Free Valentine Heart Printable Update + Pencil Instructions

I made these Valentine pencils about four years ago for my kids to give their teachers and the office staff at their school. They were a big hit with the receivers, and ever since I blogged about them, they have garnered a lot of interest. They are my most pinned photo on Pinterest, and my most visited blog posts are about the pencils. I wish I could claim credit for the original idea, but this was just my take on a similar idea I'd seen from someone else, who had also gotten the idea from someone else, and so on. Once I posted them, I started getting a lot of e-mails, comments, etc. asking for more details. I was also lucky enough to have a back-to-school version of the pencils I made featured in the September 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes and through CK on a local TV show, Studio 5. These are the ones that were published:

Back-to-School Rolo Pencils originally published in September 2010 in Creating Keepsakes Magazine.

After my original blog post about the Valentine pencils, I had so many people ask for instructions that I created a follow-up post with the instructions. After I posted the follow-up, I had several people ask about the heart I attached. The actual heart I used is no longer available, so I created my own that people could download and use. Having the original post, instructions, and free download spread across three different posts is confusing, so I decided to consolidate and put everything in one place.

Valentine Rolo Pencil Instructions

1. Cut a 3.5”x4.5” piece of yellow cardstock. Make score lines every 1/4 inch (the score lines should be parallel with the long side of the cardstock). Using pinking shears or decorative pinking scissors, cut a small strip off the short side of the cardstock. Wrap this piece around the Rolo’s, and use adhesive to hold together.

2. Cut a 3.5”x3/8” piece of pink cardstock. Wrap this around the top of the Rolo’s for the edge of the pink eraser. Trace the top of the Rolo’s on pink cardstock and cut out to get the top of your eraser. Stick this on top with adhesive.

3. Cut a 3.5”x3/8” piece of aluminum foil and adhere this around the seam where the yellow and pink cardstock meet. Use Glue Dots to adhere a Hershey’s Kiss to the bottom of the Rolo’s. This is the pencil point.

4. Tie a cute ribbon around the top and add a tag (free heart printable below). Give to someone you love!

Valentine Heart Printable

Click here or on the image below to download this printable sheet.

Other posts about these pencils can be found here, here, and here.

Feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment if you have any questions, and I'll try to answer them!

Project Life | Snow Day

Credits: Digital Project Life Template Design N and Maggie Holmes Mini Kit

Recipe Share | Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

I saw this recipe on the back of a bag of Reese's peanut butter chips and decided to try it. It is yummy. The kind of yummy that I really need to share them with others when I make them or I'll sit down and eat 3 (or 4 or 5...) at a time. Cookies, chocolate, and peanut butter... three of my favorite things together. My peanut butter loving son asks me to make these all the time. If you're not a peanut butter fan, this is a great basic chocolate cookie recipe because you can substitute the peanut butter chips with anything. We've used white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chips, and mint chips before. It's a pretty straightforward recipe... my biggest tip is to not over bake them or they'll be dry and crumbly when they cool. Also, I use a Pampered Chef medium scoop for my cookies which is about 2 tablespoons. I think it makes the perfect-sized cookie.

When I make these, I just follow the recipe exactly. I don't change anything (except the flavor of chips occasionally). Click here to go to Hershey's website for the recipe.

Enjoy!

Project Life | New Maggie Holmes Mini Kit

New at DigitalProjectLife.com today is this great Maggie Holmes mini kit... and it's 20% off until February 2! Here's a page I made with it (I am in love with those big polka dots!):

Free Printable | Lollipop Valentines

One month until Valentine's Day! Want to get started a little early? Here's a quick, easy Valentine you can put together with your kids this year. Just download and print out the free template below. Cut each lollipop cover out, use a small hole punch to punch a hole where indicated, and score/fold along the dotted lines. Stick a small lollipop through the hole (I used the flat kind of sucker that has the flat cellophane wrapper… sorry forgot to get a pic), and fold the front flap over and into the little tab. Staple each side to hold closed. There's a space on the back for your child to sign their name.

Click here or on the image below to download this free printable:

Scrap Paper Garland

I used to be a paper scrapbooker. Years ago. I still love to make handmade cards and other crafty stuff, but I don't really paper scrapbook anymore. Not in the traditional sense anyway… Project Life? Yes! Anyway, I have stacks and piles of scraps of patterned paper. This scrap paper garland is a great way to use paper scraps and pieces that probably won't be used for anything else, and it's pretty cute, too! It's super simple, so get the kids involved. My daughter loved working on this with me.

First, we tore the paper up into little pieces. No measurements, nothing precise… just tear. We used Elmer's glue thinned with a little bit of water (you could also use Mod Podge) and a foam brush to adhere the scraps to a sheet of white card stock.

I think the easiest method is to brush the glue on the paper (work a section at a time so the glue doesn't dry before you're finished) and stick the scraps to them. Overlap the pieces so that there is no white left showing. It doesn't matter if they aren't stuck all the way down because once the white paper is covered, you brush a thin layer of glue over the entire sheet.

Once the white card stock is completely covered and you've brushed a layer of glue over the top, let the mosaic paper dry completely before completing the next step.

Turn the paper over and trace hearts over the entire sheet (we used a cookie cutter as a stencil). Cut the hearts out and punch a small hole on each side.

Thread a thin string (or ribbon, yarn, cord, whatever) through the punched holes of each heart to create the garland.

We used our garland to decorate for Valentine's day. The great thing about this is it can be adapted for any occasion depending on the colors/patterns of paper you use and the shape.

Pinned + True | Balloon Garland

I love Pinterest. I have a lot of pins. (My Pinterest boards found here.) A.LOT. Obviously, more pins than I'll ever have time to attempt. But, I do actually try some of the pins I pin. I've created a board called Pinned and True where I can keep track of things I tried that worked for me. This balloon garland is one of them. It's so simple but genius. All you do is blow up a bunch of balloons and using a needle (careful not to pop the balloons) and thin string, thread the string through the tail part of the balloon. I don't really know what it's called, but it looks like a little tail, right? Anyway… genius, I tell you. No need for helium.

Link to the pinned idea: http://www.agirlandaboy.com/journal/archives/002791.html