Love is in the air!

Happy almost Valentine’s Day. Now, I am usually a big, Jewish scrooge around things like Christmas and Easter, but I show up for one Christian holiday… Valentine’s day. Yes, Saint Valentine’s Day. I am a big fan! Every year, I make my boyfriend a handmade card, but this year I wanted to whimsey it up since we are stuck inside, so I made this year’s card interactive and I thought I would share it because it is a great last-minute Valentine’s day idea. 

You will need a few things, balloons, small presents (I am using candy, but you could do a bracelet or small charms or little toys) and some strips of paper. 

On the paper, you will want to write some small love notes or little jokes. I did love notes. Think of one to two sentences about things you love about the person you are going to give them to. Once you are done, fold up your notes and grab your balloons. 

You are going to want to insert a note or a prize into each balloon. You can then blow the balloon up. I blow it up and then let a little bit of air out to give the balloon a slightly rounder shape. Having your balloons not 100% full will also help you at later steps.

When all your balloons are done, take two balloons and tie them together by their bases. 

Repeat this action and then take two sets of these and twist one of the tied ends around the other’s tied section. This can take a little practice. I popped a balloon doing this. The tick is you be are light with your hands as possible. When looping one of the ballons around the other two, don’t squeeze too hard. 

It should look like an X made out of the balloon ends. You can do this process over and over, which will give you a sort of balloon tower. I then added a little cardboard heart to the top. If this part is too hard, you can use tape or string to attach them into a more garland shape as well.

I then took some paper and folded it in half to make a little card and made sure to put a pin in it.

And look at that, you have a Valentine’s morning activity for your partner, friend, roommate, or child. 

This week, I wanted to spotlight just one interesting resource that can also be a great way to talk about history with kids. Code for Anchorage has a group of coders who have set up a resource to see what native land you live on. You can text your zipcode to 907-312-585 or go to https://land.codeforanchorage.org/ to see whose land you are on. I am on Canarsie and Munsee Lenape land for example. You can then give back or learn more about these tribes through https://www.firstnations.org/ or even just read up on their history. 

Stay inside, stay safe and as always, stay crafting.