Keep It Simple Silly- Valentines

  Keep-It- Simple-Silly! Having children in school has taught me a number of things- first and for most that parents love to show their affection and dedication to classroom life through providing treats and prizes at key holidays- Valentine's Day being one. As much as I love the massive influx of holiday themed pencils, crayons and smelly erasers I don't feel we need to add to the flotsam of classroom treats- trust me when I say that we will never need to buy another pencil again. It was with this in mind that my Littles and I gear up for tomorrow's festivities- we wanted something SIMPLE- heart felt and easily recyclable.

         I have long wanted to try the Suminagashi Marbling kit- we purchased ours at Opus Art Supplies but it's readily available here. This kit does not call for much- a butcher's tray or shallow dish with which to hold about and inch and a half of water - a stir stick or like we used a plastic fork- and of course a sturdy paper- we used Opus Watermedia paper but any watercolour paper will do. This little project comes with easy to follow directions and once we got everything set up it didn't take long before the kids were pulling marbled paper on their own- which of course meant a few minutes of P&Q for Momma!

           Once our papers were completely  dried I took the time to quickly cut out enough hearts for everyone in both classes- yes the kids could have done the cutting but they had quite frankly moved on at that point- the excitement of marbling was enough- they were busy playing Lego. Once all the hearts were cut out my prodigies were back for the stamping bit- any time there is an ink pad and stamps to be used they are game.

           Because our cards were based on nice sturdy watercolour paper these little hearts can take any additional media quite nicely- we stamped a simple "Be My Valentine" onto each card and the Littles laboriously wrote out their To- Froms. This was such a great way to unwind on a rainy day after school- a craft with a purpose- sending our love out to all our friends.

 
            Realistically I know these Valentine wishes will end up in the recycling- or scrunched up in a backpack and then maybe under a bed. Children do not need much- this I know to be true- I think as parents we sometimes over complicate the matter when all that is called for is a simple- easy heart- a kind word. All that they really care about is how many cards are in their Valentine "mailboxes" at the end of the day- so save the cupcakes- save the pencils- just Keep It Simple Silly!

**just a note- the marbling ink does stain so do not use a tray or regular fork that you will be sad to get damaged- we used my butcher's tray which is my pallet and a plastic fork**