Okay, so I know I said that my next post was going to show the Christmas outfit I made for Penelope…however I wanted to hurry and write one about Valentines Day since it is quickly approaching and I want to share a fun arts and crafts project with plenty of time for people to try it out if they desire. =)
Today Penelope’s buddy Genevieve came over. She is an adorable baby girl who is only 11 days older than Penelope and lives across the street from us. We decided it would be fun to do a Valentine themed art project with the girls.
The Project!
After thinking up several fun ideas and realizing they just weren’t baby friendly, I stumbled upon a great project idea online. Using a large sheet of blank white paper as the background, you take any jello or kool aid powder that you would like to use (we used tropical red punch kool aid for the holiday) and lightly dust the powder onto the paper. You then take an ice cube that you froze the night before with a popsicle stick sticking out of it and hand it to your little one. Your baby uses the ice cube to “draw” on the powdered paper. The wetness from the cube turns the powder into an ink of sorts and you are left with a lovely painting by your itty bitty. 
I was a little worried that it might cause a big red mess, but other than some slightly stained red hands and lips (the babies of course had to suck on the ice cubes half the time lol) we got away clean and clear!
The next phase of the project…
Next, we took our large sheets of “painted” on paper and cut them up into lots of pretty valentine hearts. We used these to adorn Valentines Day greeting cards to send to our loved ones. I decided it would be fun if all of the design choices came from Penelope, so I let her choose the card color, the stickers that were used and point to where she wanted things to be placed. Along with a little strategic placing of the words on my part, we ended up with some really pretty cards.
Penelope's special card for daddy (hopefully you aren't reading this Cory!!!)
Penelope's special card for daddy (hopefully you aren't reading this Cory!!!)
Leftover Hearts!
After all the cards were made I still had several hearts left over from Penelope’s “painting”. I decided it would be fun to make a “countdown to Valentines Day garland, much like the Christmas one I blogged about in December. I pulled out some Valentines themed scrapbook paper and got to work cutting strips, linking them and closing them securely with a stapler. I then took the leftover hearts and stapled one onto each link, just to add a personal touch. Each day until Valentines Day we will rip off one link so Penelope has a visual reminder that a holiday is coming near!
I like to hang the garland where Penlope can easily reach and look at it.
In all, it was really fun to do an art project with my sweet baby girl! We can’t wait for everyone to receive their handmade cards. =)
Hope everyone has a love-filled Valentines! <3
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