Know what I love?? Surprising the kiddos with little gifts and treats for Valentine’s Day to let them know how special they are! And you don’t have to spend a lot of money to do it.

A BIG thank you to our lovely Pinterest contributor, Stacy from Kids Stuff World for pinning these inspiring ideas from around the web!!

Secret Valentine Messages – Hide these hearts with messages written in white crayon around the house, then invite the kids to paint with watercolors over top to decode their secret messages!

From Color Me Katie – For a gift that keeps on giving, give your little ones some painted rocks, then distribute them all over your neighborhood for people to find and brighten their day!

Surprise the kiddos with something extra special for Valentine’s lunch.

Foster a love of reading by giving a book instead of candy. I love how beautifully these are wrapped! See the full tutorial at Decor8…

….and you may want to make a paint chip bookmark to go along with it!

Download a free printable Valentine’s Day coupon book from The Twinery Blog.

What kid wouldn’t love this special Valentine Pizza dinner??

Inspire some creative coloring fun with this on-the-go crayon wallet and chalkboard mat. Can’t make your own? They are on sale now at Lil B Designs Etsy Shop.

There are lots more fun and festive ideas for Valentine’s Day gifts and treats on our Pinterest board – You’re going to love ‘em! ((Thanks, Stacy!!))

These paint skin tiles were lots of fun to make, and they are great for mosaics and collage work! I set up a tray with some parchment paper and spread some leftover acrylic paint on top. Then I invited Clara over to swirl the paint around using toothpicks and craft sticks!

She thought this was great fun!!

Next, we set the trays of paint aside and let them dry completely — this takes about a day or two, depending on how thick you apply the paint.

Emily was so excited to peel off the paint from the parchment paper!! It is quite heavy, very flexible, and easy to cut into shapes. She cut them into strips…

…and later into smaller “tile” squares! Each tile is completely unique!!

Both of the girls enjoyed using their paint skin tiles to glue into heart collages.

A fun, and simple project!

When my father was battling cancer, Emily wanted to make something extra special for him. Something that would fit in his wallet, so it would be easy for him to take it to chemo and radiation treatments. Isn’t she so thoughtful?? When I came across this post at Color Me Katie (I adore her!!), I knew it was just the right project!

I took a series of photos using heart-shaped sticky notes on the wall as shown.

She looks so young in these photos — amazing how much she has grown in two years!!

I printed them at wallet-size, maybe even a bit smaller.

I piled the photos up into a book, and stapled them into place. Then added some black duct tape for the binding.

It’s such a simple, easy project, but flipping through this little book never fails to make my dad smile! These would be fun to make for Valentine’s Day, or for faraway family and loved-ones to let them know you’re thinking of them.

Have fun!!

Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse for some handmade crafting fun!

Here are ten of our favorite (frugal) Valentine’s Day crafts from the archives.

Love Bugs

“Bee Mine” Valentine’s Day Cards

Thumb-printed Heart Wrapping Paper

No-Sew Felt Heart Cookie Play Set

Valentine Felt Mail Set

Valentine Collage Placemats

Reverse Resist Paintings

Paint Chip Valentine

Heart Shaped Tea Tags

Heart Shaped Crazy Crayons

Have fun crafting with the kiddos!!

Clara has been helping me to decorate the house in time for Valentine’s Day, and there has been lots of crafty goodness going on around here!

For this little project, I invited her over to sandwich heart-shaped sticky notes and color coding labels onto pieces of string.

We usually have sticky notes and color coding labels on-hand for quick, easy, no-mess crafting.

She had lots of fun doing this, and it’s great fine-motor practice too!!

Next, I tied the strands onto a chopstick to make a heart mobile and hung it for display in our foyer. I hope it makes guests smile as soon as they enter our house!

Super quick, frugal, and very festive!

Have fun!!

Do you wish mini-golf was a year ’round activity?? Want to play in your own living room?? The girls and I had LOTS of fun playing “carpet golf” using some things we already had on-hand — plus it can be reconfigured again and again!

We used a bath sheet for the putting green, and I cut up a shaggy bath mat using kitchen shears to make the course. It was fun to watch the girls come up with a different course just by rearranging the pieces of bath mat!

The “golf clubs” were made of rolled up newspaper and masking tape on the handles. We used little tennis balls found in the pet section of Target, since they are soft and roll easily. They had such a great time playing this!!

Added bonus points for doing a rock star dance after each round!!

Have fun!!