Turn Leftover Valentines into Toddler Match Game

Ever wonder what to do with a ton of leftover valentines? Can't pass up a reason to buy heavily discounted valentines after Valentine's Day has passed? Fear not, my friends! If you've got a toddler always in need of something to keep his or her hands occupied (like I do), you're in luck. Here's how to turn those leftovers into a cute match game using a few materials and very little time...

Materials:

-2 matching sets of valentines (my set had 8 different valentine options, so I used 16 valentines total)

-scissors

-construction paper or cardstock

-laminator and laminating sheets

-Velcro

Instructions:

1. Cut characters out of two sets of valentines so that the words are no longer showing.

2. Place one set of valentines onto heavy cardstock.

3. Laminate cardstock and other set of loose characters and cut out. Place soft Velcro on each of the characters placed on cardstock. Place rough Velcro on the backs of the loose characters.

That's it! A few short steps lead you to a few brief but wonderful moments of free time while your tot enjoys his or her new, exciting match game!

Transform Stickers to Create Reusable, On-the-Go Activities

My house currently looks like every sticker in the world exploded ALL over it! I'm constantly pulling wads of wet stickers out of my laundry, scraping them off of floors and furniture and finding them on my clothing as I walk into work. Needless to say, we go through A LOT of stickers in my household, and I've been dying to figure out a way to hold on to some of the cute stickers we purchase and not have to spend my entire life unsticking them! As it turned out, the solution was simple!

Using my handy dandy Purple Cow laminator (which I am completely obsessed with), I laminated the stickers and cut them out, leaving a small border of laminate around each. I then placed a small piece of rough Velcro on the backs of the stickers. In case you weren't already aware, rough Velcro sticks to felt beautifully! With that being said, I placed the laminated stickers onto various colors of felt sheets, which I jazzed up a tiny bit to match the theme of the stickers. Oh, and PS-Michael's has a HUGE and inexpensive variety of licensed character stickers, which are very popular in my household! Also, The Dollar Tree just started selling some super cute Very Hungry Caterpillar stickers, which I was super pumped to make reusable (love me some Eric Carle)!

And there you have it, folks! Simply fold up the felt and pack it and the reusable stickers in a baggie to bring with you when you need it the most!