Today I’m going to show you how to make these adorable Valentine’s Day mason jars. I’m using mine to hold treats, but you can use yours for whatever you’d like. These easy-to-make and inexpensive little jars have found a sweet spot in my heart (see what I did there – Valentine’s pun FTW).

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us, so what better time to break out the glitter and glue and show some DIY L.O.V.E? Read on to find out how fast and easily you can create this sparkly craft for yourself (that’s sure to evoke all the heart eyes)!

Ugh. January 28. I hate January 28.

Today is the third year anniversary of my sister’s death. We lost her in 2013 after a horrible, long, painful and heart wrenching battler with cancer.

I. hate. that. disease.

However, when I think of my sister – Tanya – the images that come to mind aren’t the long days filled with pain, medication and sorrow. They are the happy times. And I am so thankful that they flood my memory and push the painful ones to the far, far recesses.

Happy weekend everyone!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I hope you all have a day that is filled with squishy sugar treats, an abundance of kisses and that you all get suffocated (in a good way) by warm hugs.

Now that that (slightly disturbing) wish has been thrown at you, let’s talk about the Big Day.

If you follow me on Facebook then you may have seen the photo that I posted of the little Valentine’s Day table setting that I left for my three Valentine’s this morning (Chef Kev, Chace and Belle).

But what you couldn’t see is that inside that ‘xoxoxox’ bag, there was a special mug that Chace made for his daddy…

That’s right. He made it himself ;).

Let me explain. It all started with this really cool ‘design your own mug’ kit that I stumbled across at Starbucks last week.

As you can see, the mug is a graphic black and white, and the style of the mug is big, straight, chunky and masculine. Hello perfect gift for Daddy!

The pen came with both a white and black tip, so you can doodle and draw to your hearts content (pun intended) on both the black and white surfaces.

Once your design is finished, you ‘bake’ the mug in the oven for 20 minutes (I think it was at 325° but don’t quote me on that). This sets the ink in place and the design is on the mug forever :).

So, earlier this week Chace got busy designing his mug before bedtime. He took it very seriously.

How awesome is it that he decorated the handle!? “Look mommy, I’m doing a pattern”. That’s my boy 😉

Chace went off to bed at this point, and I took care of baking the mug and setting the ink. Once out and cooled, we had this.

One side of the mug has his name on top, and a bike below.

The flip side boasts a heart (middle) and a flower.

And of course, the pattern detail. Love this.

I think we are going to have one happy daddy this morning… and one proud Chace.

Have a great Valentine’s Day everyone! xoxoxo.

We are fast approaching that big ‘ol love day. And who doesn’t like to give (and receive) some love?!

I remember being back in elementary school waiting in anticipation for my little Valentine’s mailbox. It was so fun to receive all the teeny cards my classmates would make and/or write. I also found it humorous how many ways you can spell ‘Elaine’ (apparently)… “Elan”, “Elinea”, “Elane”, “Eleanor”, “Eileen”… ah, good times.

Chace (my four-year-old) is in daycare with about 20 other little munchkins. I thought it would be fun to help him make some Valentine’s that he could hand out. It was also a nice way to talk to him about – and show him – a good example of friendship.

… But has anyone noticed how girly Valentines are? Not that there is anything wrong with that (Seinfeld) but it’s fun to have a somewhat boyish Valentine for my little BOY to hand out. I wasn’t sure how he’d feel about handing out a card filled with cupids, hearts, cute doggies and jellybeans. He’s been known to exclaim (in dramatic four-year-old fashion) “oh no, not agaaaain!” when “Sophia the First” or “Strawberry Shortcake” comes on TV. He makes a bee-line for his lego at that point.

So, I came up with a ‘beary’ cute boyish idea instead… black bears, and bear paws. Raaarrrr!

The first thing I did was design the header cards. On the front I wrote “I’m so BEARY happy that we are friends” and of course, have the bear image. On the back I wrote “Happy Valentine’s Day” and then had a blank spot that said “from your friend,” and had room for Chace to write his name. Across the bottom I put “Mom and Dads: These are ‘Dare Bear Paws’ and are peanut free!” just in case there were any allergies in the home.

I set the cards as ‘four-up’ on a page to make the most out of each sheet. I included crop marks (for cutting) and score marks (for folding guides). If you’d like to make you own, you can download a copy of this file here. Enjoy!

The first assignment in my sweat sweet shop was to unwrap all of the bear paws. I thought they’d look better out of the packaging, and in clear cellophane bags. You must have your tongue out in concentration for this step.

While Chace was doing this, I used my trimmer/scorer to score the header cards. Scoring creates an indent or depression in the paper that allows the card to fold easily. This is not a necessary step but I find it helps make the finished project look clean and polished. I printed my header cards on 100lb cover stock so they were pretty thick. Scoring the paper helps them fold easier. You can use a bone scorer, or even the backside of a butter knife along the edge of a ruler to achieve the same effect.

After I scored the cards, I trimmed them down.

Once the header cards were trimmed, Chace started writing his name on each one.

After he completed this step, we put two bear paws in each bag. The bags that I used were from Michaels. They are 4″ wide by 9.5″ deep. They have about a 2″ gusset on the sides (to hold the cookies). We placed the bear paws back-to-back so that the ‘good side’ faced out each side of the bag.

After that, I rolled down the top of the bag and gave them a quick staple.

I had some help with this step too.

Then I placed the folded header on each bag and added one more staple.

And with that, we were done!

Chace is really excited to hand these out at school next week!

What about you? Any childhood Valentines’ memories? Any fun projects for the kids planned? I have a few other little ideas planned for the big day but I will keep those a secret for now. I don’t want my Valentine to have any hints :).