I find holidays like Valentine's Day to be a little too commercialized and all about consumerism. That being said, they're still an opportunity for celebration and celebrations are always fun!
The kids woke up to a little surprise Thursday morning:
They were really excited and it made my day to see how just a little effort and little to no money could make them smile so big. So worth it to stay up those few extra minutes it took to put it all together!
(I wrapped up some Cookies
for our Valentine's party and put individual cellophane heart bags on the table for them that had some Gummy Bears
and Gummy Worms
in them with a little card.)
The paper lace hearts on the windows are thrifted/vintage as is the red and white tissue paper heart banner. They were in bags of misc. vintage paper things at a garage sale or the thrift and have been in my stash for years. I have such a weakness for vintage ephemera (and wallpaper) and it's usually one of the first things I'm digging through at Estate sales or the thrift.
One of our local grocery stores always has these heart mylar balloons for only a dollar each at Valentine's time each year and we usually pick some up for the kids.
{On Aria: Short sleeve and long sleeve tees and pants, thrifted. Moccasins from Kaboogie. Thrifted retro high chair $2.00. One of my favorite finds last year. It's in excellent shape. I'd been hoping to find a cute metal one. I have one in the basement but it needs new rubber covers for the legs so I was really excited to come across this one.}
I always have these big intentions of doing stuff like this for their birthdays (and holidays) every year. I used go all out with streamers and balloons in decorating their bedrooms for their birthdays while they were sleeping, when they were younger. But over the years, I've kind of gotten out of the habit. Although, I still try to blow up a bunch of balloons so they're strewn all over the living room floor when they wake up nowadays.
I'm always inspired by this blogger and all of the things she does to make every special occasion something to remember for her girls. She inspires me to remember that just a little effort can bring about the best memories for your kids. It doesn't have to be anything huge and extravagant in order to be special. Sometimes the simplest things truly are the best!
It was so easy to put this together for them and if I could come up with other simple ideas, I might do it a little more often. So worth it to see how fun it was for them.
So thoughtful of you, Jenn....you could do an Easter/Spring banner using the sample paint chips...I'm always looking for paint for something or the other, so I always pick up a stash when I'm around paint....just a thought...or what would be even better...when I worked at the nursing home...the residents would make the eggs out of crochet thread and elmers glue....wrap it around a balloon...Have you ever made those...they would be awesome.....your family continues to be in my thoughts and prayers.
Posted by: Lupe Isola | February 15, 2013 at 01:12 AM
i agree, little gestures are so fun and long remembered. p.s. was that a love song your dearly beloved was picking? just saying...
Posted by: yvonne | February 15, 2013 at 04:37 AM
Looks like a fun surprise for them!
Posted by: Sara | February 15, 2013 at 09:37 AM
Love this post. I need to remember to do little things for the kids, too. Adrian was so pumped just to do an actual art project the other day (aside from the free-drawing, -painting, and -cutting he does all the time). It was so easy and so much fun to see him so excited!
Posted by: Heidi | February 20, 2013 at 09:39 PM