Valentine’s Day Goodies, 2014

For the past two years, I have really gotten into the Valentine’s Day spirit.  I think it’s having kids.  I have sort of taken Valentine’s Day on as my own little holiday for the kids, and I love finding little ways and traditions to make it special.  This year, I finally got my act together early enough to show you what I’m doing for the kids BEFORE the actual holiday!  Look at me!

Every year on Valentine’s Day morning, the kids and Chris wake up to find the kitchen has been transformed into a magical surprise.  They have little Valentine buckets of goodies at their seats, powdered donuts for breakfast, cards from family and friends that I’ve collected over the past week as they have come in the mail, and lots of hugs and kisses.  It is such a fun way to start off our day!

This year will be no different, except I had a bit of a bucket crisis for about ten minutes in Target this weekend. I bought these little boxes from the $1 bin, and I can fit everything in them, but it’s a tight squeeze. Then, I came home and found my much bigger buckets I bought last year out of the $3 bin at Target. So, I think I’m going to put everything in the bigger ones instead. More room, and they are bigger so they look more show-stopping on Valentine’s Day morning. With a two- and four-year-old, it’s all about presentation, friends.

Here’s what is going in Bean’s bucket (4-years-old):

– A book of Ninja Turtles tattoos ($1.00)
– A Batman Pez dispenser ($1.50)
– A Batman spinner fan thingy ($2.99)
– A Jake and the Neverland Pirates water bottle ($1.00)
– Hershey Kisses rose ($1.00)
– Ninja Turtles box of candy ($1.00)

And here’s what will be in Gracie’s (two-and-a-half-years-old):

– A Doc McStuffins sticker book ($1.00)
– A pack of Disney chapsticks ($3.00)
– A Sophia the First water bottle ($1.00)
– A pack of Disney pencils ($1.00)
– Hershey Kisses rose ($1.00)
– Disney Princesses box of candy ($1.00)

This year, I may get fancy and wrap the baskets up with cellophane and ribbon like an Easter basket. But that’s a pretty big MAYBE. For right now, I think the buckets came out super cute on their own. In case you’re stumped on how to cram everything into a little bucket, here’s my method (which means it’s fool-proof!):

First, I stuff one piece of tissue paper in the very back of the bucket. Make sure it stands up high so that it can be seen over the tallest of the goodies. A good way to get it the right height is to lay the tissue paper out flat on the floor, then pick it up by the very middle of the paper.

Next, just stuff the middle part of the paper down into the bucket, leaving all the sides to fluff up in the air. You’re basically making the backdrop for your goodie bucket.

Then, I start to layer the goodies, starting with the biggest first. In this case, the tattoo and sticker books took up the most room because they were so wide, so I put those in first. After that, I started layering the other tall or bigger items.

When all the biggies are standing up in the bucket, I then add one more piece of tissue paper. This piece goes in just like the first piece, only you want to kind of stuff it down deeper into the basket. You are making a second layer, but you don’t want it to stand up higher or even as high as the first layer.

Now, start arranging all the smaller or shorter items inside this piece of tissue paper.

And then – VOILA! – you’re finished!

Need ideas for bucket stuffers at different ages? Check out my post on Valentine’s Day last year (ages three and 21-months) or the one from the year before (ages two and 10 months).