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“Orbit” gum Valentine with free printable

Remember, if printing and sticking gum on to these Valentine’s is still too much work for you right now…buy Valentine’s. Especially the ones with sugar attached :). Sure, you might get some dirty looks for being “that mom”. But your kid’s will love that you aren’t stressing and crazy. And their classmates will love that they finally got something good.

Our “into Orbit” Valentines are pretty darn cheesy, if I don’t say so myself. Cheese Louise. But they are simple, fast, and great! See, procrastination on getting those classroom Valentine’s done isn’t a problem anymore.

I know, I know–you can say it–the CUTEST, cheesiest Valentine you ever did see. Gosh.

And to make your life even easier as you scramble, we’ve included a free printable. Now you just need to run out to the store and get paper, ink, double sided tape, and gum. Dang it anyway. Well, we tried to make this easier for you, at least. Too bad you still have to do some work! But hey…it gives you an excuse to head to Target!

This printable will give you 4 Valentines per sheet. We suggest using cardstock, if you can. And then stick your Orbit gum onto the Valentine with good sturdy double-stick tape.

(to print click on the image and save to your computer)

Happy Cheesy Valentines day to you and yours!!

Rice Krispie Conversation Hearts

These little Valentine’s Day rice krispie treats are a simple, fun way to spend a cold Saturday afternoon with the kids. If you are in Minnesota cold means… -30 windchill. The kind of cold that freezes your breath before you even get a chance to THINK about breathing. But that’s okay, I can hibernate inside with my kids and cover krispie treats in chocolate and candy.

These treats don’t need a recipe or instructions. In fact, they are so simple I feel like I’m cheating you all a bit out of a recipe post. But hey, I am constantly reminded by my readers that they come to NellieBellie because I give them the ideas and recipes they would never think of. So, let’s hope these cuties are one of those that you wouldn’t normally think of :).

My kids are old enough that the passing of Valentine’s around the class doesn’t happen anymore. That makes me happy and sad. Happy because remembering to buy those Valentine’s cards for the entire class was a pain. Sad because my kids are getting older and beyond some of the cutsie stuff.

These “Orbit” Gum Valentine’s were from a few years ago. Cute. But gosh do I NOT miss doing up this stuff yearly!

Them being older and not interested in the cutsie candy and cards of Valentine’s won’t stop me for one minute from forcing them to spend an afternoon making these cute guys. Phones down, music on… let’s go, it’s family togetherness time!

HOW:

Simply make a batch of Rice Krispie treats and form them into hearts before it cools (be sure to use damp or greased hands!).
Melt white chocolate, candy coating, or milk chocolate and spread on the top of the hearts.
Decorate with candy or icing.

Easy!

Love Nutrition Facts free printable

A free printable for you to celebrate all things love. This printable is perfect for Valentine’s Day. So, I made this love nutrition facts printable for you! It is an 8 by 10 size. Print on regular size paper and throw that baby in a frame (or not…mine’s on my wall with washi tape)! These love nutrition facts are great for everyone as a sweet gift for Valentines Day.

CLICK RIGHT ABOUT HERE to open the picture. Then save to your computer and print. Woo ha! It’s that easy! And might we recommend using cardstock to make this an even fancier thing?

Nate and I don’t go crazy for Valentine’s Day, at all. Often we have a nice dinner around Valentine’s Day (never ON Valentine’s Day…packed restaurants are NOT our thing!), and then we often grab take-out and binge on Netflix or new releases we’ve been saving. After 19 years of marriage, we don’t need the wine and chocolate cake. Besides, my chocolate cake recipe is the best there is. Not even joking…

Other free printables for Valentine’s Day on NellieBellie…
Cupid’s Cocoa printable
“You are the Tea” printable

cottonball Christmas wreath

This cottonball Christmas wreath is a project created over a year ago and lost in the drafts, never to be posted. I wanted to post it because of it’s simplicity, low cost, and brightness that many of you will appreciate. Cottonballs turned into a Christmas wreath deserves a bit of love, wouldn’t you agree! (just nod your head :))

Because our housing is much smaller than in years past, I’ve been trying to create decorations with a very small budget and the ability to dispose of them afterwards. We decorated our tree with candy this year, used pinecones as garland, and cardboard and glitter for ornaments. This white Christmas wreath is made with cotton balls and dollar ornaments. Truly. It doesn’t get much cheaper than that!

I also love how bright and colorful this wreath is. Our apartment is bright and light and airy, so traditional Christmas decorations can look out of place. Light, bright, white, and colorful Christmas decor is much more fitting for our cute little place!

