The coolest Valentine's ideas ever

We have come up with some wholesome and extremely dorky ideas for your children to bring to school this Valentine's Day. We promise you they will be equipped with the coolest and corniest tokens of love and friendship for miles around. We know the little munchkins love their candy, but these are some tried and true tricks to keep them entertained, in positive spirits, promote creative play and have fresh breath. And these ideas won't hurt your wallet because they were all purchased at the handy dandy dollar store...BAM!

6 for $1, you can't beat that with a stick!

most of these items are stuck onto cards with removable glue dots

3 for $1...WHAT, and this is the most expensive one on our list.

enough for almost the whole class for $1 :-o

WHOLE bag for ...you guessed it!

I cut an "X" in the middle and stuck the balloon through the opening.

otherwise known as silly putty!

I wrapped these in plastic wrap before attaching them with two glue dots.

Our valentine's gift to you is to give you all the PDF's for the printouts used in this post. Please email us (sugarlayneblog@ gmail.com) with the subject "Valentines" and we will send you the link ;)

JJ just wanted to play with all of the above

Lessons I want my daughter to learn from Beyonce

After digesting this whole Beyonce secret visual album release (yes, I was unproductive for about 3 hours of my life watching Beyonce videos on Tumblr!) I have come to the realization that although most of her new videos are not G rated, there are a number of messages in these songs that I strongly agree with and want to impart on my own daughter.

 

As a 30 year old mother of two, I strongly relate to Beyonce's image of being an independent, beautiful, cultured, intelligent, sexy, mother.   

Me, Erika Layne and my little warrior princess, Jayda.

  Our human nature is to identify the "other" or unfamiliar in order to protect ourselves from possible danger. This has mutated into a train of thought that people are to be put into boxes or categories, for example if a person is a mother, then they cannot be sexy. This statement couldn't be further from the truth. I don't ever want my daughter to be put into a box, to be told that she can't do something as well, or be prevented from realizing her full potential because she is not only a woman, but a woman of color. I want her to have Beyonce's confidence and love for herself, while being humble and gracious.  

People teased me in elementary school because I was too skinny. Guys rarely approached me romantically and I fully blame that on my intimidating height. Nobody is perfect. Neither is Beyonce. I'd like to think she has birthmarks and moles and maybe even a few stretchmarks that magically disappear when edited in post processing. I have not looked into Beyonce's diet or exercise routine, but with those deliciously thick thighs, I wouldn't be surprised if she had to work to keep her body figure healthy and beautifully voluptuous. I want my daughter to be confident about her body image. I don't want her to think she has to be as thin as the celebrities on the tabloid's or the models on fashion magazine covers. Although I don't want my daughter doing a fraction of the gyrating that Beyonce does until she's out of college, I want her to feel beautiful and walk with swag without the help of cat calls from the street.  

  When my daughter finds love in the right place at the right time, I want her to continue to feel sexy and exude that same confidence with her lover. I want her to find a love that will support what she does and love her for who she is. I want her to WANT love, not NEED it. I want her to recognize her power and find someone just as powerful to compliment her. These are all feelings that are conjured whenever I see Beyonce with Jay-Z. I want her to proudly display how a good love feels and is supposed to be.  

 

I want my daughter to be imperfect. While I haven't agreed with cursing most of my life, as an adult I have found a few times when a curse word is the most effective way to express what I am trying to communicate. While I was quite upset when I first heard "bow down" and didn't ever want to see Beyonce "stoop" to a ratchet Rihanna level (no disrespect to miss Ri Ri, I love her passion and music), I can appreciate her showing us that a lady does not have to be confined to fitting into a box. I'd like to think she can wholeheartedly give back to her community and the children of the world and twirk for her husband at the same time. Beyonce's sexy visual love notes and fantasies that she has chosen to share with the world are exactly the way a lot of women want to feel after becoming mothers. That is the main reason I can't stop looking at her; I admire that she is not afraid to celebrate herself, her body and black love.

So tonight I will dream about waking up next to the love of my life while wearing the most revealing black lace lingerie, walking down the hall in slow motion with Beyonce wind blowing through my naturally curly/kinky hair. I will then cook breakfast while holding my little girl on my hip softly kissing her on the forehead. I will do a runway walk out the door and head to a business lunch meeting before heading to my client's house for a photo shoot, all while wearing 6 inch stilettos. Because I am a human superwoman and like my theme song Run The World states, I am "strong enough to bear the children...then get back to business!"  

  If you are interested in hearing more about this topic and have a bit of time then please check out this phenomenal woman, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Beyonce sampled part of this speech in her song, "flawless"  

 

all images are directly from Beyonce's tumblr. 

Elmer Birthday Party

In need of an idea for your child's next birthday party? Why not turn to their bookshelf to get inspiration from their favorite bedtime stories. For Jayda’s second birthday I decided to create a modern color-block party inspired by her favorite book Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. The book is an absolute necessity in your child's collection! It’s an inspiring tale about self image, acceptance and diversity in little kid language.

Elmer!

