Kid-friendly Valentine’s!

Anyone else get their 1st "LIST" this year?

pen and paper

I did. It was back at Christmas time and my 3-year-old came home from Cubbies with a list of classmates on it. I wasn't sure what this mean. I had volunteered to bring cupcakes. Did this list mean I was to put their names on individual cupcakes for them? Nope. Gifts. For Each Child. That's what it meant. It has begun. Gone were the days of nursery kids and workers being pleasantly surprised by my children offering simple gifts to them for the holiday. Now there was a LIST. Crazy! I guess there's no turning back and no more forgetting...

We made simple gifts with printed tags for Christmas and, now anticipating the LIST for the Valentine's Day party, I was Ready! I'd been clicking through Pinterest for ideas. Not wanting to spend too much money on top of the cupcakes for the this party as well, I finally found something we already had enough of at home, created my own tag on Picnik {entire site FREE and Unlimited until April 19, 2012} using combination of things I'd seen before, and spent ~$3.00 more to get this finished product:

Gold fish! The kid-friendly, semi-healthy snack that we had a GIANT SAM's Club size container of already at home. I bought 1 box of Reese's Pieces ($1.00) and the cheapest plastic bags I could find at Wal-Mart (maybe $2.00). I dumped tons of fish into a bowl and gave my girls measuring spoons to scoop them into the bags I'd opened.

{Some where a bit fuller than others so I evened them out later} They of course were allowed to snack on a few while making their friends gifts. I went back later and added the not as healthy chocolate pieces to the bags. You could of course put more than the ~8 pieces than I did but I was trying to keep it healthier and DID NOT add the chocolate Peanut Butter candies to the bags going to the nursery {Doctors do not want babies under 2-years-old to have peanut butter in case of fatal allergic reactions!}. I folded the bags shut, folded the sides in to keep them fresh, and then stapled the tags on top and bottom to each bag. We wrote each child's name in the top corner and "from ___" in the bottom corner. We also have some blank ones for any visitors that may be there that night.

{You could always punch a hole in the tag and tie the bag shut with some ribbon looped through the tag's hole.}

If you're like me and need a quick Valentine for the LIST you were just handed ---> Here is my FREE Valentine's Day Printable Gift Tags just for YOU!

Do you have any simple kid-friendly DIY Valentine's Day ideas to share!?! Please tell us about it in the comments below!

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How I Made (& Use) My Preschooler’s Routine Chore Chart

This year my goal is to get my house in order! You know what I mean, everyone running on a comfortable routine that keeps things moving, but with room to grow.

Paper Pushing.

One of the things I made last summer was this chart, for lack of a better term, for my oldest daughter {3.5-years-old}. She is always asking, "What are we doing next?" "What are we doing today?" "Can I do _____ now?" She is also a huge help with some things if I have the time to train her how as well as reminder her to do them. I'm praying that, with a little consistency on my part, these tools can help our entire household stay in order this year.

Check out the step-by-step process to making and using this routine chore chart as well as FREE PRINTABLES so you can make one for your home simply and easily. I'm sharing all of this over at the homemaker's challenge. While you're over there, you should check out all the other GREAT new years posts! {Homemaker's Challenge F-R-E-E Recipe eBook coming soon!}

How is your new year going? Start the conversation below!

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Advent {Day 17}: Donner DooDoo (PICTORIAL)

Yesterday I shared my "Donner DooDoo" recipe and today I'd like to give you a pictorial for making containers to distribute these treats!

These lil doo doos fit nicely in baby food jars! Divy them up about 6 per jar. To decorate grab this FREE printable {Donner DooDoo Tag} to mod podge to the top of the jar and add a little curling ribbon. Yay!!! Easy enough, right?

To read more Rothacher's Advent Days click--->
Advent {Day 1}: Cookie Swap

Advent {Day 2}: Dizzie Izzie's
Advent {Day 3}: Giving Christmas Away
Advent {Day 4}: Homemade Gifts
Advent {Day 5}: HIPPY Christmas Party
Advent {Day 6}: The Fridge 
Advent {Day 7}: Sprinkle Joy @ Home
Advent {Day 8}: UpCycle Gift Wrap
Advent {Day 9}: Sugar Cookies (Gift Ideas Series)
Advent {Day 10}: Snack Mix (Gift Idea Series)
Advent {Day 11}: Relentless Christmas Party
Advent {Day 12}: eBook for ANY Woman! (Gift Idea Series)
Advent {Day 13}: A Rock'n Angel Tree Gift
Advent {Day 14}: Packing with Littles
Advent {Day 15}: Cubbie's Christmas Party
Advent {Day 16}: Donner DooDoo (Gift Ideas Series)

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Advent {Day 16}: Donner DooDoo (No Bake Cookies) Recipe

Here is a simple and inexpensive gift. This would be great for a large group of people where you would like to give gifts to everyone.

Donner DooDoo {non bake cookies}

2 cups of Sugar
1/2 cup Coco
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Peanut Butter {I choose not to add this bc I want anyone to be able to eat them even if they have allergies}
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 cups Oatmeal
pinch of Salt

Mix sugar, coco, mil, and butter in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring often! Remove from heat and add peanut butter (optional), vanilla, and oatmeal. Stir well until all is blended and oatmeal is completely coated.

After you have your 'batter' ready, grab a mellon baller and about 2 feet of wax paper. Then measure out your cookies using the baller so they will be tiny balls/blobs using the larger end of the tool. If you have trouble getting the gooie cookies out, use a toothpick to poke them out through the itsy bitsy whole on the back side of the tool.

If they are too mooshy for your taste, pull your wax paper onto a cookie sheet and put them in the fridge until they are a little more set up.

Woops...have some left. Not enough room on your strategically too small wax paper??? Suggestion:

Yep! Eat it!!! ;o)

My suggestion for distributing these lil doo doos are baby food jars! Divy them up about 6 per jar. To decorate grab this FREE printable {Donner DooDoo Tag} to mod podge to the top of the jar and add a little curling ribbon. Yay!!! Easy enough, right?

Good luck and have FUN! Let me know if I need to add some explanation...ran through that kinda fast.

What has been your favorite diy gift idea this season?

To read more Rothacher's Advent Days click--->
Advent {Day 1}: Cookie Swap

Advent {Day 2}: Dizzie Izzie's
Advent {Day 3}: Giving Christmas Away
Advent {Day 4}: Homemade Gifts
Advent {Day 5}: HIPPY Christmas Party
Advent {Day 6}: The Fridge 
Advent {Day 7}: Sprinkle Joy @ Home
Advent {Day 8}: UpCycle Gift Wrap
Advent {Day 9}: Sugar Cookies (Gift Ideas Series)
Advent {Day 10}: Snack Mix (Gift Idea Series)
Advent {Day 11}: Relentless Christmas Party
Advent {Day 12}: eBook for ANY Woman! (Gift Idea Series)
Advent {Day 13}: A Rock'n Angel Tree Gift
Advent {Day 14}: Packing with Littles
Advent {Day 15}: Cubbie's Christmas Party

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