Valentine's Puzzle Gift and Bag Topper Printable

We wanted to share an idea for a non-chocolate, non-candy, non-tooth-decay-causing Valentine's treat that your child could give out to their friends.  Not only is this gift sugar-free, it's educational!  Enter heart-shaped puzzles!  We found these puzzles randomly while browsing for art supplies and thought they'd be perfect to give away.  They're just over a dollar each, so it doesn't break the bank.

You can leave them blank so the receiver can decorate it, or have your child colour and personalize it with the person's name (if you don't have a crazy number of kids in your class).

My daughter loved pulling the puzzle pieces apart to put them in the bags, and she also loved re-assembling them!  I daydreamed about the day she'd have the patience to colour in 25 of these puppies and all the free time I'd have...and then my bubble burst when she complained that she was tired of coloring the first one.  Sigh.  I think we'll stick with giving them away blank so the other kids can decorate them!

Materials:

• your favorite coloring utensils (markers, paint, crayons, pencil crayons, etc.)
• puzzles
• cellophane bags (the dollar store has Valentine's ones that are perfect)
• bag topper printable (links at the bottom of this post) and white cardstock for printing
• stapler

Instructions:

1. If you're decorating them before you give them away, color the puzzles using marker, paint or pencil crayon or crayon.  To personalize them, write your friend's name on it at the end in a darker color.  Don't do it at the beginning like we did, initially.  The name ends up disappearing under all the coloring!
   
   
   
   
2. Print out the bag toppers and fold them in half along dotted line.
3. Break up the puzzle and put it in a cellophane bag.
   
4. Roll down the top of the bag and then put the bag topper over the top.  Staple both sides.
5. Voila, a cute little gift for your friends!
   
6. Use the outside frame of the puzzle for photos or other crafts.

I love fast, and I love easy.  This gift is both of those things!   Hope you have lots of fun getting ready for Valentine's day.  Share all your lovely crafts and gift ideas below, on Facebook, or on Instagram!

Printables (click on the image to download it - the pdf has 4 bag toppers on each 8.5" x 11" page):

DIY Personalized Birthday Sign

You have probably seen these cute posters everywhere...Etsy, Pinterest, on your Facebook newsfeed. They make a fun birthday sign and keepsake. I wanted to get one for my son's first birthday but really didn't feel like paying someone to do it. A mommy friend (thanks Stacey!) told me all about Canva, a super user-friendly graphic design software that is available online and free (unless you choose to upgrade to fancier options). I tried it out and I'm totally Canva obsessed. You can easily whip up professional looking party invitations, posters and anything else your little crafty heart desires. Okay, enough gushing about Canva, let's move onto the tutorial!

1. Before you start, think of a colour scheme and theme. I chose light turquoise/red/white with a black background and a "little man" moustache theme.
2. Log onto Canva's website.
3. Select poster.
   
4. Select your background colour. Black or dark gray works great for these kinds of posters (the text really pops).
   
5. Click on text. Here you can choose a wide variety of different fun text designs to add in. You can easily change the colour, size and font of the text. Scroll down to get some ideas for content to add in!
   
6. Click on search and frames if you want to add in a photo. You can select from a wide range of photo frames to display your little one's picture. Once you have selected your frame, click on upload your own to enter your photo into your frame.
   
7. Click on search and illustrations/shapes/photos and type in the name of any images you are looking for. You can also download your own by clicking on upload.
   
   
   
   
8. This is the trickiest part! You will need to fit in all your font/images/photos like a puzzle.  If you aren't feeling particularly creative, feel free to copy our sign!
9. Download your image as a pdf for print and save it onto your computer. I used Vistaprint during a 50% off sale to print this sign. I heard Costco is also a great place to have posters printed for great prices. Don't forget to print an extra 8x10 image to put in your child's scrapbook or photo album!
10. I found it easiest to display the sign by mounting it onto foam board. You can buy foam board cheap at the dollar store. Cover the foam board with colour coordinating wrapping paper and then stick the poster on top for a really fun birthday sign!

How cute is this red and white polka-dot wrapping paper!

Here are some ideas for content to include in your sign:

• Favourite toy/object, food, song, activity etc.
• Height
• Weight
• Number of teeth
• Date of firsts- sitting up, crawling, walking etc.
• Best friends
• Nicknames
• First words
• "I know how to____ (feed myself, roll a ball, blow kisses, give high fives etc.)"
• For older kids- "I know how to ____ (count to 10, sing my ABC's etc.)", "I want to be a ____ when I grow up"

Have you ever made a personalized birthday sign? Please feel free to share with us below so we can get some fresh ideas for future birthdays! Hope you enjoy Canva as much as we do!