As a kid I remember being totally psyched about snow days. What kid isn’t? No school! A day of sledding! Snowball fights! Hot cocoa! I was fortunate that it also meant automatic snow day for my Mom too as she was a teacher in the same school district. I remember climbing in her bed and listening to the local radio station read the delays and closing list. As soon as they mentioned ours, we both celebrated. Me, by planting myself in front of the television to watch all the morning game shows and her, by ripping down all the curtains in the house and heading to the washing machine. Washing curtains on snow days. That was Mom’s thing.

Now that I work out of the house, I don’t really get snow days (or sick days), but I am fortunate enough that I can do my best to lighten my workload for the day and try to reschedule conference calls and pound out my day long to do list during Lyla’s 2-hour nap. My husband’s company rarely shuts down due to weather, but the local weather people scared enough folks with the forecast Wednesday that we actually had a Family Snow Day.

Tuesday, while everyone was out buying milk, bread, and diapers, I was at the craft store buying stuff to make homemade Valentine’s with Lyla. I am the least crafty person I know. There’s only one thing I’m worse at than crafts, and that’s cooking. Domesticity? We are not friends. However, I wanted to attempt to make something heart felt and personalized from the kid. I knew I had to make it as simple as possible (see above note) to avoid disaster. After spending roughly 15 minutes in the store walking in circles (fish out of water), I found kid-safe paint, construction paper, glue, foam brushes, and paper doilies.

Sidebar: Can we talk for a second about how paper doilies are in the cake making aisle? Does anyone else find this weird? I’m guessing not because you would all know that paper doilies are for putting under baked goods to absorb the oil or make them looking pretty. I? Am convinced that paper doilies only serve one purpose. And this is to make valentines. Duh.

And now, for the first time (and most likely last) ever on this blog, you will get a How To Make Simple Valentines for anyone else that shares my non-crafty gene. Seriously. This took all of 20 minutes. And that’s why I don’t feel badly posting it 2-days before Valentine’s Day because dudes, THERE IS STILL TIME. TRUST ME.

First, smock the assistant. Optional: insert binky to avoid the eating of the paint.

Second, separate all your doilies. We made ten valentines so I needed ten doiles and five pieces of red construction paper. I halved the construction paper and cut down the middle so I had ten rectangles. Then, I folded that piece in half, and free-handed half of a heart on one side. Then, cut along your pencil line, like so:

You then get something like this:

Next up? Feed the paint to the kid.

Kidding. I meant just PAINT the kid.

Then, well, this step is pretty darn obvious:

Lather, rinse, repeat with other hand and other side of heart:

Allow the paint to dry and then glue the hand printed hearts to the doilies. And voila!

(This finished sample wasn’t the best one that came out. In fact it was the first one we did and was with two right hand prints instead of a right and a left. By the time I figured out what I was doing, my photographer quit so… you get the point.)

Now HURRY! You totally still have time to make these! Need a message for the back? How about the lovely words of ee cummings,

“i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)”

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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