When I was in 2nd grade, my Grandma taught me to make Swedish hearts. Ever since then, I have made these for Valentines day (I often don't mail the ones I've made, so if you haven't gotten one, that doesn't mean I didn't make one for you...) I remember making 35 or so for all the kids in my class in elementary school. The best thing about them is that they look impossible, but they're really not too hard to make (although making 35 and writing names on all of them does take a long time, so I advise you to start much earlier than I did when I was younger.)
When Eleanor started school, I continued the tradition by making the hearts for her class. When she was 2, I made all the hearts. When she was 3, she cut some of the hearts. Last year she did everything except weave the hearts. I was all excited this year to teach her how to weave the hearts, but when I asked her if she wanted to get started (it's best to start in January making a few each day) she said she didn't want to.
Well, I was disappointed. I haven't bought valentines for a long time, and frankly I'm not excited about buying a pack of spongebob valentines and just writing names on them. That is not the point of the holiday! (The point of the holiday, of course, is to make lots of cool crafts and sweets...) I really didn't think that Eleanor would have been excited about store-bought valentines either, since she is very crafty. I asked what she wanted to do for valentines.
She announced that she had a better idea than paper hearts: she wanted to sew little cloth heart bags and fill them with candy. That sounded like a lot of work, especially for mama, and I tried to explain why it was not a better idea, but to no avail. However, together we came up with the idea of making felt heart bags with little ric-rac handles, writing names on them with a sharpie, and putting chocolate hearts in them.
This has been some work, but Eleanor is now to the point that she can sew the hearts together with almost no help as long as Michael or I pin them. Sometimes she gets a bit distracted when she sews, but I think she's probably better than me: I could never remember which way the wheel that moves the needle turns, and I invariably left the presser foot up, causing terrible snarls in the thread.
The school has started a "healthy eating" movement, which I am mostly in favor of, but they have nixed candy for valentine's day. Michael and I debated sending dark chocolate with small bottles of red wine, but then Eleanor found some heart tattoos (temporary, of course!) at Target which should do nicely.
It's a few days before valentines day and we have 3 or 4 more to sew for her class. It's been a fun project, but I am a bit worried for next year... Now I have to get started making Swedish hearts for Amanda's class.
Note: now Amanda is sick with the stomach bug. Luke was worn out yesterday, either with a cold or with recovering from the flu. He got better this afternoon, and then after dinner Amanda started feeling poorly. I am almost (but not quite) to the point that I want to keep all 3 of them away from all human contact to allow them time to get better. Is having kids always a parade of one illness after another? Will they ever be well again?
When Eleanor started school, I continued the tradition by making the hearts for her class. When she was 2, I made all the hearts. When she was 3, she cut some of the hearts. Last year she did everything except weave the hearts. I was all excited this year to teach her how to weave the hearts, but when I asked her if she wanted to get started (it's best to start in January making a few each day) she said she didn't want to.
Well, I was disappointed. I haven't bought valentines for a long time, and frankly I'm not excited about buying a pack of spongebob valentines and just writing names on them. That is not the point of the holiday! (The point of the holiday, of course, is to make lots of cool crafts and sweets...) I really didn't think that Eleanor would have been excited about store-bought valentines either, since she is very crafty. I asked what she wanted to do for valentines.
She announced that she had a better idea than paper hearts: she wanted to sew little cloth heart bags and fill them with candy. That sounded like a lot of work, especially for mama, and I tried to explain why it was not a better idea, but to no avail. However, together we came up with the idea of making felt heart bags with little ric-rac handles, writing names on them with a sharpie, and putting chocolate hearts in them.
This has been some work, but Eleanor is now to the point that she can sew the hearts together with almost no help as long as Michael or I pin them. Sometimes she gets a bit distracted when she sews, but I think she's probably better than me: I could never remember which way the wheel that moves the needle turns, and I invariably left the presser foot up, causing terrible snarls in the thread.
The school has started a "healthy eating" movement, which I am mostly in favor of, but they have nixed candy for valentine's day. Michael and I debated sending dark chocolate with small bottles of red wine, but then Eleanor found some heart tattoos (temporary, of course!) at Target which should do nicely.
It's a few days before valentines day and we have 3 or 4 more to sew for her class. It's been a fun project, but I am a bit worried for next year... Now I have to get started making Swedish hearts for Amanda's class.
Note: now Amanda is sick with the stomach bug. Luke was worn out yesterday, either with a cold or with recovering from the flu. He got better this afternoon, and then after dinner Amanda started feeling poorly. I am almost (but not quite) to the point that I want to keep all 3 of them away from all human contact to allow them time to get better. Is having kids always a parade of one illness after another? Will they ever be well again?
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