Project Life | Snowy January

Credits: Digital Project Life Maggie Holmes Mini Kit, Template W, Template C, Just Add Color Overlays

Cupid's Arrow Valentine + Free Printable

I know I'm too late in posting this for anybody to get any use out of it this year, but feel free to pin it or file it away to use some other time. These are the Valentines my daughter is giving her class. She LOVES gum and wanted to include gum with her valentine, and I got the idea from this pin. I adapted my version to work better for me. First of all, I can't find packs of gum like that... maybe they don't make them anymore? We ended up just using two sticks of gum for the middle (cheaper anyway!) and wrapped them with custom wrappers (download for free below). I also didn't want to put unwrapped candy on then end because I wasn't going to put each arrow in its own bag. I had this awesome glitter paper by American Crafts in my stash that has been waiting to see the light of day, so we pulled it out and used it for the main part of our arrows. Here's my process:

1. Gather supplies
• Glitter paper (or whatever stiff paper you have on hand, it doesn't have to be glitter... normal card stock will work great)
• Skewers (I took the picture first, but I actually cut the points off using my garden shears... figured it'd be safer that way for 2nd graders)
• Gum sticks
• 1/8" hole punch
• Baker's twine or other small string
• Printable gum wrapper (download below).





2. Cut rectangles/arrows and hearts out of paper.
• My rectangles were 1-1/8" x 2-1/4". I used scissors to notch the bottom (nothing too precise... just eyeball it), then use that triangle piece as a pattern to angle the top. This gives you the arrow shape.
• I used my Sizzix to punch out the hearts, but you could just trace a cookie cutter your own heart shape and cut them out that way.





3. Punch two holes in each shape.





4. Thread the shapes onto each end of the stick. Once the shapes are on, cut fringe in the arrow (make sure not to cut all the way to where the hole is punched).





5. Wrap the wrappers around the sticks of gum and secure with a piece of tape. One of the wrappers says "from", so you can write the giver's name on it.





6. Put two pieces of gum back to back on the middle of the stick and tie the ends together with Baker's twine (to make it a little easier, you can dab a little glue to keep the gum on the sticks before tying the string... I used a low-temp glue gun). There you go. A super cute Valentine to give away! 

Click here or on the image below to download these free, printable gum wrappers.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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: