Sweetpea decided to start reading the Harry Potter series last December. She's eight, and was a bit concerned that they would be too scary for her (as was I, because she's a delicate little flower), so I've been reading each one first before handing them over to her. It's been great to be able to talk with her about them as she reads.
On a hunch, I looked on Amazon to see if the Jelly Belly version of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans were still around. (They're probably the same batch from ten years ago, right? Ew.) I thought they'd be fun for Sweetpea's class valentines, and perfect this year because she's reading the series. We ordered them, printed up some quick wrap-around labels, taped them on, and were done. I think it took us thirty minutes. Quickest valentines ever!
They did cost a little more than we usually spend—about $1.50 per valentine—but it was worth it for the novelty. And Little Mister's valentines cost nothing more than some paper and a box of Goldfish, so it evened out.
I got the idea for Little Mister's fishbowl valentines from the Backless Shirt blog. I had the cellophane bags leftover from a baby shower (or actually from the leftover cocoa from the baby shower favors), and I bought a big box of Goldfish crackers. For the fishbowl, I set out to make my own.
I'm teaching myself to use Adobe Illustrator, one little project at a time. This was a great lesson for me. It was the first time I added and subtracted shapes to create something new.
We printed the fishbowls on card stock, and Little Mister wrote the names of his kindergarten classmates on them, four at a time over several days. (He has very little patience for writing.) Then we gently rolled them to fit them in the bags, added a big spoonful of Goldfish to each, and closed with a twist tie. It was pretty fun, and he got to help every step of the way.
Did you make your own class valentines this year? Leave me a link—I'd love to see them!
