Celery Heart Paint Stamping Valentine's Day Craft

I loved this craft!  It's not often that something so easy produces a work of art that looks like it took much more work than it did.  These celery heart flowers are so pretty and require very little effort.  The bottom of the celery is the perfect size for little hands to grab and no matter how they put the stamp down when there is paint on it, it produces a very lovely result.

What You Need:

-As many celery hearts as you'd like (one per colour, although the wash easily and you could use the same one for a different colour).
-White paper and a coloured piece of construction paper for the flower pot
-Scissors & glue
-Crayons or markers
-Red, pink or purple paint

What You Do:

-Wash the bunches of celery and let dry
-Cut off the bottom of the bunch, leaving a few inches
-Pour some paint on a plate to use for the celery stamps
-Cut a flower pot shape and glue onto the white paper
-Stamp your flowers
-Draw stems and leaves on the flowers
-Personalize your picture as much as you'd like!

Valentine's Day Deals In Oakville

I've been loving all the fun deals that have been popping up over the last few days from local Oakville businesses in order to help Oakville moms and families celebrate Valentine's Day.  Do you have a favourite Oakville spot to get something special for Valentine's Day?

While my family isn't doing anything big for the occasion, I do love finding a few small ways to show those I love that I appreciate them.  When I got a flyer in the mail from Palma Pasta for heart shaped ravioli I knew I had to order some for our Valentine's Day dinner.  The plan is to give the kids a simple dinner and then have a quiet dinner alone with my husband once the kids are in bed.  The heart shaped ravioli will be perfect!

I also wanted to get a sweet treat to share after dinner and love the items that Cupid's Gourmet Bakery has for Valentine's Day.  Will also pick up something special for my kids - they will love the heart shaped treats! Cupid's is located in the Upper Oakville Shopping Centre and there are actually lots of shops in the plaza where you could find Valentine's Day gifts.

Cupid's Bakery

Am debating treating myself to a Valentine's Day treat too.  I love spa time and Fully Alive Wellness is offering some great massage packages in honour of our love holiday and momstown Oakville favourite, Silvery Blue Butterfly has also got some great special this month.

Happy Valentine's Day!

momstown Oakville's Valentine's Day Party with Kidex Academy!

Want to host a great Valentine's Day party for kids?  Here is our recipe for success as momstown Oakville moms and kids had a great time at our Valentine's Day party yesterday.  There was so much to do!  We snacked on Valentine's Day S'mores and heart shaped cheese and watermelon, we made potato stamping art, had circle time with Kidex Academy, Valentine's sensory fun and a pin the heart in the heart game!

Oakville kids came dressed for the occasion wearing lots of hearts and decked out in pinks and reds.

One of the highlights of the event was circle time with Kidex Academy. Kidex Academy offers Toddler, Preschool and Kindergarten Programs as well as tutoring (for grades JK to Grade 6) and registered weekend activities such as yoga and chess.  Nancy, the centre's supervisor, led our Valentine's Day crowd through several fun songs such as the 'hokey pokey' and 'skinnamarinkydinkydink'.  She got the kids up and moving and also had some shakers and bells for the kids to use.  Both parents and kids got right into our circle time! For more information on Kidex Academy, click here.

Circle Time with Kidex Academy

Doing the Hokey Pokey with Kidex Academy

Celebrating Valentine's Day with kids is a lot of fun!  If you weren't able to attend our party, we've got lots of craft suggestions here and recipes ideas here.  My kids had fun this weekend making paper plate heart wreaths and we'll be adding these Valentine's chocolate covered strawberries to our dinner table on Valentine's Day.

Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day!

Preschool Valentine's Day Craft - Paper Plate Heart Wreath

It is always fun to get the house in a festive mood for a holiday.  This easy preschooler craft is perfect to spread some Valentine's Day cheer.  You only need a few simple things to make this paper plate heart wreath and it is also a great opportunity to learn about two shapes - circles and hearts.

What You Need

Large paper plate
Glue stick or white glue
White, pink, red and/or purple construction paper
Scissors

How to Assemble Your Paper Plate Heart Wreath

1.  Cut out a large hole in the middle of the paper plate.
2.  Fold a piece of construction paper over 4 times and cut half of a heart at the fold so that you will end up with 8 hearts.  Repeat this for as many colours as you would like to use.
3.  Glue the hearts on to the paper plate, covering most of the white background.
4.  Let it dry for 10 minutes and then hang it up and enjoy!

