Valentine Mailbox Craft for a School Valentine's Day Party

I am excited to share the Valentine's Day craft we made at Jackson's third grade elementary school Valentine's Day party! This valentine mailbox turned out so sweet, was simple for the kids to make in a 10=15 minute station, cost less than $2.25 per person, and was put to use immediately for all the little valentines they received. They even got to be mailmen and actually DELIVER their valentines!

Let's take a look ...

This mailbox is made up of two main parts:

1. Mini tin mailbox (Target dollar spot $1)
2. Glass candlestick holder (Dollar store $1, although you can absolutely find cheaper ones at garage sales, resale shops, your basement, etc.)

 Other supplies you'll need include: Spray paint (read the cans to confirm but I've had good luck with Krylon on glass), embellishments for the tin (possibilities include glitter and foam adhesive hearts, adhesive gems, die-cuts, flowers, birds, butterflies), pre-cut lengths of ribbon, and hot glue.

Line up all the candlesticks in a well-vented area and spray them with the paint. Once they are dry, apply hot glue to the top of the candlestick and immediately press the bottom of the mailbox onto the glue. I did have a few mailboxes come off during the process, and I believe those were the ones I didn't press the mailbox into the hot glue right away.

I went a step further and adhered a patterned paper heart to the lid of the mailbox just so the kids had a head start in decorating at the party. I figured if they really weren't into crafting and decided not to do anything further, the mailbox would still look cute as-is. (side note: they were ALL VERY MUCH INTO the crafting, and came up with some fabulous designs, which was awesome to see.)

Here they all are, waiting to be carried to school for the party. I brought several extra patterned paper hearts for the kids in the last station who won't have as many mailboxes to choose from.

I also tried making an even amount of each color mailboxes and stands. Unlike adults, who may have selected the silver or gold tin to match their decor, or fixtures in their house, the kids all gravitated towards the pretty, blue colored tins. I definitely ran out of those fairly quickly.

We had one and a half adults helping at this station. I was the half, either taking photos or helping as needed. The kids picked out which mailbox they wanted to start with (after gasping with excitement once they saw them and realizing they would get to bring them home!) and then started picking out the stickers and gems they wanted to put on the tins.

Then they visited the mom in the corner to have their birds or butterflies (4 for $1 at the dollar store) hot glued to the tin. Their final step was to select a pre-cut length of ribbon to tie in a bow around the stand. If you're working with younger kids (these are all third-graders) you may want to pre-tie the bows on the stands or have another adult available to do this step.

So very fulfilling to see their proud looks when they complete their Valentine mailbox! Seeing what they come up with is always the best. Jackson took the spare wire pieces that came with the birds, stuck them through the back of the bird, and adhered glitter hearts to the tops so it looks like love is all around. Literally : )

At the end of the party, after they had all rotated through the stations and everyone had a completed mailbox, they got to set up their home base and start passing out the valentines.

Delivery!

I mean really, can you beat this?! They were so, so proud. And check out how well they all did!

This craft did take a bit of preparation, but I think it was well worth it. Not only do they get to actually put it to use during the party, but they have a pretty good quality Valentine's Day decoration to display at home for years to come. I've heard of some families actually using it at home during the whole month of February. Leave it out in the kitchen, or at the back door, and write a sweet note for your kid(s) to find when they come home from school. Don't forget to raise the flag!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Kelly

CFS Release - 3 Uses for a 3D Sleigh

 
Hi Folks! Today's project is my favorite of all six days of the CAS-ual Fridays release ... a 3D sleigh! And, I'd like to share 3 different ways to use it.



Let's take a closer look at how to make it!

The sleigh from the CAS-ual Fridays' Sleighride set is stamped & embossed. Then I taped down the Sleigh Fri-Die so it would cut nicely around the edges of the stamped sleigh. The die set comes with a separate die for the body of the sleigh, which is really convenient for introducing a fun patterned paper. I inked slightly around the edges of the red patterned body. To make it 3D, I repeated everything for a second sleigh shape, and then cut a strip of the same patterned paper and folded it in a rectangle. Each sleigh is attached to the long side of the rectangle.

Here's an aerial view to show you how the rectangle is used to attach both sleigh shapes, and turn it into a 3D sleigh.

 
  Because it's just a rectangle holding the two sleighs together, and not something more substantial like a box with a bottom, it's able to fold flat for mailing. This "card" is still able to fit into a standard A2-sized envelope when it's folded flat like this.



