Valentine Workshop

"Okay. Lemme see. I want these, and those,
and two more of that and lots and lots more of this!"

Rules, rules, rules! Here come those art teachers - always loaded with them. How nice to attend a crafty event where there aren't any of those pesky things! Well, okay. Not exactly. You can't poke your brother's eye out with scissors and you can't glue your little sister to her chair. But you can dive into grandma's pile of red, white and pink paper, pom poms, buttons, punches, feathers, glitter, stickers, wiggle eyes, markers, paint and crayons and have yourself a merry little valentine making session by putting together anything you want, the way you want it!

We held one of these "do-it-your-own-way" workshops recently and it netted each of six little cousins their own tenderly made stack of cards for mommy, daddy, grandparents and friends. Mommies were right there to help, but creativity spilled independently and abundantly from the hearts - and glitter bottles! - of every little craft maker present.

Young boys gravitate toward things mechanical. Sae operated every paper punch like a pro and was the go-to guy for any shape you took a fancy to! He doesn't know it yet, but he'll find a star shaped one in his bag of valentine goodies from grandma and grandpa!

Little sissy, Angeline, crafts with a delicate hand. One carefully glued item at a time! This one's for mommy, so it has to be perfect!

Twin sissy, Ava, is in love with the look of pom poms!

Somehow I managed to slip in a rule or two. One of them was a designated "glitter station," slightly removed from the enthusiasm of the work table. Here's Nick, carefully considering his choice of color and placement.

Brielle is a lover of butterflies, sparkly jewels and the color pink. She was in valentine heaven!

It's evident that some of us are partial to stickers, others to wiggle eyes. But "everybody and his/her brother" (and sister!) is partial to glue. After allowing a healthier than normal drying time, we admired the fruits of our labor. And you can too, grandma. There's still time! A sweep through Dollar Tree will score you nearly everything you see here. Well, except for the six little artists. Those little love bugs are not for sale!