Valentine's Day Cards {Virginia Photographer}

Hello, Lovelies!

You may be thinking, “Shoot! I totally forgot to pick up Valentine's Day cards.” If you w-a-n-t to be that cool, crafty mom (uh-hem, I'm a' trying, folks!!), you may have planned some elaborate Valentine's Day project.  Maybe even clipped coupons-heck, you're trying that, too!  But, between swimming lessons, and your third burnt Pinterest dinner this week... well, it looks like it slipped through the cracks.

Word, dudet.

So, I'm here to save the day. Ok, really, just give you the tools to pull off a smashing V-Day 'crafty' project your kids will be proud to brag about, be the envy of the other parents, and still allow you to catch up on Project Runway a la Hulu.

Tonight to need to do two things. First, post on your local Freecycle asking for a crud-load of broken Crayons. For those of you who don't know FreeCycle, it’s a website/ listserv that allows folks to post and request items—the catch being everything’s free.

Make it clear that you'll need a lot more Crayons than the mini-pack from iHop-- like a gallon ziplock bag. Someone has them, would hate to just chuck them, and they'll be yours for $0. Schedule the hubs to pick them up tomorrow.

Secondly, use your Michael's coupons to pick up at least two silicone heart molds. Everything's 60% off in the Valentine's Day section-- I got the big hearts (6 per mold) for $9.99 minus 40% with coupon. There is an ice tray with 10-12 mini-hearts per mold. The mini-hearts mold might me the way to go instead of the big hearts like mine-- many more Valentines, less effort, and fewer supplies.

Okay. So day 2. You should have a bag full of free Crayons and your heart molds. Now, the hard work. Use a knife or better yet an exacto knife/ Sheetrock knife to slice the paper off the Crayon. Ugh. This can feel like for-ev-er!

Then, while you're cooking dinner, have the kids fill up the heart molds. Sit down to dinner and allow the crayons to bake at about 350 for 5-10 minutes, or until at least mostly melted. You want it liquidity, but not bubbling or... smoking. Oopse!

Pull the molds out of the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes or until the Crayons are cool and firm.

So, here's where you get extra credit. After the kiddos have gone to sleep, print out the card. We used:

Valentine, you color my world!

Love, (kid's name)

** enjoy the heart-shaped Crayon I made for you!

Then hot glue the hearts to the middle of your cards. Tomorrow, bleary-eyed, you'll hate me;) Thursday when you kids come home bragging that they had the best cards, and they made them all by themselves, pat yourself on the back, and make a nice cocktail. It's Valentine's Day after all!