Then when the card is opened, it's able to stand. You could really put anything in the sleigh ... a greeting, Santa, presents, pine cones, a tree. I opted to put a super-sized ornament, because, well, that's in this current release! : ) Whatever accessory you end up putting in your sleigh, you just need to mark where it hits the short sides of the rectangle, and then make slits in your accessory. It should then stand on its own.

Note the pattern on the rectangle strip is centered so that two of the flowered shapes were showing. They reminded me of headlights and taillights. Yes, I do think of these strangely detailed things when I'm in the craft room for too long!


  
The sentiment on the ornament is included in the Sleighride stamp set, as well as the holly and berries (colored with copics).
  


I liked how this one turned out so much that I started thinking of other ways to use it.


 
 An actual ornament! This is great because it's the exact same project as the card, so no extra effort required. Once your recipient has opened the card, they can stick it on their tree!

Another idea is to use the 3D sleigh for a place card. Just fill it with some Christmas trimmings (pine cone, berries, pine needle). The name is written on a strip of paper wrapped around a toothpick colored black with a Copic marker. 

They take so little time to make that it's a perfect project to make for the whole table. You could vary the patterned paper used for the body, perhaps with Christmas papers from the same set. Another nice feature is that they all fold flat, so they can easily be stored in a drawer for next year's festivities. As long as your guests don't want to take them home, that is : )

 

 

Check out the rest of the Ink Squad to see more awesome projects with these stamps. Only two more days of projects left for this release!
 

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly

Fun Family Christmas Party Games to Try

Want to get everyone out of their chairs at your family Christmas party? We had a few Minute to Win It games after dinner this year and it was SO FUN to see everyone cheering, yelling, and jumping up and down. 

A key to our success is that we got all the adults to play, in addition to the kids. I recruited an older cousin to write everyone's name on a paper, and randomly divide the family up into four teams of 8. Two teams of adults and two teams of kids. For each game, each team selected a member to participate (without knowing what the game will be) and then we announced the game and rules.

We started with a challenge to hang an ornament on the Christmas tree without using your hands. People used their mouth ...

... and their forearms. If we do this game next year, I'll have them start with the ornaments in a bowl on the other side of the room, and then transport the ornaments to the tree without their hands as well. This game was a little too easy.

The next game was to stack as many plastic cups as you can with one hand in a minute.

Since we had four teams competing at once, and we only had about 80 cups, we ended up seeing which team finished stacking their cups first. They finished in about 30 seconds, so if you want this to last a minute plan on 40 cups per person. Also, we had to re-do the first round because we had an onlooker topple one of the contestants' stack of cups.  

The next game was to unwrap a present as quickly as possible with mittens on. I may or may not have intentionally given the mittens with the cute face to my manly cousin who used to work security at The Bellagio in Vegas.

My mom shocked everyone by finishing in lightning speed. She's the one at the end waving the box above her head. After the party, my mom said winning the present unwrapping game was her favorite part. OK, totally worth it all!

This game is to toss as many peppermint mini marshmallows into a Christmas pail in one minute. You can only throw one marshmallow at a time. We also lined people up according to their arm span ... so the kids got to be a little closer than the adults.

I didn't realize until after I downloaded the photos that my older son was lying on the floor in front of the table with his mouth wide open. Trying to catch stray marshmallows, it looks like!

Some teammates offered themselves up as a human backboard to increase their chances of winning!

Again, all the cheering made everything so much more fun, and was extremely contagious. I'm on the Winnie & Walter blog today showing how to make the peppermint Christmas tins if you want to stop by.
  

Our last game was perhaps the most fun, and the one we repeated until everyone on the team had participated. You put a cookie on your forehead and try to get it into your mouth without using your hands. If it falls you have to start over with the cookie on your forehead. 

This game was probably the most fun to watch, and resulted in the best pictures! Oh my gosh, I was laughing so hard!!

Everyone was either laughing, cheering or taking pictures.

These games were so much fun, we had to watch them again and again right afterwards. Somehow they were even funnier on the video!