Paper Plate Heart Wreath

For more Valentine's Day craft ideas, click here.

Cooking with Kids: Valentine's Day S'mores

These Valentine's Day S'mores were easy to make and a great recipe for kids to get involved with.  My 4 and almost 2 year old and I whipped these up one afternoon and they were too cute not to share.  These Valentine's Day treats would be great to make for a party or you could wrap up a few pieces to give as gifts.

Valentine's Day S'mores

1 package chocolate or regular graham crackers
1/2 cup butter
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup hot water
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup red and pink smarties or m & m's

My kids got to work lining up the graham crackers on the baking sheet.  It was good practice for creating a pattern and for figuring out the best way to put them down so that they covered the whole sheet.

My two helpers were very eager to help measure out the marshamallows and candy.  They even had to taste a few for quality control!

Preheat the over to 350F.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, leaving an overhang.  Spray with cooking spray.  Put down the graham crackers onto the sheet so they cover the entire thing, right to each edge.

Melt the butter and brown sugar in a pot over medium heat, stirring often until smooth and mixture comes to a boil.  Add the hot water.  Pour evenly over the crackers and bake for 6 minutes or until bubbly.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle on the marshmallows.  Put back in the oven for about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with the red and pink candy and put back in the oven for 1 minute.  Cool completely.  Lift from the pan and cut into small squares.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cooking with Kids: Valentine's Day Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Pink, white or red chocolate covered strawberries are a really cute and easy way to make something special to enjoy on Valentine's Day.  My toddler loved dipping the strawberries and putting on the sprinkles and I was happy that she munched on strawberries as we worked our way through this project.

Valentine's Day Chocolate Covered Strawberries

What you need:

-white, red and pink chocolate melting wafers (you can buy these at a bulk store and some craft stores)

-red sprinkles

-1 lb strawberries

-any other Valentine's Day treats to decorate such as white sprinkles, mini white chocolate chips, etc

-1 tsp of olive oil

My helper dipping the strawberries into white chocolate

What you do:

1. Wash and thoroughly dry the strawberries.  Leave the stems on for easier dipping!

2.  Put a piece of tin foil or wax paper on a baking sheet

3.  Slowly heat the chocolate wafers (each colour in a seperate bowl) in the microwave, one minute at a time.  Stir well after each minute, chocolate should be melted after 2 to 3 minutes.  You could also slowly melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over boiling water.  I would recommend doing one colour at a time or the chocolate will start to harden.  If the chocolate is thick, you can add a few drops of olive oil to thin it out.

4.  Dip the strawberries in the chocolate and place on the covered baking sheet.  

5.  If using sprinkles, apply while the chocolate is still wet

6.  If you are going to drizzle a different colour of chocolate over top, you can do it when the chocolate is wet or dry.

7.  Leave strawberries on the counter to dry for about 15-20 minutes before putting them in the fridge to dry completely.

These would make a perfect ending to dinner on Valentine's Day!

momstown Valentines

Love is in the Air! Our momstown kids got crafty at our monthly playgroup hosted in the Little Gym party room last week! This event is free for all momstown members and a great way to get you know your "neighbourhood" moms. Join us next month on March 9!


For more Valentine Crafts visit the momstown arts and crafts blog for lots of crafty idea to do at home!

Wine & Chocolate

Mmmmmmmmmm,
The lights are down and the fire is lit. The mood is set. What could be more romantic than a box of chocolates and a terrific wine? Some say it can’t be done, pairing wine with chocolate, but if you have the right chocolate and the right wine, it can be a match made in heaven. In preparation for Valentine's Day we enjoyed learning about pairing different kinds of chocolate with the correct wines to capture that perfect zen-like moment. We were all in heaven, It was suggested that we actally savour the taste of the chocolate and let it melt in our mouths instead of inhaling it hmmm, a unique experience for many of us who were used to eating chocolate so quickly that we rarely even paid attention to how it actually tasted. Our absolute overall favourite was pairing Gewurtzaminer with white chocolate. Following in second place was pairing Tawny Port with a Bittersweet Dark Chocolate. We all enjoyed many conversations thoughout the night but managed to take away some impressive information to share with our hubbies on Valentine's Day:)

Interested to know more about momstown: Never been to a momstown event? Want to see what we're all about? Join us this Wednesday, February 25 at StudioTime at 10:15 am to 11:45 am or Monday, March 9 at the Little Gym Party Room at 10:00 am to 11:30 am for our New Member Meet-up. Email janet.stephens@momstown.ca to sign up and to get more details.