crayon wrappers.... ohhhhhhhh boys.. ; )

Now Alyssa can't decide where the green and orange crayons are going to go? In the empty heart mold in the corner or can she fit them on top of her huge pile? hum....only her little mind knows what she will do next... : )



She decides to put the green one in the corner and even out the rest! --She says it's ready to go in the oven! (don't worry when she's not looking mom evens them out a wee bit more..!)



4. Bake until the crayons melt, about 10 to 15 minutes. Tip: Place a baking pan under the silicone molds as they may not be as sturdy. The baking pan will catch any drips.

5. Once they are completely cool, remove the crayon hearts from the baking pan/molds and smooth any rough edges on the bottom by rubbing them on a piece of scrap paper.




6. Cut out 3-1/2" white card stock circles using your Big Shot and add your message.

Suggested messages:
You color my world
Valentine, you make my heart melt
Have a happy Valentine's Day, for "crayon" out loud!

7. Use Stampin' Dimensionals to stick each crayon heart to the 3-1/2" white card stock circle -- or use this template depending on the size of your hearts.



Thanks Meredith for the fantastic idea!! The kids and i had so much fun making these and we hope Alyssa's little friends have have fun coloring with them!

Products used for this project:

Card Stock: Whisper White (100730)

Stampin Write Markers: Basic Black (100082), Real Red (100052)

Accessories and More: Big Shot (113439), 3-1/2" Circle Die (121811), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Crayola Crayons, Heart Shaped Baking Pan.

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Ms Alyssa's Butterfly Card {Tutorial}

As i mentioned yesterday, Ethan couldn't wait to make Nana a birthday card! He loves to see his Nan!.. He is constantly asking when Nana's coming over and then when she's leaving he asks when he's going to see her again!!

Since he was so excited and eager to create I told him he could use whatever he wanted....(eeeeeeeeks...in hopes he wouldn't touch EVERYTHING..lol). As he started to create his card he asked what Nana's favorite colour was? I said hum...i'm not sure..? He was eager to call her to find out. After he hung up the phone he had to start all over!! Apparently Nan told him her favorite colours are purple and green? --WHAT? seriously Nan? --do those colours even go together...lol... ; )

Here's what he came up with using lucky limeade and wisteria wonder....and I'm pretty proud of him for sitting still for as long as he did and creating the card all by himself without any help from me (well, ok.. i tied the bow! and since there was no pressure it turned out pretty DAMN GOOD!!)

I loved watching him write inside the card. He knew exactly what he wanted to write to Nana!



Alyssa was all over this craft project. She has really become interested in arts and crafts since she started preschool this year. I was truly amazed how she got right into craft mode with the punches and glue!! She kept asking me if i was taking photos..?? and i said what for? she said for our blog!! --i want to show my friends at school how i made Nana's card!! --gosh i was cracking up! too cute! I guess she hears Leigha and i talk about "our blog" and thought it would be a great idea to to share her craft project. Ms Alyssa is way too cute for words! I grabbed my phone that was beside me and started shooting some pics so i do apologize for the poor photos.. as it was pretty dark outside there was no natural light peeking in so the glare from my table lamp made for some very bad photos : (

With all of Alyssa's excitement i wish i was better prepared! Next time I'll be a bit more prepared for a photo shoot...or video...lol.. : )

Ms Alyssa's Step by Step Butterfly Card:

Step One: Wait until older sibling is finished with supplies so there is no fighting over certain supplies! Everybody needs to use the heart punches when making cards for grandma!



Step 2: Have Mom or Dad cut card stock in half and fold for card base. Run any necessary dies through the big shot (in this case Alyssa used the scallop duo die)---watch those little fingers!

Punch as many hearts out as you can. In this case Alyssa uses one full sheet of 8-1/2 x 11" card stock! -lucky mom provided her NON stampin up card stock--{big smile}.



Step 3: Punch out any other images you may want to add to the card. In this case Ms Alyssa decides she wants a million and one butterflies! She punches like crazy for about 10 mins.



Step 4: With SU's kid friendly non messy glue stick, glue all your punched out images to the card. And don't worry if you only use ONE of the hundred's of hearts you punched out earlier because you only need ONE heart on the card to show grandma how much you love her!!



Step 5: Stamp your favorite birthday greeting! Make sure you push really really hard and wiggle and rock the stamp as much as you can cuz you want to make sure the greeting shows up on grandma's card.. : )



Voila! Here's your finished card!



This card comes with a Warning: --Due to an overwhelming need for butterflies please be cautioned when opening this card. Butterflies my fly out unsuspectingly .... : )



Supplies Ms. Alyssa recommends in order to create a Beautiful Butterfly Card:

Stamps: Your Favorite Birthday Greeting and any heart or love stamp
Kid's Card Stock: Red, Blue, Green, scraps of pretty in pink.
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories and More: Big shot, Scallop Duo Die, Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Full Heart punch, Butterfly Punch, Markers, Glue Stick.

Hope you like! ...Nana LOVED her cards and told the kids she'd cherish them forever and ever! : )

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What a GREAT Mother's Day it was!

I hope everyone had a GREAT Mother's Day!! I had the most awesome day with my family!! Ethan had a ball game in the afternoon and we had some family over for dinner! BESIDES me dumping the pie ALL OVER the place (don't even ask!!) it turned out to be a GREAT day!! : )

Ever since pre-school Ethan has handmade something for me for Mother's Day. Every year he is super excited to present his gift to me. This year he brought the gift home all wrapped up. He kept telling me i couldn't open it until Mother's Day!! Sooooooo when Sunday morning rolled around...i was anxious to open my gift. I really love it when Ethan makes something!!! He puts his heart and soul into his 10 minute projects...LOL!! ...it's the thought that counts...right..? : )

Not sure if you can guess what this is. My husband and i looked at each in shock when i opened it. We were speechless! --i'm not sure what was going through hubby's mind but i was thinking "what the heck is this".. i turned to Ethan and he said to me "it's a key chain mom" and i said... I LOVE IT! : )


I asked Ethan how he made the key chain and he said they were allowed to use 'Permanent Markers' and when they were done drawing their picture the teacher put it in the oven and the thick plastic paper shrunk up.. (i can still hear his words "super cool huh mom"...!!)

Here's the inside? or is it the outside..? ; )




















And here's the cute card he made me. (gets his craftiness from his ol' mom)- wink wink.


Don't you love how the back of the card is the front....so cute! Love how he has shortened the word "mother's" day to moms day! (such a guy thing to do..!!)

.....here's the inside. There's me again with my big boy!....


I'm so proud of my big guy! and of course my little munchkin is darlin' as well!! I have the best kids anyone could ask for!!

I had to take a quick photo of my cutie bears before i went to bed!! ALL tucked in!! --- Well after i tucked them both in their own beds Alyssa decided to sneak into big brother's room for some cuddles. (Soooooo cute)


Hope you all had a wonderful day with your families.