Why I Can't Hate Valentine's Day

Those who know me well know that I do NOT like Valentine's Day. I just think it's a dumb holiday. Now, I'll buy the chocolates, cards, stuffed bears and candies for Jaiden and Iain and Sean. And I do love getting cards or chocolate... ANY time. ;) But I don't really plan anything special. Nor do I expect anything special! So, it's always fun to see what Sean has up his sleeve for such a non-celebrated day....

To explain this year's gift, I need to backtrack a bit and share a photo of the "Cookies By Design" cookie bouquet I ordered for Sean for our anniversary last month. If you have not had these cookies before, they are VERY tasty... but they are also kind of pricey. And we always joke about how much each cookie costs if you break it down.... *yikes!


SO, this year for Valentine's Day, I got a "Cookies By Sean" cookie bouquet. Yes, he made these. And cut them out (AFTER baking them) with Jaiden's sandwich shapers (that's why they are kind of randomly shaped like dinosaurs, dolphins and hearts!)! Then he painstakingly iced them with homemade icing and decorating gel (that explains the drippy smiley face) and displayed them on stakes for me!


Looks just like the other cookie bouquet, doesn't it? No? Well, that's ok. It really is the thought that counts. Really! And I love that I have such a thoughtful husband who would take the time to do something like this for me! Even on such a dumb holiday! :)

The Valentine's Igloo?!?!

Jaiden recently brought home an assignment sheet instructing her/us to decorate a Valentine's Day box for school... and to be creative. I immediately thought of making a castle out of a shoebox, maybe throwing in a few toilet paper rolls, some fabric, some glitter, and voila! A creative Valentine's Day CASTLE box!

BUT, to be sure that Jaiden was an active participant in her assignment, I threw in another option... an option I figured she would NOT pick: an igloo.

BOY! Was I wrong! Jaiden jumped all over the igloo idea, even when I tried to describe how incredibly cool (and simple) the castle would be. No sale. Jaiden was all about the igloo!

So... it became my mission to figure out a cheap, easy way for us to make an igloo-box to hold all her Valentines...

and THIS is what we created!



I bet it will be the only Valentine's Day Igloo in her class!


UPDATE: Ah, yes... so... HOW did we make this silly Valentine's Day igloo? The answer may surprise you. It may also have you wondering what's wrong with my brain! ;)
We considered using paper mache, but I didn't want to make a mess. So I went to Michael's on a hunt for a styrofoam ball, thinking, perhaps, we could carve out an igloo shape. But, BOT, are those things expensive. And, come to think of it, those are messy, too!
So I stumbled upon a foam construction hat (see photo, below). After turning it around in my hands for a few moments, I determined that, yes, this yellow construction hat would be the prefect igloo... after we cut it and covered it with batting to make it look like it was made from snow and ice! I also imagined using a plastic cup for the "doorway" of the igloo, just by cutting off the bottom part of the cup and also covering it with batting.
Well, we did just that! We first cut an opening for our igloo by removing the front part/bill of the hat. Then we used tacky glue to cover it with batting. Then we added the batting-covered cup as the "door" and covered the whole thing again with another layer of batting. (I taped down the batting inside the igloo to make sure the "snow" stayed in place!) We then got out a black marker and lightly drew some lines to resemble ice blocks. Then we taped the structure onto a foil-covered piece of cardboard. Lastly, Jaiden decorated her igloo with glittery heart stickers. And as a last-minute addition, we created a little snowman out of cottonballs and toothpicks and a small piece of yarn!
Ta-da!