A Valentine Box

Look at what my girl made! Sweet Pea, out of the three mini pearls, is the most interested in my studio and all of my art and crafting supplies. Bless her heart, she gets so frustrated when she tries to create a masterpiece and can't make it look like something I would do. I keep telling her that I have been practicing for forty years and she needs to give herself a break, but at nine, that falls on deaf ears. I have to work really, really, really hard at not interfering and doing her work for her. Am I the only mom that practically has to sit on their hands and bite their tongue to let their child be free to create herself? I want her to learn and grow and I know that this only comes from doing it herself. So, with the good Lord's help, she is growing darnit and look what she did!

Sweet Pea has the assignment to create a Valentine box for her class party on Monday. (side note: this is MY favorite assignment of the year making it even harder to step away) She spent time this last week pondering a theme for her box and bouncing ideas off of me, Mr. Pearl and her brothers. The creative process! I saw her mind at work! Sweet Pea settled on a garden theme for her box which she would title Garden of Love. She was under the weather yesterday when I had some time to pop in to Hobby Lobby to purchase the supplies that she would need. As she couldn't be there herself, she gave me detailed instructions as to her list of supplies. I did as I was told. I really did. I brought all of the supplies home and let her go. I only stepped-in when asked and well, the pictures say it all and my girl, she is proud of herself and so am I!

I totally dropped the ball here and did not take any pictures of the supplies before we got started but I will give you a list if you want to try and you can get creative!

Supplies:

1 8" cube of green foam (the crunchy kind, not florists foam)

1 package of Easter grass

1 foam mailbox from craft store

1 paper towel tube

assorted pics with hearts and flowers

assorted Valentine stickers

assorted felt flower stickers

assorted small rolls of Valentine ribbon

metallic heart garland

letter stickers

decorative straight pins

assorted craft paints

Alleens clear, tacky glue

sturdy cardboard to attach paper towel tube to mailbox

Cover the square with glue and stick the grass to it, putting most on the top and letting it spill over. Then, stick the floral pics all around top and sides of cube. Next, use the straight pins to adhere the small felt flowers to the grass and use them to hold-up the grass. Adhere fun stickers and letter stickers for your name to the mailbox. Paint the paper towel tube in fun colors and let dry. Have a grown-up cut a circle out of the foam on the top of the cube the size of the paper towel tube. (Our tube fits snugly into circle about 2 1/2 inches) Glue the cardboard to the top of the tube (ours is in a heart shape) When dry, snugly insert paper towel tube into the cube. Glue the mailbox to the top. Now, take the heart garland and ribbons and droop and loop them over everything for a little fun. (totally Sweet Pea's words)

Love,

Krissy