Empty Nest Mummy

Now, it has to be said that I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day, but I do love making fun crafts and doing baking with the kids. And I love pink. So Valentine’s Day only really makes it to our house at all in the form of crafts and baking with the kids. Especially if there’s some pink.

But, given that it is Valentine’s Day, and the weather isn’t great, Valentine’s Day seems to be as good a time as any to do a bit of ‘make and do’. Some heart-shaped make and do.

First up, let’s show the wildlife some Valentine’s Day loving. Or, more specifically, let’s show the birds a bit of Valentine’s Day loving.

So, with love in the air, the cold, cold air, let’s feed the birds. But let’s give it a Valentine’s Day twist.

With some red pipe cleaners, a piece of pretty ribbon and some stale Cheerios that are only used in our house for stuff like this, let’s share the love.

My able, and desperately keen to craft, Littlest Angel used her finest of fine motor skills to thread the cheerios onto each piece of red pipecleaner.

She then twisted the ends together, made the first one into a circle, and then squished it into a vague heart shape.

She then looped the next one through the first, then closed that one off into a circle and twisted it into a heart shape. And repeat. See? Not just a fun craft, but an easy peasy one too! (I even managed to lie off with a coffee and a magazine while my helper did the work. Perfect!)

Add some pretty ribbon, tie onto a tree and show the garden birds how much you love them.

And, whilst we’re having fun and doing Valentine Crafts, let’s get the paint out! And, if it’s going to get messy, let’s really go for it and make it fingerpainting! All in the name of love!

First, we got some tape and marked out the letters. L, V and E were really easy; O took a lot longer and didn’t look as good. Littlest Angel was pleased with it though, and that’s what really matters!

Tape in place, even the slightly dodgy-looking O, sleeves rolled up and here we go!

The finished article! Well, all the blobby paint needs to dry and then it’s the finished article. When the paint’s dry, we’ll carefully peel away the tape.

And, let’s really have some Valentine’s Day fun and add baking to our crafts! Hands washed, sleeves rolled up yet again, and we made a huge batch of heart-shaped cookies.

I know that I said I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day, but we did have a great deal of fun making our LOVE crafts and baking. And those heart-shaped biscuits were so very tasty that I almost wish it could be Valentine’s Day every day! ….Almost.

(Recipe for the biscuits coming soon. Join our mailing list to make sure that you don’t miss out on this, and other great recipes, crafts and reviews)

(And, if you like the idea of making some crafts with the kids, have a look at our super-cute Salt Dough Breads)