A Week Full of Love

A (quick & easy) Seven Day Countdown to Valentine’s Day!
by erica

Growing up my Mom always made holidays a lot of fun. From special presents wrapped up in holiday-coinciding paper to dying our milk and eating on special plates. Even through my “I’m too cool for everything” stages of growing up, I was never too cool for holiday presents and red milk. Never.

It’s the little things I remember most and I think that is why I like to go all out for holidays.

This past Christmas season, my little four-year-old was obsessed with the cheap chocolate advent calendar my mom gave him. Every day, he was over the moon with excitement as he found the correct number and opened the little door to find the chocolate inside. After watching his excitement I decided that I wanted to come up with another fun advent for Valentines. Advent calendars don’t have to be just for Christmas, do they? Okay, good! 

When thinking about putting an advent together for my boys, I had a few things I wanted to include. Frist, I wanted it to be something I could easily store and use for years to come. Second, I wanted large numbers to be on the bags since my boys are young and still learning numbers. And third, I wanted to include a few candy treats and a few non-candy surprises.

The only restriction I gave myself was that I could only take one hour to put together and I would use supplies I already had around my house. Bam!!

Supplies:

• Printable “I love you because..” tags 
• Brown paper bags
• Card stock
• Ribbons
• Washi Tape
• Craft paint
• Sponge brush
• Glue stick
• Numbers Printed on Card Stock (font used: clementine sketch) 
• Honestly, you can use anything to jazz up a brown paper bag!!

I wanted my bags to have a little variety so I painted some with a little craft paint and painters tape. On the others I used washi tape, ribbon or some I kept simple with just card stock and a sharpie!

Once they were done, I filled them with treats and surprises that I knew my boys would love. (most of which found in the Target $1 isle!) and closed them up with small wooden clothes pins. I printed out the “I love you because…” tags, filled them out, numbered them, and put them all in a little red glass. That way, each day my little guys can pick one out of the glass and find the correct number for the day! I can’t wait for Valentine’s week to come so I can share these with my littles.

** Don’t have time to make a whole advent. Don’t fret. I’ve got two ideas for you.

• Print out our little “I love you because…” tags and place them in spots for your loved ones to find: On bathroom mirrors, in packed lunches, under pillows or even car windows!
• Or do you have older kids? Have them fill out the tags for their siblings. Do an act of kindness for them and leave the note behind for them to find!