Valentine's Day...Inexpensive & Perfect...because #IAmaSmartie

2.03.2012
Before I had kids, Valentine's Day was pretty much just another day in February. Sure, my husband and I exchange cards & have a nice dinner, etc., etc., etc. - but the real cutesy stuff started when the littles came into the picture. I love packing little mailboxes with treats and tiny gifts for them, cutting their toast & pancakes into little hearts and having red & pink paper plates at dinner...so cute.

So a couple of weeks ago I went shopping for some Valentine's treats at Dollar General. Check out my whole trip here on Google+.

I found a bunch of candy for them...all of their favorites...Gummi Bears, Sour Patch Kids, cookies...and Smarties. My kids looooove Smarties. In fact, we all do. I remember eating Smarties as a kid...sucking on those little dimpled wafers until the middles fell through, and then chewing up the rest. What? That's not how you eat them? Hmph...well...whatever.


Slight sidetrack here...have you ever thought about what flavors Smarties come in? I mean, the original rolls have 6 flavors, but do you know what they are? Gotta tell ya...I had no idea...



You learn something new every day...OK, back to the post...

Anyway, Smarties are always a big hit around here...and at just 25 calories a pack? I mean, really, how can you go wrong? So I grabbed a bunch of packs of Smarties (at just $1 each! Woo hoo!) and used them in our Valentine's Day treats...



First we made Kinsley's Valentine cards with them...here's what we did...

We printed out some graphics on cardstock (the printables are available at the end of this post)...grabbed a few other supplies...


...plus an X-ACTO knife & in just a few minutes we had her class cards made...what do you think?




I wanted to come up with some snappy little phrase that incorporated the name "Smarties," but I just. couldn't. do it. I couldn't. So, the "Smartie-pack-as-an-arrow" won out.

The kids like to hand out little gifts to their teachers, too, so I found some old canning jars in my stash, filled them with Smarties & added a little crocheted heart...easy peasy...



Finally, we used some of our Smarties as little vase fillers for our kitchen side table...I love how the pastel colors are just so subtle and wonderful. Perfect for an understated decoration (my favorite kind)...


I'm really looking forward to Valentine's Day this year...I can't wait to see my kids' faces when they open their little mailboxes...that is, if there's any candy left by then...mamma loves her some candy...(especially Smarties...).

Do you love Smarties as much as we do? Then you WILL NOT want to miss Monday's post...hint hint.

OH! And here's the Valentine Card printable from above...enjoy...just click the little cloud with the arrow to download...these are 4 cards sized to fit on an 8 1/2x11 sheet of cardstock - we printed ours on cream-colored paper.

Be Mine - Printable Valentines 2012                                                                                            

Happy Weekend!

Here's where I'm linking up...plus...

      Dear Lillie's Valentine's Link Party


    DISCLOSURE: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are mine...but I adore Smarties & would eat them even if I wasn't being compensated. It's the truth.




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