White Christmas Wreath Materials

cotton balls (1 bag will do a 12 inch wreath)
mini ornaments (these are from the dollar spot at Target)
wreath form (make your own from cardboard!)
hot glue and gun.

To Make Your White Christmas Wreath:

1- Pull your cotton balls apart just a bit and apply a single layer of cotton balls on your form. Pack this layer in nice and tightly.

2- Now, add depth to your wreath by hot-gluing additional cotton balls on another layer. Fill in holes, cover sides, make that wreath look awesome!

3-Use hot glue to glue the mini ornaments onto the wreath. Be sure to watch where you place them so that they will be nice and sturdy. Tucking them in a bit is usually a good idea.

Wrap a large ribbon around your wreath and hang it on your wall. You did a great job!! Look at your beautiful wreath that didn’t cost you your entire week’s worth of lunch money! You can see ours is hanging on our Advent Wall along with our zip-tie garland.

Visit Mankato–Christmas Lights Festival

This post brought to you by Visit Mankato

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!

Children are at their brightest during the Holiday season, don’t you think? Their faces are shining, their eyes are bright, they even seem to have an extra bounce to their already bouncy steps.

They get Christmas. They understand that this time of year the world around them seems to get a bit brighter, happier, and festive. And children thrive on it.

I have always tried to take time each Holiday season to bring our kids to festivities and events around the Holiday season that foster this love for the season. Holiday events seem to bring out the best in people, the kindest of the kind, and the giggles in even the most stern of people. I try to teach my children that the world and people in it are good. There are lots and lots of good people.

What better way then Holiday activities and events, right!?!

If you are able to make the trip to Mankato, MN you will find one of the best and brightest of the Holiday events…

Pat Christman Cars travel through the lighted tunnel at the Kiwanis Holiday Lights as the rest of Sibley Park shines behind it last week. The park is lit up for 33 nights this Christmas season. — Pat Christman
Cars travel through the lighted tunnel at the Kiwanis Holiday Lights as the rest of Sibley Park shines behind it last week. The park is lit up for 33 nights this Christmas season.

The Mankato Holiday Lights event runs from November 27th until December 31st and features over 1 million LED lights you can walk or drive through. It is so much fun to watch children’s faces (okay, even adults!) when they see it!

When you go, be sure not to miss the ice skating, sleigh rides, or reindeer. Children of all ages love to see that!

And of course, smile and giggle at the joy and cheer from those around you. It’s contagious, people!

Santa hat brownies

These Santa Hat Brownies have a great story attached to them, which I just have to share with you. Before I do, though, I want to make sure you know they are legitimately good brownies. They are made from a box mix, but they are a great activity to share with your kids (or someone else’s) leading up to Christmas. This is one of those activities that you just go buy the supplies for and wait to create until that time when boredom sets in. Or there’s a snowstorm. The instructions for their creation is at the end of this post if you don’t want to hear the fun story attached.

Now the fun story:

So, sometimes I have brilliant kids. Sometimes their stupidity astonishes me. If you have kids, grandkids, or have seen kids in the store…you understand. I recently had each of those moments, and at the same time. One child behaved astonishingly brilliantly, the other just made me shake my head.

You see, my Levi desperately wanted a Kindle Fire. He seemed to be of the impression that if he had his own tablet he would be allowed to play games on it as often as he wanted. He thought that I wouldn’t enforce screen time (no electronics on weekdays, etc., etc.)

silly child.

But that’s another story. Anyway, we wouldn’t buy one for him. I know, mean parents. But if he saved his money, we said he could get one. $160 (or whatever it is) is A LOT of money for a pre-teen.

Katie felt bad for him. She wanted to be a good sister, a hero. She wanted to help…or so she says. I think she was just being brilliant. She offered to loan him the remaining $60 he needed. He was sooo happy. She was sooo willing. I was unaware of any of this. She shows up with a paper and hands it to me.

“Read this, you are a witness”, she says to me.

“Levi hereby agrees to be my peasant until he has paid off the $60 dollars he owes me. He will do whatever I say, whatever I need to make me happy. He cannot complain or say no or I will take away his Kindle.”

I read. I gave legal advice to Levi that went like this…

“DO NOT SIGN THE DOCUMENT”.

He signed. He got the Kindle. He is finding cats, bringing tea, doing chores, giving massages. And decorating Santa hats for his sister.

Brilliant and Stupid.
In one fell swoop.

Okay, now you can have the recipe for these Santa Hat Brownies.

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