Simple School Valentine Gifts

Happy Valentine's Day.  I had planned on putting up this post weeks ago, but better late then never.

My daughter loves to give gifts and she always crafting something.  A few years ago, thanks to a gift from her aunt, she learned to make bottle cap magnets.  She makes them throughout the year when she is in the mood.   While looking though them we realize we had just enough heart and sweet themed ones to give as a valentine this year. In addition to the magnets, I had already purchased bags, pencils and candy for her to give.  The last piece of this years gift was the free stickers that Shutterfly.com, which I created a valentine theme on  with the colors and message.

In the end it became a simple project of just assembling a fun bag to give out to her classmates. We put the photo sticker on the outside of each bag, then stuff the bags with goodies. In each bag there are two chocolate hearts, one handmade magnet and a valentine pencil.

Just a little tie of bakers twine and we were done.  Cute and easy.

Another idea for simple and unique valentine is a red burlap sewn heart.  

This is a craft that I used in my toddler storytime.  Younger then 5 this craft does take a little help from a parent, but most school aged children can master this craft with just a little insturction.  With a simple square of burlap, some yarn and a plastic yarn needle a child can easily make a sweet valentine. Start by drawing a light outline of a heart.  Next, start a running stitch, by going down first a the top center of the heart.  Leave the tail of the yarn sticking out and untied.  A running stitch is simple for children and they just need to follow the line the you or they have already made. Lastly, when you get back to where you started, just tie the two ends together in a simple knot or bow.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and Kisses.

Lorissa

Sneak Peak - Blue, Blue Eyes - Santa Fe Child Photographer

During my latest session the wind was blowing during one of the worst spring storms I have ever seen since I moved west. It tore up trees and cause minor destruction all though the west. Rather then cancel the session the girl's mother and I decided to just do the whole session using my new black muslin background. Normally I use natural backgrounds and light, but this time it was only natural light. I think they turned out well, but I wish I had more backgrounds to play with now.






The hat was knitted by Casey of Flower Girl Designs and looked great with the purple zebra striped skirt.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Lorissa

Tell me Thursday - Project Kitty, Rescued

If you have reading my blog lately you know my daughter loves to craft, paint, color, and more. I'm a little bit to blame for it because I would rather create then clean or exercise or make dinner. She seems to be falling into that pattern. So when we head off to the craft store together I find it difficult to tell her she can't get anything. On Tuesday I said yes to this Kitty paint and grow kit that she found on clearance. Why was it on clearance? Well the cat was broken into four pieces and the paint was dried out. My daughter didn't care, she just saw the potential. And for $2.00, could I say no?

Can you see the cracks? The big one in the front goes right down though the right eye and into the whiskers. With the paint on you can hardly tell. We just had to include a new first step of gluing the Kitty back together. She insisted that the eyes be pink (her most favorite color) and we only had a washable brown paint to replace the black, so it looks a little muddy. But for the work of a 3 1/2 year old I thought it turned out great.

The second part of the project was to plant the grass seeds in the plastic container provided. This was actually the much less of a mess part. Once we got it all together we put the bag on top and put it in a sunny window still. The seeds are only two days old and have a few more days before they sprout but I included a photo anyway. So in the end the little container goes right inside the Kitty and she as a cute decoration for her room.

So if you see a project like this on clearance, go ahead and rescue it. My daughter just thought it was a puzzle we had to put back together and we saved a good $4 over the regular price.

Wordless Wednesday - after the cupcake photo shoot.

Wild Sunflower and Toddler Hands - New Photographs

I've been looking forward today, thinking of what I need to get done this week, and before I get started with anything else new I thought I would show off some of my latest pieces. No grand landscapes or Route 66 photos, but a beautiful end of summer flower and the beginnings of a new series.
This wild sunflower was taken on the side of the road while on Route 66. These small sunflowers were everywhere on my trip back to Kingman a few weeks ago. I wanted to pull over and take photos of one of the large fields, but with my 3 year old daughter I just needed to get home as soon as possible. These were right by a sign that I had pulled off to photograph (you'll see that in my next Route 66 post) and I love the way this one turned out. Not the often seen straight on sunflower shot, but a side view that gives the flower a little personality as it blows in the wind.

These sweet little flowers I found during our recent little adventure in the woods near the Pecos River. I'm not sure what type of wild flower they are, but I just loved how sweet they looked. I haven't decided if I'm going to add it to my Lorissa J Design and Photo Fine Art Photography shop yet, but you can always order it as a custom order if you want.

And then there are these two photos that might, or might not, end up being a new series featuring hands and gestures by children. I just loved them and "Touch" from my Motherhood series.
Hands and gestures can express so much and I love the innocence and freedom of childhood. That one minute a child can be digging in the mud by the river and the next she will be picking wild raspberries to share and not worry about the bit of dirt still left on her hands. I've titled this Fine Art Photograph "Sharing" and it is limited to an edition of 50 prints from size 5x7 to 16x20.
In the second she was offering me rocks and stones she had dug up. This things were precious to her, but we lose that as we grow.

I'm wondering what you, my readers, think about this idea of a new series. It would be close to my motherhood series, but focus in the child rather then the mother. Thanks ahead of time for your comments and opinions.

Oh, and if you don't remember "Touch" here it is: