Do you ever think of how Valentine's Day was when you were a kid? The classroom is decked out, you decorated card boxes and everyone was your valentine. You anxiously wait for February 14 to arrive so you could enjoy the class party instead of math and eat way too much candy. That was the life!

You get older and the Valentine's Day card appeal dwindles as romance becomes more prevalent. Which is wonderful & all, but as a new mom I'm now anxiously waiting for E's class parties. I can't wait for baking heart shaped goodies and making DIY Valentine's Day cards. I'm totally going to be that mom living vicariously through him by forcing him to wear red and give a card everyone (even to the girl "with cooties"). & I'm SO excited.

But for the time being, I'll stick to what I know--footprint art! So, we made the cutest DIY Valentine's Day cards this month. Bonus: they are super quick and easy! I'm not sure what I'm going to do when he outgrows the bumbo anymore, though...maybe the high chair??

Chose your shade of pink or red & make footprint "hearts" on cardstock. Then just cut around them so they are more obviously hearts & not just footprint blobs, lol!

Once they've dried you can write a phrase of your choice on the hearts & a sweet note on the back. I went generic (surprised?) & stuck with "happy valentine's day" on the front and "from the bottom of my heart to the tips of my toes, I love you" on the back!

Next, I attempted to replicate this cute DIY Valentine's Day footprint craft that my friend shared with me. Well, let's just say that it is NOT as easy as the video demonstrates. Though, it probably doesn't help that I don't have a roller & I was trying to do it with a hyper six month old with oversized feet, lol. After two attempts I decided that this was as good as it was going to get & it would just have to serve as a funny memory!

Finally, we made a bumble bee themed DIY Valentine's Day card. This one is a little more basic. Just two yellow footprints and magic marker doodles to add some details to the bumble bees! E started to fuss, so we just made the one to put in his memory box. Luckily the first attempt was decent enough to actually resemble his feet, lol!

Since our craft time got cut a little short, I decided to spruce up our envelopes while E was in his jumper. I used a magic marker to add the heart shaped (ish) swirl & made some thumbprint hearts on the seal. I know, I know...I'm always doing the most...but I just love being festive!

What are some DIY Valentine's Day crafts you do with your kiddos? I'd love to hear your Valentine's Day traditions, I'm thinking heart shaped pancakes for breakfast next year!