Goldfish Valentine [a re-post] with a Printable Template!!!!

Re-post! 

I have received so many questions about this little valentine, I thought I'd post it again for 2013.  Edited to add the files I created so you don't have to make your own!

(see below for templates)  

I purchased a pack of 100 of these bags at Michael's Craft Store for $3.99 (use the 40% off coupon!). 

originally posted on February 13, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day! 

xoxo

I saw this valentine on, you guessed it, Pinterest.  (Click here to see what else I'm pinning).  The file is available in her Etsy shop, so you can simply print it. 

The concept of this valentine was perfect for us b/c it's unisex so it worked for both my son and my daughter!

For the over-achievers out there [insert fist pound here], you can make your own simple (translation: looks like a 3 year old drew it) version in Photoshop or Picnik (or another free photo editing site) and add your child's name.  Just don't fall in love with the ease of use of Picnik.  It's closing on April 19th. Boo.  

Use your printer settings to print 4 per page.  I stapled several sheets together (outside of my cutting area, of course)  so the sheets would stay straight while I cut them out.

Other variations include:
"Our 'school' is cool because of YOU!"
"You make our 'school' cool."

The bags (bought a pack of 100 for $2.99 minus 40%) stuffed with the card stock inserts.  Doesn't this pic look a little trippy?

The kids chose Goldfish crackers instead of Swedish Fish (which I was a *bit* disappointed by, btw). 

We made about 50 valentines and used about 2/3 of the giant milk carton-shaped Goldfish package.

Print.  Trim.  Fill.  Give.  Eat.  

[edited to add files for you!]
I am not a programmer, but if you have problems with the downloading the files, email me and I'll try to help!  

The first two files are PDFs and are not editable. #3 and #4 are Word documents that you can download and add your kids' names before printing*.
    

1. Download PDF & Print

2. Download PDF & Print.

3. Download Word Document. Click on the text boxes to personalize with names. Print.

4. Download Word Document. Click on the text boxes to personalize with names. Print.

 

*For personal use only. Please do not edit these files beyond the text boxes I've provided. Do not post these files anywhere, rather share them by linking back here!
Have fun!  

It doesn't get any easier than that, right?  
(well, maybe it would be easier to buy a huge bag of boxed nerds and just hand those out...but they aren't nearly as cute!)  
(don't worry, we bought said bag of boxed nerds...they are slowly disappearing into my belly) 
(just doin' my share to keep Wonka in business)

Sharpie Oil-Based Marker Project

[let's take a break from house-building and do a little crafting...shall we?]

I love receiving handmade gifts and I love to give handmade gifts.  When you don't have time to create something from scratch, or when you want to make it extra special...personalize it!

These oil-based Sharpies make it so simple!  I ordered a 15 piece set from Amazon, but they are available in sets of 5 or individually at your local craft stores. Then I went shopping for some white ceramic serving pieces.  I found the most perfect options at TJMaxx for a reasonable price.  A serving tray and a small fluted bowl that matched. 

For the design, I knew I wanted to make old-school holiday lights.  They are timeless, modern, and little bit retro and so much fun!  I started by free-handing the bulbs, placing them in random angles but trying to keep a similar spacing between them.

Maeve wanted to help, so I watched while she drew the black squares at the base of each bulb.  She did a great job, huh?! And she's crazy cute with that look of concentration!

Caramel corn gives you crazy crafting powers, by the way.

Then just connect the light bases to one another to form the string of lights...adding a few loops, of course!

I used my Silhouette to cut some contact paper into a stencil to add the name to the tray and bowl.  And on the bottom I crossed out the "dishwasher safe" that was printed on the back and wrote, "hand wash me" and added the year as well.  You could also include your "To:" and "From:" on the back to further personalize! 

These markers do not indicate that they are food-safe.  I also could not find any instructions for 'setting' the paint.  Unsure, I put them into a cold oven.  Turned it on to 350 degrees and set the timer for 30 minutes.  Then turned the oven off, but leaving the tray & bowl inside until they cooled.  That took most of the afternoon.  

I knew these would be more of a display and maybe once a year would be filled with peanut m&ms and maybe some cookies, but I thought maybe setting the paint this way would give it a bit more life. 

Easily adapt this for any holiday - hearts, shamrocks, stars and stripes...of simply a name or monogram.  This would make a wonderful hostess gift as well!  

...to remember this project for next Christmas!

Warm Toes and Somewhere for the Flushes to Go

The forms set for several days and were removed, leaving us with bea-u-ti-ful concrete walls!  The plumbers laid some pipe (ha ha) and then we were ready for some insulation in the floor. 

I am amazed that they know where to put things! 

Pretty sure this is the floor drain in what will become our mechanical room.

And the ever-important sump pump.  

The two lines that jut off to the right run over to the bathroom.

The basement floor was insulated with foam then the water lines were laid for the in-floor radiant heat. 

By this point, we'd already realized this house-building process would include a lot of changes, edits, adjustments...call them what you will...they would be plentiful.  :)
Although we'd mentioned our long-term plan to finish additional square footage in the basement, they hadn't run the tubing in the future space (the dirt section at the bottom of the picture below).  

We also learned that any suck edit, change, adjustment causes delays in the schedule.  So, instead of pouring the following day, the tubing guys had to return and add more orange stuff.  

The following Monday, a huge Mack truck arrived with a huge pump and dumped a huge amount of concrete.  Huge.    

After the floor was finished and smoothed, they poured the stoop and the garage floors. 

Pouring the stoop.

If I were to do it over, I would've left the stoop hollow and utilized the space for more storage.  It would've cost us another door and we probably don't need more space...but being as I'm so obsessed with space utilization, it'll forever bug me that we 'wasted' this space. 

I'll get over it.  I hope.  ;)