Classroom Valentines

I like to be crafty occasionally, but I don't have a lot of time. I spent about an hour to an hour and a half making these valentines for Natalie tonight. She didn't like any of the store-bought designs, of course, because there were no shark valentines. *Insert eye roll here.* I found this simple template on the internet tonight. She approved of the design. We went outside to take some pictures of her holding her hand out. We went back inside so I could combine the photos in Photoshop Elements. I printed them out and made the cuts in the photos to insert the pencils. Viola! Simple but cute valentines. I could have taken a little bit more time with the photo, but as Natalie put it, "It doesn't have to be perfect, Mama." I figured that if she liked them the way they were, then they were good enough.

Her school doesn't want the parents to bring any candy for valentines, and although many parents break that rule, Patrick doesn't want me to be a rule breaker. For the past couple of years we give out pencils and little trinkets like that. This year we're giving out pencils, little pads of paper, and heart-shaped erasers.

Eric's school doesn't have the rule about not giving out candy. In fact, we were told to bring a sweet treat. Eric's choice is usually Starburst or Skittles, so I bought that at Target on the way home from work today. I had bought these Cars valentines a while back at Target. I don't like to wait until the sales come because I'm afraid of not getting my first choice. When I went by Target today, everything was pretty picked over so I was happy that I had already gotten these. This package had Cars valentines AND Cars tattoos, something this little boy gets very excited about.

Tonight, Patrick had him write his name on the valentines and tomorrow they'll give out the valentines with the candy then they'll send the kids that are all "sugared up" home to their parents. Thankfully, I'll miss out on that because I'm working tomorrow night. Poor Patrick!