Some people may call me stingy, simply because I think of any and every way to save money, yet still do all the aesthetically pleasing home and craft projects my little heart desires. I think of myself as pretty generous, specially when it comes to giving my time and talents. That is one trait I'd like my kids to adopt. So when it came to planning this party, I HAD to hit up my two favorite stores, the dollar store (the real dollar store! NOT the one that claims to be the dollar store, yet everything they sell costs more than a dollar), and the thrift store.

My first move was to make a pinata, because no party is really a party without a pinata in our Afro Cuban household. Find out how to make him out of a six pack of beer, the full tutorial is here!

While browsing through the dollar store I happen to see these medium sized color blocked paper pails which became the party favors when stuffed with dollar store goodies.

I used an inexpensive grey bed sheet (thrift store find) as a table cloth. The toddlers participated in a painting project during the party so I wanted to use something I didn’t care about. I try to stay away from the disposable plastic tablecloths whenever possible (that is a topic for another day.)

I purchased small green square plates from the party store. (it would have been cute to use mismatched plates, I just didn’t have enough guests to buy multiple packs) Notice the repetition of the square shape.

I enjoy planting and painting with my daughter and I wanted to incorporate an exciting and useful art project that was inexpensive. I bought small clay pots and trays from Micheal’s and permanent acrylic paints. I chose permanent because if the guests wanted to use them outside, they wouldn’t have to coat the pot to seal the paint. If I did it over again, I would have used washable paint, just in case little fingers touch their little cute clothes. I also gave each guest two flower bombs (purchased on Etsy) to plant in their pot and each guest had their own paint brush.

(note: Parent involvement is a MUST when attempting to paint with toddlers.)

They could also paint a small wooden elephant if they were inspired by the story. As a final treat, they all sat down around me for story time.

I absolutely love confetti! I found paper confetti at the dollar store, yippy!

Square garland made from string and card-stock colored paper and hung from the chandelier.

Gray balloons with colored strings brought that elephant skin color into the decor. Plus, balloons are tons of fun for a two year old!

Every craftsy mom wants to be able to say that they made everything from scratch at their child's birthday parties. Let’s face it, that isn’t always the case. We happened to find this orange ombre cake at the supermarket, and this orange ombre dress at Target! Sometimes keeping your sanity means letting some things go unmade (but not uncoordinated.)

Lastly, I made a photo backdrop out of foam-board and small water balloons filled with air (warning: Use a pump for these little guys, or your cheeks will start to burn after the second one). I taped the balloons to the foam board. My only downfall was that it wasn’t big enough, definitely bigger is better in this case.

 

 

We hope you are inspired to turn your child's favorite book into their next party and don’t forget to share your creations and ideas with us!

   

Elmer Birthday Party and Pinata Tutorial

In need of an idea for your child's next birthday party? Why not turn to their bookshelf to get inspiration from their favorite bedtime stories. For my daughter Jayda’s second birthday I decided to create a modern color block party inspired by her favorite book Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. The book is an absolute necessity in your child's collection! It’s an inspiring tale about self image, acceptance and diversity in little kid language.

Elmer!

I always like to approach projects by first asking myself, “what materials do I already have at home?” Maybe it’s because my inspirational moments happen at odd hours when the stores are closed, or maybe I truly am trying to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Regardless, I needed to find something to use as a base for an Elmer Pinata. A party is not a party without a pinata in our household.

What better than a six pack beer bottle carrier! It made a great body because it could hold candy but was fragile enough to break when hit by a two year old.

I cut the bottom out and replaced it with plain craft paper (any paper will work) I wanted the bottom to be weak enough for the candy to fall through without much force.

Then I tied a string to the top handle

I used paper towel rolls for the trunk and legs. The legs were easy, just cut and tape. The trunk needed to curve a bit and gradually narrow. I started with a medium sized piece of tube cut at an angle.

Then the next piece of tube was cut short and then cut lengthwise and re-taped to make it a bit skinnier. I then stuck the skinnier tube into the first tube and taped it into place.

To finish off the trunk, I cut one more short tube lengthwise and taped it so it fit the previous tube. Voila! a trunk!

Next came Elmer's ears, they were easy enough to make out of the same craft paper (grocery bag) that I used to cover the bottom. I just creased them across the center before taping them to the body so they looked flappy. (yes, I used a word that's not really a word)

To close elmers body at the top, I cut two more over sized rectangles of craft paper and taped them to the roof of elmers body. I left the second half open so I could insert the candy into the top.

Time to add the patchwork to Elmer!

I used streamers because they came in the colors I needed and they were at the dollar store. You might also be able to paint it with acrylic or tempera paint, or cut square construction paper and glue them to his body. I wanted to keep the pinata flair so I used the streamer paper. 

I prepared each color by making long strips first, then cutting them into shorter chunks. I created a double layer by glueing two strips of streamer together on one side.

I cut slits into the unglued edge of the streamer. Then cut them into chunks.

I started gluing chunks of varying colors working from the bottom row and gradually layering until I reached the top.

I cut eyes out of construction paper and glued them above the trunk.

We filled him with organic lollipops from Trader Joe’s, and taped him up!