Eeeek!!!  Valentines day is next week and as usual, I’m behind on making a decision about what to do. I’m a big fan of all holidays, even the ones created by the retail industry (wink, wink) I love any reason to celebrate anything, especially LOVE!!

This year will be Avery’s first time handing our Valentines to her buddies, and I’m so excited! As soon as I hear that Target put out their Valentine’s Day decor and cards and candy and gifts and and and… I bee-lined it for the seasonal department! Then I was hit with SO.Many.Choice!

Do we go with Jake? Sofia? Doc?  Do we go with the cute kitten and puppy cards? Sharks? Robots? Do we stick with Disney? Or do we break away? Do we give candy? Do we give a little toy? What do we do?  I CAN’T DECIDE!

So, of course, I decided to make our own.

First, I bought a little crafty kit for Avery. She spent the morning making sparkly-heart-filled cards for the residents of a local assisted living and nursing home. We’ll be having our monthly play-date there on Valentine’s Day and Chelley at A is for Adelaide thought it would be a fabulous idea to bring cards to the residents!

TADA! Avery had such a blast making these cards!

For our toddler friends I wanted to do something different. If you know Avery, you know that while she loves pink, princess-y, sparkly stuff, she also loves monsters and pirates and DINOSAURS! So, we decided to give out little toy dinos, with little Valentine tags attached!!

COOL VALENTINES FOR BOYS (AND GIRLS!)

They are simple to make! I picked up the dinos at the dollar store, designed the tags (Which you can print below) and got to work!

Supplies:
Dino toys (I found smaller dino erasers at Target that would also work, for older kids!)
Printed Tags
Scissors
Hole Punch
String/Yarn/Twine
Marker to sign your name

Cut out the tags and punch a hole in the top. Older kids can definitely help with this (or do it themselves!) Once you’ve punched the hole, you just loop the string through, and then tie the tag around the dino’s neck!  SO SIMPLE!!

You can do this with other small toys as well!

I picked up a few Hotwheels cars and Super Hero figurines! (Tags for those are also available below!)

How cute are they?!

If you’d like to print your own tags (FREE, of course!) click on the links below, save them to your computer, and print from your home printer, or at a local copy center!  I recommend using a heavier card stock so they tags don’t tear, but this isn’t absolutely necessary! Please feel free to share with your friends!

SuperValentines   CarValentines   DinoValentines

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!