Wayward Girls' Crafts: Valentine's Day

Showing posts with label Valentine's Day. Show all posts

Valentine's Day Party

Last year we were inspired by Jaime to throw a Valentine's Day party. We wanted this to become an annual thing but this year Valentine's Day is a week before my due date so we opted out of this year's celebration. But anywho! Here's some of the fun things we did last year:

The Dollar Store was the perfect place for the decorations (some pictured below.) They had plenty of items that were Valentine's day themed including the napkins, plates, fabric rose petals and doily hearts that we got. With the doorway decorations I cut rectangles and squares from red cardstock and wrote love, kissy, and xoxoxo with one letter per square then threaded them with red thread and viola, doorway garland!

Games:
the Newlywed Game,
Battle of the Sexes,
Guess the Famous Couple through hints,
make a story with 10 conversation hearts,
love song charades (whichever couple could guess 2 songs in the shortest amount of time won),
and a group mad lib (on strips of paper were written adjective, noun, etc and were put into a mad lib which was hilarious!)

The food had to be within the theme of course. We included on the invitations for our party guests to bring a treat that was red or pink.

Treats We Made:
Of course I didn't take hardly any pictures especially of the food...
Sliced red potatoes with sprinkled cheese and bacon bits on them (and baked for 15 min at 400)
We did a red fruit platter with Cool Whip for a dip
Pink Rice Krispie Treats
Ok, we didn't make these but we did supply hot tamales and red hots...YUM

Treats that were brought:
Strawberry Kiwi drink
Pink Oreo truffles
Chocolate covered strawberries
Cinnamon sugar donut holes
Brownies
Red and pink trifle (which won the prize for best treat which included taste and overall pinkness)

We gave out prizes for some of the games and treats. The prizes were:
Newlywed game: My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Famous Couples: Gossip magazine
Best treat: Oven mitt with matching hand towel with a large french chef
Love song charades: lollipops (get it? Pop stars?)

What do you like to do for Valentine's Day? Go out to dinner? Netflix night?

I tried to figure this out but just couldn't. If anyone knows how to embed a PowerPoint into your blog post let me know and I can share our Newlywed and Battle of the Sexes games!

How to Host Your Own Trivia Night

If you've been a reader of WGC for several years, you'll know I have thrown a Valentine's Day party for the past 2 years. 2012 and 2013. 2014 was year 3 and I came up with a really fun theme: Stupid Cupid Trivia Night! A trivia night is a really fun way to have everyone involved in an activity and it can be done any time of year or for a fun birthday party. We had 25 people attend the party and it was a good number. Here's how we did it:

1. Break up into three groups. Give each group a nose maker of some kind, like a buzzer, bell or clapping hands. It's best if they are different sounds so you know which team rang in first.

2. Have the host introduce the game and categories. My friend, Jessica, hosted and read all the questions. She did really well! We did a Jeopardy style game where anyone on the team could ring in with the answer. To help, we plugged my laptop into the TV so players could also read the question.

3. Some of the questions were actually team challenges. For example, each team was given a Barbie to dress up like cupid using only things they had on their person in 2 minutes. The best cupid was given the points for that question. It was a fun way to break things up.

4. After two rounds, the team with the most points was the only one who could participate in the Final Jeopardy round. They wagered what they wanted and then wrote down their answer for the question. The winner got caramels from Trader Joe's and movie passes!

We also gave out painted ceramic measuring bowls for the best dish and Trader Joe's candies to the best dressed (the one wearing the most hearts!). It was a really fun night.

We made the Jeopardy board using Jeopardylabs.com which made everything MUCH easier. It keeps track of your points and has all the answers. Here's one of the boards we used--it has a cupid theme to it: Stupid Cupid Trivia Board Round 1

Kid Valentines

We're visiting with family this weekend and here are some valentines we made for our nieces and nephews and one slipped in there for PB.

sources: here, here, here, here, here, here, and here

Feel free to use them.

Enjoy! If you're in this crazy weather stay safe and warm!

