The Beast: Valentine's 2012

Last year! My how she has grown!!

I have been racking my brain for Valentine ideas since Christmas! I have set a standard that I have to uphold! I wanted it to be fabulous and economical!
First I thought, donuts!

Then maybe pie pockets!

Well, how about pie pops that are more kid sized?

Nope, scrap them. I'm not feeling it. Candy in baggies it is!!!

Then, one afternoon while I was picking up Noey, Miss Joanie said, "You have competition on Tuesday! Two of the mothers were talking about out doing you!" This struck a chord with me. I am never one to walk away from a crafting challenge. I am a pro at trolling the internet and finding great ideas to make my own!!! It's on! And really, is there anything wrong with wanting to be the best? I think it makes you a better, stronger person. If you are going to do something, do it up right! (You can tell I've been criticized for my Valentine competition attitude but most think I'm just funny!) I've always said the reason God never gave me a sister is because I would have eaten her alive!!! Competition wise, not literally. Just wanted to clear that up.
I settled on dipped fortune cookies in the cute take out boxes from Michael's. I found a recipe online so we could insert our own fortunes. Dave bought me a food processor so I could make it all happen. The kids at school thought that Valentine gift was so romantic! Ha ha! It's what I asked for!!

Noey and I both were sick the day before Valentine's so I scrapped the homemade part of the fortune cookie! The La Choy ones I got were pretty tasty and I didn't want to stress over it. So much for my food processor! They were super easy to dip and decorate. I put shredded pink, white, and red paper in the bottom of the take out boxes and included our own fortune that said "I'm so fortunate you're my friend! ~ Love Noelle" I think they turned out really great.




Miss Joan sure did it up at her house! Foil balloons hanging from the ceiling...there had to be 30 of them! Cupcakes, cake, decorations, mailboxes, games. It was a Valentine wonderland! Noelle was in heaven when she saw the balloons. We currently have two at home that she drags everywhere! We have to fight off Neko though from eating the ribbons!!!

I was anxious to see what Noelle brought home from my competition. Brownies and rice krispy treats!

Noelle was spoiled on Valentine's. She got a kissing Nala and Simba set, a toy guinea pig that squeals, eats, drinks, and "pees", a t-ball set, and lots of treats and goodies from family in the East!

We're hoping to not break another window with the T-ball set. We only had to show her once how to hold the bat and what to do! She is so smart! And we're hoping she doesn't turn that bat on us or the cats!!!

One of my students bought Noey this Valentine ladybug that was filled with animal crackers! I thought that was so nice of her!!!

If you tally up the cost of all my ideas gone by the wayside and then the final project, you'll see there was absolutely nothing economical about this latest fiasco! Oh well! Onward to St. Patty's Day!
This pic has nothing to do with Valentine's but I'm going to throw it in. We went to Wiener-schnitzel and Noey has learned how to dip!! :)