A Lovely Day

I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentines Day. We sure did. 

My husband and I used to make a special effort to go out alone for Valentines, but a few years ago things didn't work out and we spent the night with the kids. We had so much more fun celebrating as a family we've never gone back.

 The kids love having a fancy dinner. Kate asked every night this week if dinner was "Valentines Dinner." Using giant red goblets and drinking sparking juice is their favorite part.

 Did you notice the cake? 

It was red velvet, super moist and to die for.  

After dinner we played a Valentines version of cherades. It was a lot of fun. 

Banana's For You Valentines

We're going bananas over our valentines this year and hope you will too.

While searching Amazon we came across these cute monkey figures and knew we had to use them. 

Then we got a little crazy and added some Banana Heads to the mix,

And came up with this

And this.

We did our own twist but were inspired by another version HERE.

I had a hard time finding the right bag to put them in, but eventually found these at Michael's.
They're called archival bags and I found them in the wrapping section not with the other cellophane bags.

Overall I spent about $40 on supplies for 4 classrooms. That's $10 a classroom. Not cheap but just a little more than what you would pay for cards and a bag of candy. 

If you are interested, I downloaded the tags so you can print them yourself HERE.

You can find our valentines from previous years HERE and HERE.

Valentines Making Party

The last three years my sister and I have hosted a valentines making party. It's a perfect fit for us, we both love valentines and need an excuse to share our hoarded crafting supplies. 

 My sister came up with the cutest display for all the card making supplies. 

Doesn't this picture make you want to create something. 

 I have to say, the washi tape was the hit of the party. I got mine from Pick Your Plum. 

What is valentines without sugar cookies? 

Mini strawberry tarts, I think I'll share this recipe, so easy and so amazing.

 

It was so fun to see and steal everyones ideas. 

I decided to let my older girls come along this year, since they wouldn't stop begging. I was impressed with how serious Lydia was about it. She had a list of people she wanted to make a card for and didn't stop till everyone was done.  

Kate made a few cards but mostly enjoyed her time getting a sugar high and running around with one of her best friends. 

How pathetic is it that I was looking forward to a couple cans of this, since I stopped drinking it on a regular basis? 

Me and my sister Shelly (who is actually shorter than me but loves high heals). 

It was such a fun day, I can't wait to do it again.

I just got all our supplies for our classroom valentines in the mail. Hopefully I can share them later this week. 

V-Day attire

I decided to keep our Valentines attire simple this year. My older daughter requested a shirt to wear with jeans. She is over skirts and dresses (sad, I know). I figured making pleasant blouses would be a quick easy project. 

Unfortunately, I also decided to use fabric I had on hand. When I went through my stash, I fell in love with this vintage dotted swiss fabric.  It turned my simple project into more work than I wanted. The blouses only took about 30 minutes each to make, but I ended up making knit undershirts that took more time, Grrr. I was hoping to use white undershirts we had on hand, but they just didn't look right.  

In the end, I love the look. I think it was worth it?  

I'm loving the matching headband.  

This one was having a hard time not untying here bow, probably not the best shirt for a toddler. 

Hope you all have a Happy Valentines Day! 

chocolate rum cake

In the spirit of LOVE, I'm sharing a family secret today. It's a good one too. 

This is our award-winning, infamous Rum Cake. People go crazy for it. It's one of those cakes that everyone wants the recipe for, and I'm always embarrassed when they ask.  

 The truth is, there is no recipe. It's just your typical chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate ganache, and a little secret weapon. 

Butter Rum flavoring oil. 

We use it for our chocolates, but it's just as good added to chocolate frosting. You can find it at your local baking supply store. I bought this one at Orson GYGI's, but I've also bough it at Bakers C&C. You can also find it HERE online. But, here is the important part, you want {BUTTER RUM}, not butter or just rum. Trust me they are not the same. 

The cascading chocolate ganache makes it look fancier than it really is. People will think you put a lot of effort into the cake, when it really doesn't take much. 

-For years I made my chocolate cake with just a cake box(devil's food), but recently I've been using THIS recipe, which is almost as easy. 

- Any chocolate frosting will work (even a can). When adding flavoring start with a few drops of oil and taste. Continue adding drops to taste, I like mine strong. 

Here is a simple frosting recipe I like to use:

4 Tbsp cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

4 Tbsp soft butter

2 or 3 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

mix cocoa and powdered sugar in mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients, beat until smooth. 

-For the ganache melt half a 12oz. bag of good chocolate chips(I like Ghiradelli) in the microwave. Melt them in 30 second increments, stirring each time. When they're all melted, add 5-6 Tbsp of cream, milk or half & half. Stir the mixture as fast as you can. For a minute you'll think you've done something wrong and then it will come together. Pour the ganache over the top and smooth it out so it runs over the sides. 

As I was making this cake for my mother-in-laws birthday (she asks for it every year), all my kids came running into the kitchen the minute I added the rum flavoring to the frosting- no lie. The amazing aroma filled the house within seconds. Seriously it's that good. 

blow me a kiss {valentine} with free printable

 I am so excited to share our valentines for this year. I hope you love them as much as I do. They are perfect for any gender and any age. 

 I bought several of these fabulous lip whistles online for about 18¢ a piece. 

I can't tell you how much my kids love these whistles. They are blowing them 24/7 and surprisingly they don't drive me crazy. 

 I printed a simple document in word, cut it into six cards and attached the whistles with a small dot of hot glue, which is easily removed. 

You can download the document for free HERE.

Let me know if you have any questions or problems with the downloads. 

{family love} subway art

I've always tried to stress love for family and friends during Valentines and not so much on romance. Adding everyones names to subway art was an easy and fun way to show the kids what a big part they play in our love story. 

I put mine together in a special program, but I don't think it would be to difficult to make one in Word. All my fonts were free downloads online. 

It was instant gratification. All it took was a few minutes typing, printing and a $1 frame. 

Since it is customized I can't share a free printable, but here are two free-printables that inspired mine (the links are under the pictures):

get this free printable from Girl Creative HERE

get this free printable from eighteen25 HERE