Two Valentine's Party Themes!

Jaime throws a mean party. She's hosted a couple Valentine's parties, both with awesome themes, decor, games and fun!

RED-themed Valentine's Party

Decor

Heart chandelier

Giant heart pompons

Vintage Valentine display

so so so much more!

Games

Guess your couple

Battle of the sexes

Costume contest: who wore the most red?

Dancing ("Lady in Red" and more)

Food

All things red!

Queen of Hearts Valentine's Party

Decor

Card garlands

Card themed paperware

Balloon chandeliers

Games

Build a house of cards

Linked-arm challenges

Costume contest

What would your Valentine's party theme be?

Valentine craft roundup!

It's time to start crafting for Valentine's Day....but some of us haven't started yet. So here's some inspiration to get you in the mood for pink, red, hearts and chocolate!

Paint your nails with hearts like Jasmine did

Get your home ready with ideas for some Valentine's Decor

Jaime's

Brooke's

Need a treat for your Valentine? Why not try Hazelnut Creme Puffs or Marble Chocolate Cheesecake

Here's a Valentine that will last forever: Clay Conversation Hearts

Is your Valentine a little young? Maybe very young? A Valentine's Day Onsie could be perfect!

Hope you found some inspiration! Happy Valentine's Day!

Will you be my valentine? Cute DIY valentine ideas!

Looking for some cute ideas for Valentine's day? Check out these adorable Valentines:

Woven paper heart Valentines

Cute Dollar Store Valentines

Name tag valentine with free Silhouette download!

Chapstick valentine

And of course, you can always use our most popular craft of all time as a valentine: stacker books!

Red velvet gooey butter cake bars

Last year, I discovered ooey gooey butter cake bars. Um, yes. I knew immediately I wanted to experiment with these babies, and I finally got the chance when I needed to bring a dessert to an activity a few weeks later. After I made them, I realized these red velvet ooey gooey butter cake bars are perfect for Valentine's day!

That's love.

Red Velvet Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Bars
(Wayward Method)

Crust layer:
1 red velvet cake mix
1 stick of butter, melted
1 egg

Filling layer:
8 oz cream cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 lb powdered sugar (~3 3/4 c) (or eyeball half a 2 lb bag....)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper. Mix the melted butter, cake mix and egg to form a dough. Press

into prepared baking dish.

Beat the cream cheese. Add eggs, vanilla and powdered sugar. Pour over cake layer in pan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until set. The top layer will look crispy crackly, a bit like a brownie's (though it's thicker in practice).

Allow to cool before cutting. (If you don't, the ooey gooey part really will come true, with the filling flowing into the pan. Still tasty ;)

Straight from the oven

The verdict? I actually liked my original, thicker ooey gooey cake bars a little better, but these were still a great treat! (You know it's good when someone asks you for the recipe!)

You can use cookie cutters or a knife and a steady hand to cut them into cute shapes.

Enjoy!

What are your Valentine's baking plans?

The Queen of Hearts Party: The Games

I think one of the most important parts of party planning is the games or activities planned for the evening. The decor could be great, but if there isn't a lot of mingling, people will leave early. So my party planning crew and I worked hard to make sure these activities would be enjoyable.

We had two games at the party. The first turned out to be the main event. As people were arriving we had them pick a card. Each suit then became a different team, breaking up couples and mixing people up. When all the guests were there and most people had a little something to eat, we announced the game. Each team was given its own work space (table). On the table they found a brown paper bag with the supplies for the game and directions. I've found that you will have to explain the game at least three times but with written rules/directions you will only explain them once and then you just refer them to the written directions! The activity, was of course, building a house of cards. We gave each team two decks of cards, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, dry pasta, marshmallows and a glue gun. They were to build their house on a foam board, purchased from Dollar Tree. The teams were instructed they would judged on structural integrity, height and ascetics. We gave the groups a little over thirty minutes to construct their houses and had a dramatic countdown during the last 10 seconds. When time was up we yelled "Hands off!" a couple of times, just like on those Food Network challenge shows. We had each team present their creation and explain their inspiration, etc. We had everything from Ghostbusters Stay Puft Marshmallow Man to a Scotland castle represented! Each team took a picture with their creation and then we broke out the measuring tape to see just how tall each of them were.. Finally, an "earthquake" was simulated for each house to test its structural integrity. (Bragging: my husband's team's house withstood 10 seconds of the craziest earthquake you've ever seen. We deemed it indestructible). We awarded each team points according to height, aesthetics and structural integrity. Judging was tough but really fun too!

