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

Tutorial: Rustic Winter Centerpiece

Hello! :) It is that time of year! Eggnog, Pine Trees (or plastic wanna-bees like mine) --- and Holiday Decor!! Recently Erika and I made our way down to the local wholesaler from whom I purchase some of my wedding/ event decor needs. It was freezing in the cooler, but who cares when you are picking out some flowers?!

This arrangement is a sample for one of the corporate holiday parties that I am designing, but it can really be used to spruce up your boring dinner table this holiday season---not assuming it's boring but if you're anything like me there is a fruit bowl and some crumbs for everyday ambiance.

Anyhoo. Anyone who knows me is aware that I am completely self taught, so floral arranging is really just an art to me; I like things to be very organic and loose, but you can play around with your form. You may find that you hate arranging flowers, or completely love it! The hardest part; knowing how much of what to buy!

Here is what I brought:

Spray Roses, White Roses, Hydrangea

Dusty Miller, Brunia, Kochia (Silver) 

Some type of damn berries, Wheat, Dried Pomegranates, Dried Lotus Pods

These Bark containers fit the rustic theme I was going for, and the floral foam, once very wet, will hold the flowers in place exactly where I want them and allow me to use less flowers. 

If you have time, it makes sense to unwrap everything, and snip all of the ends, and put all of your flowers in fresh cool water--- (warm water for roses if you want them to open up fast like an easy date. hehe)

As much as I love Hydrangea, they have to be in water 100% of the time, or they will wither fast. I do not usually put them in floral foam because they die fast this way, so if you use them, skip the foam!

I start with my fillers around the edges, then build it through the center, and go back to add more fillers. OR, whatever you plan to take up the most space with, start there. 

If you can see past my chipped nails (hey I am an artiste!) --- you will see that I am massaging my Dusty Miller into a better shape, these little hairy leaves feel so good! 

No foam necessary for these little vases; they are small enough to hold the shape of the flowers for me! :) 

Bam. 

A little baby one!

This is my little Jayda-Bear!!!