For those of you who want something in between Lightning McQueen valentines, and a table full of scissors, glitter, and glue, minted is now offering classroom Valentine’s Day cards that are reasonably priced at $16 for 15 cards. They’re 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches, so they’re not big enough to send through the mail, but perfect for handing out to friends. And they’d like to give a set of these valentines to one of you!

Here are some of the designs:

Minted also has full size Valentine’s Day cards, but I’m pleased to say that I already have my family’s full size Valentines’ Day cards ready to address and send. Okay, so maybe they have ornaments on them, and they’ve been sitting on my kitchen counter for two months, but that’s not stopping me from pretending like I’m totally on the ball. I’ll have the kids draw some hearts on the envelope, and we should be in good shape.

Enough of my jabbering. So how can you enter to win a set of 15 classroom Valentine’s Day cards? It’s easy. Just leave a comment on this post.

If you want more Valentine’s Day card inspiration, check out my Valentine Roundup from last year.

Please leave a comment on this post by midnight MST on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. The winner will be randomly chosen and announced by February 2. If I don’t hear back from the winner, another winner will be chosen. One entry per person please. Thanks and good luck!

Congratulations to Ash, who was randomly selected as the winner of this contest!

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Somebody needs to take away my heart-shaped cookie cutter. I sat down at the computer, ready to start on a writing assignment, when I got the urge to do this. I think Pinterest is invading my brain. Okay, back to work. Or maybe one more photo…

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Yesterday, we went to the library and my daughter went off on her own and came back with this book: Made by Me, by Jane Bull.

That cover had me wishing I hadn’t just gotten rid of our cardboard suitcases. They’d make perfect little sewing kits. Anyway, here’s the first project she chose — decorating a t-shirt with all kinds of stitches, buttons and pictures.

We didn’t get very far, because we haven’t yet mastered the blanket stitch. After messing up a few times, we went on You Tube and watched someone give us a little tutorial. It’s really fun to be learning something new with my 5 year old daughter. She seemed to understand the demo better than I did, but then we had to head out to dinner, so we’ll give it another try later today.

The book had some other projects I’d like to make, like these little pouches:

Ideas for “softies”…

And most importantly, a stitch directory. I have mastered the running stitch, but I’m going to need some more You Tube help to get some of the others.

It’s looking like 2012 is going to be a crafty year. Do any of you like doing this sort of thing? Have Etsy shops? Do tell!

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Pour white sugar in a ramekin and get a small heart-shaped cookie cutter.

Add a tiny amount of water and stir in. You’re going for a wet yet crumbly consistency. If it gets too saturated, add more sugar. If too dry, add a bit more water.

I started out by using a small spoon to fill up my heart cookie cutter with sugar, and used a traced cardboard cutout heart to press the sugar down as I lifted off the cookie cutter. I found out that using my fingers worked much better than the cardboard, so that chunks of sugar didn’t come off when I took off the cookie cutter. Here are the finished heart(ish) shaped sugar cubes.

And then I dropped my camera on them.

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Yesterday, my son celebrated his 8th birthday at the new Skypark trampoline park in Phoenix. To his sheer delight, his was the first party held there. In fact, the party was held two days before the place even opened!

We had scheduled the party a while ago, and when the Skypark party planner called to tell us we could either keep our party on the same date as scheduled, or change it to a later date after Skypark had opened, my son immediately said to keep it on the same date. (Duh, mom.)

When we went to check it out the day before the party, we saw they were still finishing things up, and on the day of the party, we learned that there was just one area that was ready to be jumped in. Under normal circumstances, that would have been somewhat disappointing news. However the owner, Richard, immediately let me know that they would not charge us for the party since it the place wasn’t ready to go. Hello — free party? I felt like I had won the lottery. Not only did Skypark cover the cost of the party, they gave us unbelievable service, with a whole team of young, energetic and helpful staff who were all over the place making sure every little detail was taken care of. Did I mention we were the only people in the place? It was quite an experience. Here are a few photos to give you a peek at this super fun indoor trampoline park.

Below is the “Arena” where there will be three lanes for jumping — with angled sides on either end.

There’s also a trampoline to practice slam dunks, and a few other spots I didn’t get photos of, like a foam pit and another trampoline area.

And finally, this is the trampoline area where our party was held. The kids (and a few brave adults) had a blast jumping, shooting baskets, and playing dodge ball — for hours. I couldn’t believe the stamina of the kids. I was winded after a few minutes. The owner said they’re planning to offer fitness classes for adults in the future. I need some.

The jumping went on for hours — accompanied by great music playing through the booming sound system.

In the middle of all the jumping areas, there are really comfortable couch seating areas for the grown-ups to gab. I felt like I was in my living room, as I curled up on one of the couches and caught up with a friend.