  

Here's a summary of the games (which I got from this post on The Mason Family Blog you've likely seen floating around Pinterest). I've included the supplies needed after each game. It's also helpful to have a long table to line your contestants behind and set the game supplies on:

- hang ornaments on tree without hands (one ornament with a hanger for each team);
- stack cups with one hand (40 plastic cups per team);
- throw marshmallows in a tin (Christmas-themed marshmallows, Christmas tin for each team);
- get cookie from forehead to mouth without using hands (cookies); and
- unwrap present with mittens (a well-wrapped present with lots of tape and a pair of mittens per team).

Hope you're able to try some games this year! We honestly had a blast seeing everyone have so much fun. It was a highlight of the party.

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly

CFC #125 - Trickin' out the Beverage Dispenser + Other Christmas Party Crafts

It's time for our first CAS-ual Fridays Challenge of 2014! Instead of a resolution, choose a word that describes what you hope for the new year, and use that word on your project. If you're stuck for a word, you might want to check out Ali Edward's One Little Word project. Each year Ali picks a word that she can "focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon" as she goes about her daily life. In the comments section of this year's post, there are 800 people talking about what word they've picked for 2014. Lots of inspiration!

This is a two week challenge, and the talented winner will receive a prize from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!

For this challenge, I don't have a particular word, but an idea represented by the words.

We hosted Christmas for my side of the family this year, and I got to try out my new 3 tier beverage station. Hello color! I loved the way it looked on the appetizer table. I got the idea to label each drink from an awesome wedding that features typography. It doesn't tell people what kind of drink it is (they were all types of fruit punch), but I thought it was fun, cute and something different.

So why am I posting it for this challenge?

This year I'd like to focus on using my dies, stamps, paper, ribbon etc. where ever and when ever I can. Cards, of course, but I'd really like to get the most of what I have and use my supplies for other things too. Putting words on beverage servers is an example of this. 

Other examples from the Christmas party are:

Holders for hot chocolate bar toppings. Having hot chocolate in a crock pot is an easy beverage/dessert at the party. To make it a little more fancy, I put out toppings like marshmallows, chocolate chips, cinnamon sticks, wafers, etc. Double-sided 6x6 Christmas papers folded into a cone and stapled together hold the toppings. So easy.

  

Punched snowflakes to hide. I usually have 100-200 and hide them for the kids to find when they start getting restless before presents. We end up finding them for weeks afterwards. But it's a great reminder of the party, and the kids have fun trying to see how many they can get. This year I gave Logan the bowl of punched snowflakes and had him do the hiding. 
 

Baked potato bar labels. New this year, we tried mashed potatoes in a crock pot with toppings (ham, bacon, chives, cheese, french onions, sour cream). Not only did people enjoy making their own creations, but it's a huge time-saver to make mashed potatoes the day before! The craft supplies were used to make labels for the toppings. I had the bowls in an old gun case I got from a garage sale for $2 (score!)

Felt numbers on the Santa hats. A couple years ago I glued felt die-cut numbers on Santa hats for all of the cousins. We're up to number 21 now. Before opening presents we make them all get on the steps for a photo with their hats on ... it's quite a sight to see all 21 of them together! While cute, they also serve a practical purpose. We let the youngest kids open presents first, and the bigger our family got, the harder it was to figure out who was born next. Now we know! Their names are inside each hat, and after the party we put the hats all in a bag for my mom to store until next year.

Wow. This post really took a different direction than what I had planned! Sorry if it was longer than you expected : ) But I would love to do more things like this with my craft supplies throughout the year, not just on cards or for parties.

Can't wait to see your creations in the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge gallery!

Thanks so much for looking! 

-Kelly

CFC #118 - Cupcake Box for Birthday Party Favors

We have a two-weeker this time ... you have additional time to create a CAS gift or treat bag that includes a tag. The talented winner will get some free product from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps, just in time for the new release!

  

 I'm hosting a Godzilla birthday party for my soon-to-be six-year-old in a few weeks. Yikes! Did you know there are no commercially-made party supplies for a Godzilla party? A Silhouette really comes in handy for situations like this. I used the cupcake monster box cut file to make a fun party favor.

   

The tag uses the funky round tag die that was just released from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps, the circles and "thanks" from Big Thanks, and "dude" from Rad. 

 I'm still a little on the fence about mass-producing these because it did take me quite a bit of time, and we're having 20+ kids, but I do think it's rather cute. And a good way to pass out favors and say "thanks" at the end of the party.
  

Stop by CAS-ual Fridays to see the other awesome creations from the design team, or to submit your own creation. 

Thanks so much for looking! 

-Kelly