Last week was full of several inches of snow…

…and school cancellations for us…

(which P.S. I loved because I had gobs of extra family time with my four favorite valentines xox)…

So all the school Valentine’s parties were pushed to this week. And–GUSH!–we saw some really cute valentines come through! So sorry if you are totally over Valentine’s already, but here’s a recap of what we did here at the Camp this year (and a few faves I saw out there)… 🙂

Big Bro originally was going to create a Minecraft valentine box, which he thought would be a good design fit due to the boxy nature of the Minecraft world.

But after a pow-wow with Hubs, he ended up on a Duck Dynasty trek.

You lift up the fun-fur “beard” to put the candy in his “mouth.”

Simple, cute, and git ‘er done thanks to a 1/4 yard of camo fabric spray glued on, a print-out of Uncle Si, a wooden kebab skewer (duct-taped to the side of the box and the back of cardstock “word bubble”), and two sheets of black cardstock.

Big Bro’s valentines originally read, “I love you almost as much as I love squirrel brains.”

…But he had a change of heart at the last minute (“I don’t know about these saying ‘I love you’ to girls.”), so we cut off the tops. Yes, my child handed out valentines that shared a sentimental verse: “I love squirrel brains.” Good times. Between that and the skittles duct taped to the back, I think we took the gold medal in classiness this year.

Li’l Bro opted to hand out the same design valentines as I made for Big Bro last year, but Li’l used glow bracelets instead of pixy stix.

Sissy handed out printed Mary Poppins valentines to her classmates, and we made sewn heart valentines for teachers and friends.

We layered a piece of cut out heart-shaped fabric on top of thick cardstock, then sewed a line straight through the middle to secure. The line became an arrow thanks to a sharpie.

If I did these again, I might pre-print the greeting on them and then add the sewn hearts.

So that’s it for us, but meanwhile at Sis’s preschool, there were a couple of really cute ideas I wanted to share!

This one you’ve seen before, no doubt, but I love how well it is executed. The spacing and type are just perfect, so the card feels polished and balanced to me, and the little girl has her thumb OUT… [This is a minor point, but when a thumb is tucked into the fist, the whole trompe l’oeil effect is ruined for me BECAUSE I’M A NERD who notices things like that.]

As far as valentine boxes go, I wish I had saved Li’l Bro’s from last year! But alas.

There are so many incredible box ideas floating around out there this year! I think my fave I saw is the Dr. Who tardis… but that might be a little old for most kids to “get.” [There are several good ones pinned to my Pinterest Valentine’s board if you want more inspiration.]

I loved these birdhouse ones I saw at the preschool.

They are sweet and whimsical, and I’m just a sucker for details like a popsicle stick roof!

OH! And did you notice that little arrow next to the second birdhouse? *GUSH* This was by-far my favorite valentine I saw. It is a perfect trifecta in my book:

1. They are totally on theme without being themey. Cutest cupid’s arrow EVER.

2. They are DIY’ed. This mom and son worked on these together, apparently, gathering sticks, painting the stripes, gluing on the feathers and hearts. I just love that.

3. They are completely original (or at least I’ve never seen anything like them!). And CHIC! Can a preschooler’s valentines be chic? Because I think these are. I could see them on a larger scale, in more muted colors, in a trio as wall art in a boy’s room. TOTALLY.

So anyhoo, that’s what we did! Next year (if I remember, ha!), I think I’ll do the sewn heart cards again, but preprint them, then make little fabric arrowheads and feathers as well as the hearts for them.

In other news, I had my friend’s DSLR camera last week as I am researching purchasing one, and suddenly my number of selfies sky-rocketed; my children would only pose so many times for me while I played.

But I LOVED being able to take pics with the backgrounds blurred out. So I made the below for you with the heart garland from last year–if you like it, you can click on it to view and download it larger… 🙂

…Because however your Valentine’s Day went, I pray you’ll remember this: God, the author of love, loves you.