I think the adults had almost as much fun as the kids…

The Skypark folks led the kids in a game of “reverse limbo” before pizza and cake was served.

You can order your pizza and cake from Skypark, and they get it from locally owned Mamma Mia pizza and Cold Stone Creamery. Both were delicious, and it was really handy to have them order and pick it up (and cut it. and serve it. and clean it up. I admit, it was really nice being waited on.)

It was a birthday party that won’t be forgotten. We will definitely be back. Tomorrow, in fact — for a friend’s birthday party!

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Would you believe there has been a little sewing going on in our home? For years, I’ve admired the work of everyone in blogland who makes beautiful and crafty clothing, toys, garlands — just fun handmade stuff. I firmly believed that I was a Non-Sewer. First, I don’t know how to use a sewing machine (and don’t have one anyway, unless you count the Singer Slant-o-Matic in my garage that has been hanging out on Craigslist for weeks without anyone asking her out. Interested? I’ll totally set you up.)

Anyway, I never really thought I could sew ANYTHING, and it always made me a little sad. But then, I saw these felt ornaments on my friend Carrie’s blog, and thought – hey, I can buy felt. I can probably thread a needle. And I bet I can figure out how to sew an X. So I went to Michaels, got felt, embroidery thread and some needles. THEN, I got inspired again by these sweater trees I saw on Pinterest. Off I went to the thrift store and bought a handful of XL t-shirts with pretty colors and patterns.

I figured Christmas tree cones are  a lot like unicorn horns, so I found a left-over party hat and used it as a template to cut the t-shirt fabric. I threaded the needle, and pushed it in and out of the fabric. And guess what? I was sewing. Then I had my kids pick t-shirt fabric and colored embroidery thread, threaded needles for them, and let them go to town sewing their own trees — however they wanted. I explained we were striving for imperfection — giving our trees character.

We stuffed them with polyfill, cut out and sewed a circle of t-shirt fabric on the bottom, and made tiny stuffed stars to glue on top. I just love our little Christmas tree family on the mantle, and the kids are so pleased that they made them themselves.

I also have to share a close-up of my daughter’s stocking:

Any suggestions for treats Santa can leave in there (under the ballerina’s skirt)?

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Here’s a simple and sweet holiday treat — turn a candy cane into a straw to slurp orange juice straight from the orange. You’ll need an orange, a candy cane, and a paring knife. Roll the orange around to get it all juicy inside, then use a knife to cut a small hole in the peel — about the diameter of your candy cane. Break the ends off your candy cane and stick it in the orange. Start slurping. Voila — minty orange juice.

What is it that’s so fun about turning food into a straw? My personal favorite is using a piece of licorice as a straw at the movie theater. I also have to tell you that candy sticks don’t seem to work as well as candy canes. This photo was taken using a Sweet Stick from Trader Joe’s, but the stick wasn’t porous enough to let the juice come through.

Thank you to my auntie Marlene for sending me this idea last year!

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My new favorite holiday is The Day After Thanksgiving. My kids wake up electrified with the prospect of holiday decorating. This year, before the sun came up, they had the stockings hung, garlands and lights strung on walls and windows around the house (with a generous amounts of masking tape), and pipe cleaner candy canes in every color combination twisted and displayed in jars on the mantle.

After breakfast, I heard the first “I’m bored.” so I handed my kids the latest issue of Family Fun magazine and told them to find a project. They found this photo of a gingerbread decorating party and wanted to get to it. Fortunately I had a box of gingerbread mix in the cabinet (from last year. hmmm. maybe I should have checked the expiration date.) and whipped up a batch. I knew one box wouldn’t be enough for each kid to make a full size gingerbread house, so I remembered Not Martha’s tiny gingerbread houses, and printed out her cute little templates. I skipped the door cutouts, because I knew these little abodes wouldn’t be around long enough to perch them on the edge of a mug.

Fortunately, we still had massive amounts of Halloween candy, so the kids went to work sorting all the colored candies while the dough chilled.

Let’s face it. The only reason kids make gingerbread houses is to eat them, so I’m now a big fan of the tiny gingerbread house. Good portion control.

Don’t be fooled by these photos – I didn’t get a good shot of the final product — little houses mounded with frosting, every inch covered with candy.

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Red Toolbox Kids 16″ Plastic Toolbox – $11.22 at Lowes.com

Red Toolbox Kid’s Classic Tool Box Kit with Tools – $20.97 at Lowes.com

KR Tools 12-Piece Tool Set – $19 at Walmart.com

Brico Tool Set – $37.99 at AlgraShopping.com

Highland Woodworking Tool Kit – $99.99 at HighlandWoodworking.com

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