This was the best part of the party, because it got people talking and mingling. It involved both the guys (building) and gals (creative). And got people working together. It was so fun to watch and the party planning crew was giddy to see how much fun people were having.

Our second activity was fun but not as big of a hitl. We had 42 guests at the party, which was a large crowd. It worked well for the house of cards game, but not as well for the second game we played, which we called Two of a Kind. There were three rounds to this game. For each round, each team had to have a set of partners come up to contend. We set up around a card table, with each set of partners on a side. The partners linked arms and then had to complete an activity using their free or outside arms The first to finish the activity earned 25 points for their team. The first round we had them stack 10 conversation hearts on top of each other. The second, tie a shoe. The their was the most entertaining, put a diaper on a baby doll. One team thought they'd won, but we stated they were disqualified for having the baby doll's arm through the leg hole of the diaper =) In the end we thought this activity was fun, but with this large of a group, people were done with games and just wanted to eat and socialize. Lesson learned!

In the end we awarded the prizes for the best outfit for each suit. They were given a goodie bag and a necklace with a playing card on it (they were actually for Mardi Gras but were perfect and at Dollar Tree, so I had to get them). We then announced how each team did in both games. The overall winner was then awarded a box of chocolates!

As you can tell, the decor and games weren't all that Valentines-y so this would be a great theme for a party any time of year! It's also great for both single people and married people. We had fun and are excited for next year's Valentine's Day Party!

Celebrate Valentine's Day with Chocolate!

I'm seriously craving some chocolate right now, but I think chocolate is the best way to celebrate Valentine's day, too. (And most other holidays, amiright?) So I'm digging through our chocolate archives to bring you some chocolatey goodness for Valentine's day. Go make something today!

Hot chocolate dipping spoons

Peanut butter Oreo truffles

Rolo-stuffed chocolate cookies

Almond Joy chocolate mousse parfaits

Photo by Chocolate-covered Katie

Healthy chocolate chip cookie dough dip

In fact, I think I'm going to go make this one now!

What's your favorite way to celebrate Valentine's day?

Dollar Store Valentines

I've been thinking about sending my nieces and nephew Valentines this year with a small toy rather than candy. I think they'll get enough candy that day, ya know? So I headed to my local Dollar Store, Dollar Tree, and picked up a few small toys for them. I made them into Valentines, with some plays on words.

For my spy niece, a disguise kit

An over-sized pair of glasses for my rock star nieces

And finally, a whoopee cushion for my nephew (sorry, Jordan!)

(Original idea found here)

What fun Valentines do you have planned?

Chapstick Valentine made with Silhouette Cameo

I have a little tradition for the month of February.

I call it the Month of Love and try to leave little notes or treats for my husband every day. I love to hide them in places he'll find later. It's not too hard to do, especially if you write up the notes in advance. Some places I love to leave notes are:

His bathroom drawer
His wallet
His briefcase/backpack
His suit pocket
His running shoes
His pillow case
The bathroom mirror
His car
Inside his huge headphones
On his keyboard
In a book he's reading or one we're reading together (Like The Book of Mormon)
By his hobby supplies
In his clothing drawers
On his computer screen/in his laptop

This year I had an idea for a Valentine plus a treat. I used my Silhouette to design this:

The inside looks like this!

(Font: Princess Muffin. Heart from "9 Hearts" purchased in Silhouette store)

I am in LOVE!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Round Up!