Thrifty Thursday: Homemade Valentines

Maybe a little late for this Valentine's Day but perfect to get the day after Valentine's sales and save up for next year!!  I decided at the last minute to make some homemade Valentine's to send with the store bought ones to my son's class.  I didn't want to send more candy home with the kids so I was looking for a good solution that I could make quickly (because I didn't plan ahead) but also for future years.

Here are the ones that I made with a little help from pintrest.  I was in a little of a rush and I don't know where I downloaded this super cool one which I now can't find.  I will put up a link as soon as I can find it.  The download had a 4 different designs on them so I just had to print out a few sheets and cut them and figure out how to attach them to snack bags and then fill with goldfish.

The great part was this was a valentine without any candy and super frugal.  I used a box of goldfish crackers from the cupboard, snack bags from the $1 bin at Target (stocked up when they were on sale), and the free printouts.  We had everything at home so it was super easy to pull together last minute and my little guy attached the store bought valentine that he wrote his name on the back.

There were a bunch of other ideas that I found that I would love to do in coming years (which I was totally unprepared for this year) so I am going to keep my list to make sure that I stock up when things are on clearance.  It is wonderful to send the kids home with things that they will use and that they won't fight to try to eat all in one sitting.  All these things would be great party favors if they aren't used for your Valentine's!

Check out some of these ideas:

Bouncy Balls
Crazy Straws
Box of Crayons or Box of Crayons (with printable)
Sand Shovels
Pencils or Pencils

Here is a link to lots of different fun valentines!!

I really wanted to make this neat craft of heart shaped crayons (or this one) from recycled crayons so maybe I will find the pan this year and make them for next year :)  Here is a printable for the background too!!

Check out this one that my son got from the school administrators.  The front says "I've got my eye on you."

They also made a bag which they just recycled a paper bag from the grocery store and put US Mail on one side and their name on the other.  They decorated with stickers which is a go to activity for little hands to learn to get the stickers off the paper and place them around the bag.  The great part is that they also had the mailman stop by so that the kids could see the truck at the same time!!! 

Hope you came up with some great ideas for Valentine's Day with or without the candy :)  After a long day, I know that a little candy goes a long way with my little Valentine!!!