Love bug valentine & free printable

Valentine's day is coming up just two weeks from tomorrow and believe it or not, I am actually ready with something on time this year so I thought I'd share it in time for you to use it too!

My big girls helped pick out the design and the bugs, already deciding which bug each friend will like best. I love that both my preschooler and my kindergarten are equally excited about the same design and that it is candy-free!

Here's what you need:
• free love bug Valentine printable
• 1 package (or more) of plastic bugs (Dollar Store or Party Store)
• paper cutter (scissors could work too)
• baker's twine (about 6 inches per card worked well for me)
• scissors 
• small hole punch (could use small point of scissors or large pin)
• pencil

Directions:
1. Print your cards using this free download preferably on a heavy card stock - the cards are 4.1x5.25 so you should get four per standard 8.5x11 paper if you print full bleed with no margins

2. Trim your cards with paper cutter or scissors

3. Have your little one sign their name (before adding the bugs)

4. Mark where you want to punch punch holes depending on the size of your bugs

5. Punch or poke holes

6. Thread the baker's twine through the hole, around the bug, and back through the other hole tying in the back and trimming any excess

7. Spread the LOVE

Download love bug printable here

Personalize it

Whether your message is just to say hello, sympathetic, or a heartfelt thank you, a personalized card gives your language a little something extra. 

This classic style could be used for adults or children and is one of my favorites.

I love to carry over just a little piece of the design to the back of the card.

The girls received a few joint gifts over Christmas which made us realize that we need stationery for the family. I've been loving these Matryoshka Nesting Dolls and with some input from the little ladies, we came up with this fun and modern design for our family stationery.

Check out Love and Life Card's line of personalized stationery and thank you notes here and please contact us at sona@loveandlifecards.com any time to create the perfect stationery for you and yours. 

100 Happy Days Challenge

You may already have seen the 100 happy days challenge on Facebook, but I thought if something were to go viral, why not spread a bit of happiness! If you haven't seen it, you can check out the website 100happydays and see if you can be happy 100 days in a row. 

You can join on Facebook or Twitter, or just email if you don't want your 100 days open to the public. I have loved seeing my friends photos, but have chosen the email route. Anyone who knows me, would think this isn't much of a challenge. I am, in general, and on most days a happy person. I have still decided to do the challenge for a few reasons.

1)  It's a bit of fun in a usually boring time of the year.

2)  It reminds me how unbelievably lucky I am. I find at the end of the day, I have more than one picture to try to choose from.

3)  I am taking pictures. My husband is the photographer in the family, so I never remember to take pictures of anything.

4)  I am enjoying the minute. Over Christmas I kept saying "please stop time". This is a nice way to stop time for just a minute in our busy/chaotic lives.

Here are a few of my happy days photos so far:

Day 1 - my commute to Edinburgh

Day 3 - Look who's sleeping in my bed?

Day 4 - her song writing never fails to crack me up

Day 6 - My "Run Fatty" playlist on Spotify helped me through my morning run

So who's in?  We'd love to hear about any one of your one hundred days so please share:)

A new year a new birthday

We have a tradition in our house of keeping the first and second birthdays fairly low-key with just a few family members and close friends around to celebrate. I say tradition, but maybe it is just me being too lazy to plan a big party. By the third birthday, our kids are generally telling me in detail exactly what kind of party they want and who should be invited so I'm forced to step it up by then. Anyway, Miss Violet's first birthday is no exception. We're celebrating it up big girl one-year-old style over here for our sweet and crazy baby's big day!

Cookie monster arrived just in time from our friend's across the pond and was a big hit with everyone, including our little monster baby!

Both L & E got "pupcakes" for their first birthdays. See more on those fun little cupcakes here and here. We switched it up and I made a smash cake for our girl, V. 

She liked the candle and all that "Happy birthday to you" attention, but she wasn't too sure about her first taste of the cake which was shocking since we thought this girl would devour her first real sweets.

Good thing her sister seemed to enjoy the cupcakes!

And Violet warmed up a bit, though she never really dug right in.

And that was about it for our girl's big day. What about you? Do you have a huge party to celebrate that first year? Or to celebrate surviving it (the parents survival that is)? Or do you keep it simple? I'm sure Miss V will be demanding exactly what she wants for her birthday in the blink of an eye and I can't wait to design her Wizard of Oz, Mermaid, Ice Cream, or whatever her little heart desires birthday party invitation. In the meantime, we're going to keep it simple as long as we can.