Firstly you need a kitchen sponge, paint, white card, a pen, scissors and some Blu-tack. Thats it- pretty basic. Cut your kitchen sponge to whatever shape you like, circles, stars we used hearts but really you can do anything.

Then you dip you sponge into a container lid with some paint on- making sure you cover your sponge fully.

Then you press carefully onto your card making sure you press down so the paint transfers.

I then cut all of our hearts out. While we were painting and I was cutting I started asking Flynn all of the things he loved about his daddy.

Then after the hearts were all cut out I added Flynn’s answers and stuck them up on the wall of the playroom. Flynn on his own came out with the answers for about half of the hearts the rest  had to prompt him for- he is only 3 and so he still gets very very distracted and gives silly answers etc so I asked the same question lots of different ways-

- What is your favourite food daddy makes

-What is the best thing you do together

-What do you love best about daddy

Just to give you a few examples and with age and practice they get better and better : )

Then if you like you can bribe your child like I did to get a photo in front of their work of art. Flynn was quite happy to obligue and sit still for 3 seconds when I pulled out this massive lollipop ; )

But absolutely my favourite part of this activity was the proud look on Flynn’s face when daddy walked in the door and he got to show him what he had made. It just melted my heart right there and then.

And the heart necklace in the photo above- we made that for Daddy too- and he wore it for the rest of the day, much to Flynn’s delight.

It was a fabulous day.

First we bought these cute candies from Toys R Us.

Then we counted them out into our zip lock bags. As smart and articulate as we think Flynn is (don’t all parents LOL) he struggles with counting. So we try to mix things up a little and constantly change the way we learn about counting and numbers.

Then mummy took over and added some cute toppers. These are a great download on the Little Delightful blog, you can find them HERE. We made a couple for friends and they turned out super cute.

And Flynn was just a little bit pleased with himself.

I just framed our Valentine’s card and decorated a cute little jar with love notes inside.

I added some letter stickers to these cute little white mail boxes.

This little banner was just made with ribbon and some paper heart doilies taped on.

Did you see the FREE download in yesterdays post? If not click on the link HERE and download your own free Valentine’s pack filled with lots of goodies, the sheet to make a heart handprint, a love letter, love list and a sweet A4 print you can frame, print out, use in your PL whatever you like, from Bianca from a Little Delightful and myself to you for your special day : )

And here is how I used the print from the pack-

And some more free love I found online to share-

Tags from the Rubber Punkin

The bag printable I shared last year from Twig and Thistle

Valentine’s Cards from a Fanciful Twist

The Rubber Punkin

And there is so much more out there online if you have found anything sweet you would like to share for Valentine’s Day feel free to link in this post and share the love : )

So I will just go ahead and share the recipe we use and this super simple activity can keep the little one entertained for ages! If you have never made play dough give it a try it is super easy and so wonderful to play with.

You will need-

2 cups plain flour

4 tbs Cream of Tartar

2 tbs cooking oil

1 cup salt

2 cups water

Food colouring

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan, stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until the mixture congeals.

(Recipe taken straight from the back of the Mc Kenzie’s packet)

Play funny faces with mummy too : )

Then store your play dough in an air tight container to play with over the next few days : )

]]> http://www.lovelyliving.com.au/superorganisermum/family/pink-play-dough/feed/ 13 http://www.lovelyliving.com.au/superorganisermum/family/small-notes/ http://www.lovelyliving.com.au/superorganisermum/family/small-notes/#comments Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:00:08 +0000 Jade http://www.beyondthebaby.com.au/superorganisermum/?p=4134 Flynn LOVES receiving small notes every morning in his little love bug so I thought I would share with you this sweet tradition we do each day in February. This little “Love Bug” is just from Woolworths an is made by Hallmark. This cute little bug has a little zip on one side to add your own little treat, notes etc whatever you like.

Hallmark make a matching little love bug note pad that you can tear off each day. Each one has a different sweet message- you can obviously use these year after year as well which is great.

Best of all I just heart making my little love bug smile each and every morning over breakfast.

And now for our Grandparents gift. Some heart handprints- priceless right? And a great way to say I love you. We love our grandparents every day but unfortunately in the rush that is life we forget to say so sometimes. Forget to say thank you, forget to stop, love and appreciate. So this for us is what Valentine’s day is all about- saying I love you- taking the time.

SO for this gift Bianca from A Little Delightful made up this great sheets for me to get Flynn’s handprints onto and we painted away. These are available to download for FREE for you and your family to enjoy HERE

So very proud, love this boy.

Firstly some crafty Valentine’s creations made by some fabulous readers-

Lots of Love from Janelle. Love, love, love her ideas especially the lunch box notes- too cute.

