Will U B Mine? . . . Y R U Looking @ Me Like That?

The children wanted to make Valentine cards for their upcoming class parties. Of course they did . . .

As a kid I loved going to the store and choosing from all the cards with characters expressing undying Valentine devotion through *witty* puns. And, yes, you were forced to profess the very same love to both the playground dreamboat AND the "alleged" you-know-what-eater. Eww.

But, as a grown-up on a mission to cut excess, I'm not up for highly-specialized single-use items.

Being the wonderful mother that I am, I told my children I would have all the supplies ready for them when they got home from school. Now, I am not what you would call a "crafty person." I don't have a knack for eye-catching design; I don't have fancy paper punches, glue dots or an array of beautifully-patterned paper made by the gentle brush of angels' whispers. I'm also lazy so, frankly, I didn't feel like making a trip to the store "just to get stuff for a Valentine craft." I decided to make do with the resources I had on hand.

When the kids got home from school they were met with:

* a stack of construction paper (Yes, they still make construction paper these days. Well, at least I think they do. To be honest, I wouldn't know; this stack is about 10 years old.)

* a pair of scissors

* a paper cutter (yes, I do have one of those)

* a glue stick (Yeah, yeah, I know I fell from my green throne because I used store-bought glue instead of a homemade concoction of egg yolks and cornstarch. There's always room for growth, though. Maybe next time.)

Oh, and as for the "Valentine-y" paper choices . . . well . . . we had about 5 sheets of white, one sheet of pink, and zero red. Their faces fell as they surveyed the remaining options that lay before them. It took a wee bit of creative convincing, "C'mon, kids, I bet if you add a flourish of black to this brown paper, you could turn out some GREAT Valentine cards!! It'll be super fun!! Let's get started!!"

Luv U!