About Sweetmama Editor
Nadine Silverthorne’s love of journaling began in Grade One with the entry, “I am the greatest dancer!” Two babies (and countless diaper changes) later, she has found her home away from home as editor of SweetMama. Don’t miss her humorous bi-weekly accounts of the joys and pains of working while raising them fabulous.
Crafts: The Love Tree
silver spoons canada
(Feb.01.10)
My son takes it pretty hard each year when we take the Christmas tree down. This year, amid the sobs of "Bye bye twee!" I came up with the genius idea that we would have a year-round tree. One that we decorate each month according to the holiday, etc. Not trusting myself to keep a potted green thing alive for a whole year, I went to Pier One to scope out their decor branches and walked out with a deeply discounted, post-Christmas metal tree that is perfectly suited to this cause.
Then I forced encouraged everyone to help with our first ever Valentine's Tree. Here's what you'll need to get this going in your house:
1 small potted tree, or metal jewellery stand that looks like a tree (ooh, this one is cute!) or branches in a vase
4-6 pages of construction paper in pink, red, white, black (or in my family's case -- green?)
1 glue stick
2-3 pairs of kid-safe scissors (Crayola makes my favourite)
1 hole punch
Assorted glitter pens or loose glitter
1 rescued from the recycling dish type object for the loose glitter (I reuse Tenderflake aluminum pie shell pans)
Thin red ribbon for affixing hearts onto the tree
Fold paper into the right-sized widths for your "tree" and draw half a heart along the fold (think back to first grade). Let school-age kids take a stab (pardon the pun) at cutting them out. Try desperately to keep the toddler away from the scissors. Get over the fact that their hearts have right angles, because you love your kids. Let them cut out hearts that are too big for your vision of your tree (and also in un-Valentine-sy colours) -- because you love your kids. Let your bemused, slightly smug partner get creative and take a different approach to heart-cutting too. (Note the rectangular ornament.)
Paste different-coloured, different-sized on top of each other. Cover some hearts in glue and dip them in glitter, CAREFULLY shaking off the excess. (Yeah, my dining room looks like Rupaul threw up all over it right now). Ignore the mess Have fun with it! Punch holes in the hearts and hang them on the tree. We didn't need ribbon to hang ours, but you likely will.
Giggle when your toddler rips one off the tree, looks at you with that pout and says, "Heart, bwoken mama." (Pray that it's a million years until you actually have that conversation.) High fives and group hugs -- when you're done sweeping the glitter and paper clippings.
I know our own Chantel "Glue Gun" Simmons and Heather "Scissorhands" Camlot would be proud.