Do you remember coming home from school, backpack filled to the brim with love notes and candy?

Yeah ...

Neither do I.

I wasn't a popular kid.

Not that I'm bitter.

Of course, thanks to the great land of artificial sweeteners and ersatz equalization, our kids will never be in jeopardy of feeling unloved ... at least when it comes to hastily-prepared trinkets sent in by other people's mothers as per teacher directives.

Not that I'm cynical ... much.

Anyway ...

Ittybit wanted to do something really special for her friends in first grade, so earlier this month we spent at least a year (in Google time) searching Valentine's Day craft ideas offered at various locations throughout the interwebs.

We found no end of fabulous looking projects, however none could meet my two mandated requirements: 1). That we wouldn't spend a cent on supplies, and 2.) The craft could not cause me to pull out any of my already winter-brittle hair.

Hence, we ended up rummaging through a box of fabric remnants and found enough of the same materials to make 16 little sweet-nothing pocket pillows.



SWEET-NOTHING POCKET PILLOWS

WHAT YOU NEED
* A yard and a half of white, brushed cotton
* A half sheet of red acrylic felt
* Fiber stuffing

OPTIONAL
* Candy conversation hearts
* Paper hearts for notes

WHAT YOU DO
* Cut out 16 hearts (freehand) out of the felt.
* Cut out 16 sets of hearts (folding fabric for matches) out of the cotton.
* Sew the bottom half of the felt heart (leaving the heart cleavage open) to the center of one side of the cotton heart.
* Sew the two cotton hearts together, leaving a bit at the end to fill with fiber stuffing, and then sew it closed.
*Insert note (or conversation hearts) into pocket.


The best thing about these ... beside using up horded material ... is that they were easy enough for a seven-year-old to make ... with a little help.





***ADDING A POUND OF NUTS***




So. We had planned to make tiny little notes to put in the pocket hearts ...

But then a friend drew my attention to this

And ... having *JUST* received a copy of her class picture I was like ... Palm meet forehead.

Well, that and THIS is just another reason why I have no hope of ever working for Martha Stewart.

*again with the digression*

So I showed Ittybit and she needed no coaxing. She knows cool when she sees it, too.

Of course we had to change some stuff ... since we had no card stock and our black marking pens are too-thick Sharpies. We used memo-cube paper and pencils instead.

I drew a sentence line and a frame, and also the basic shape of the chin, neck and ears, and she did the rest. She drew hairlines based on her friends pictures and added eyes, nose and mouth as well as their names.

We then folded sheets of red construction paper in half length and width wise and cut them into four rectangles. We folded the paper so that 1/2 inch overlapped, and glued the picture into the crease so that their names were visible and the paper lifted off the card.

Adding pink construction paper hearts to the outside of the card, Ittybit wrote her sentiment and signed her name under the pictures.



She's tickled pink with the results ...

Well ... except for Isaac's, poor kid.

"I have to redo Isaac's. I accidentally gave him a bulbous nose."