Lovebug

Happy Day After the Day After Valentine's Day. Truthfully, we have never given much thought or significance to Valentine's Day around our household. In fact, most of our Valentine's dinners have involved things like a toaster sandwich with an ocean water from Sonic. Or, if we're feeling really fancy, cheeseburgers and champagne (which was actually the meal on our wedding night). We usually exchange cards and maybe a favorite sweet treat or two, but nothing crazy. I love love and all, it's just that I don't like the pressure and all the hype that Valentine's Day seems to bring.

But, because it was MR's first V-Day, I decided I better do a little something special. So, we made daddy a one of a kind, homemade Valentine's card that was inspired by Pinterest (and, by the way, I am way late in jumping on the Pinterest train but am now successfully spending copious amounts of my day in Pinterest fantasy land).

This was an extremely easy and unambitious craft, perfect for a novice SAHM like myself. It's really so easy that giving instructions is not even necessary, but I snapped some photos of the process just for fun. The things you will need to make a card similar to this one are:

1. Paper, washable paints (I used Crayola), and a Sharpie. I used a thicker card stock which helped the card feel more substantial.

2. A willing participant to help make the body and wings of the "bug."

3. The participant's snack of choice. This is optional but highly recommended. It works great as a distraction while you are desperately trying to put paint on a baby's hand, uncurl their fingers, and keep them from touching anything other than the paper.

It is also best to restrain put your little helper in a highchair before starting because it keeps everything a whole lot neater.

After all, we can't have little feet trotting around the house like this now can we? Oh, and I just dipped my finger directly into the paint and spread it onto her foot. It's thick enough to not drip off and wipes away clean with a damp towel.

Once you cover your helper's foot in paint, simply stamp it onto the center of the card (I chose to make the card horizontal because it allowed plenty of space for the wings). Then, repeat with each hand, stamping one on either side of the foot. Starting to look a little buggy, eh?

Finally, add some antennae (that's the plural form of antenna, by the way) and a little smiley face. It would be cute to use glue and glitter but I did not have glitter. So, I just used another color of paint. And VOILA!

With a few basic supplies and 15 minutes or so, you too can have a card that money can't buy. A little hand made gem from your little one is, afterall, priceless.