And written from Janelle-

First the 14 days of Valentines, I thought of my son heading off to big school for the first time and how this concides with Valentines Day so I thought of popping in  a note each day of one reason I love him. I attached a little heart choccy I bought in a bag from Reject Shop and left it in his lunchbox. I will do this each day and make him know that mummy is thinking of him at school. I am also going to get daddy to write some.

Then I did another 14 day Valentine, something for hubby I made a giant heart freckle, popped into cellephane and left him a note too. Thinking about it now though this should be day 14 as an actual pressie as it is one huge chunk of chocolate.

The little flags, I made little hearts of chocolate. I made some with sprinkles on top and some with hazelnut middle. I used heart ice cube trays from Big W for this, (only $1.46 a tray!) bagged them up, popped a Happy Valentines Day flag around them and they are good for grandparents and other loved ones.

I also dipped marshmallow ends in choc and sprinkles and bagged them up too.

I also stuck a large toothpick (couldn’t find lollie pop sticks anywhere) in the end of a heart and put a pink organaza bag from my $2 shop and tied a flag around that.

And a gorgeous Valentine’s tree from Linda-

Valentines Tree” We have it sitting on the side table of our living room for all to see…love it.

Such a fabulous idea Linda, I am going to be on the lookout for a tree for next year.

Thank you again so much to the wonderful ladies who tested these printables and came up with such wonderful ideas.

And now for some winners. Chosen at random- as all of our winners are

Mum’s Memory Diary (from the first newsletter)

*Emma D’Aurizio

*Rebecca Nennas

Congratulation girls I am sure you will LOVE your diaries, they will be in the mail soon for you.

Now for the MummiesInk photo card.

*Hayley·

Love the “I’m bananas for you” also
Suits my 2 littlies to a ‘T’…they are both cheeky monkeys LOL!
I have just read through the past 4 or 5 days of posts on your blog Jade, as my modem broke and I have been having serious withdrawls haha!
I missed so much, but am glad I am all caught up now LOL!
Thanks

Hayley Congratulations!! Please email me so I can pass on your details to the lovely MummiesInk for your prize.

And now for one last idea from me. We did this simple craft on the weekend for Flynn to give out to his little friends.

Some heart lollipops-

The download came from the always lovely Simple as that blog HERE Rebecca Miss talented has again done a fabulous and FREE download for you to enjoy this holiday. I chose to print and cut mine out and add them onto a lollipop with a bit of double sided tape. Easy, simple, cheap and effective for the kiddies.

Well that should keep you all busy for a few days : ) Phew such great ideas from so many talented ladies, aren’t my readers just the best- love you girls.

So this year we decorated just a little bit more than usual just to feel the love in our home.

Some cute mailboxes on the breakfast bar chairs. Gosh I love these little things, they just bring a smile to my face when they greet me in the kitchen every morning : )

And the dining room table was not spared, rest assured it does not always look like this most of the time it is covered in stuff from the days happenings- this is the neat photo!

The best thing about the decorations and the countdown and everything we have been doing over the last few days is Flynn talking about love, asking more about love and what we love about each other etc. This is what it is all about for me- making him more aware and creating amazing memories for his childhood.

From my own childhood I have such fond memories on Valentine’s Day of my Dad bringing home my mum a bunch of roses and each of the girls a single rose. It was so special and we still talk about it to this day- simple happy childhood memories.

And lastly our little shelf also had a pink love makeover as well. I just grabbed some pink lollies from coles- easy and super effective these jars are so versatile.

Yesterday on my Facebook page the lovely Lynette linked up a great blog and tutorial I also wanted to share with you. As Pottery Barn kids doesn’t ship to Australia and the above little chair backers sold out in all of a week this link is a fabulous home made alternative.

The no Fuss Fabulous Blog see HERE did a very similar version that anyone can make. The possibilities for this are endless, Christmas, Easter, Birthdays etc I am going to get busy in a few weeks and try one out for myself. Cute or what? Love them.

And in the interest of keeping it real and as per the above statement I need to share with you that truly my dining room table on an ordinary day like yesterday looks a lot more like this.

I’m just saying : )

Firstly gather all of your supplies-

Then get thinking about making your toddler dinner fun. For us this was chicken and cheese quesadilla’s, fruit and yoghurt. Then we made it pink and cute and all heart like.

Firstly wraps can be cut into any shapes you like just using a basic store bought cookie cutter

Then you add your filling and grill to your liking – easy and effective.

Then I added some pink and red fruit and some pink yoghurt in a cup : ) Easy flair for a special dinner for my little man.

Now not to forget the little one. Add beetroot to any meal and you have a pink puree. Ok this was more for the fun of Flynn and I, as of course Oliver knew no different but Flynn thought it was cool and that is all that matters right : )

And a happy little boy who really does love his beetroot : )

To making food pink : )