Thursday, January 28, 2016

Fuzzy Sock Cupcakes

Teacher Valentine's Day GiftBirthday Gift

We have made these cute gifts for birthday presents, and most recently Valentine's Day presents, for the girl's friends and neighbors.  It is an inexpensive gift to give, costing only $1.25, if you shop wisely.  Check around I can usually at find a pair of socks for $1.00.

Who doesn't love a pair of warm cozy fuzzy socks.  They could possibly be used for a teacher gift, get well soon gift, Christmas gift, cold feet bride/groom gift, neighbor gift, visiting teacher gift, church youth gift, thank you gift, a comfort gift for a new mom,  or even a spa party or bridal shower favor.


You will need:
a pair of fuzzy socks
red sucker or candy


 Remove all tags and metal clips


I prefer to use a treat cup, because they are stronger and provide more support.
You can find them in the party section usually in packs of 6 for around $1. Plus, you can buy different decorative themes for different gifts.


Line your socks on top of each other but separate them about 1/4", this will help offer more of a layered frosting look when the socks are rolled up.


 Begin rolling the socks from the toes to the ankle I a downward motion.  I've found some socks are better with the heel up, and some are better with the heel down so try it both ways.




Place a rolled up sock into your treat cup.



  At this point fluff and pull sock into shape.  Fluffier socks seem to fill the cup better.

 
Pull onto the top if needed to give more of a frosting look.


You sock should look like this.



For a Cherry on top. Push a sucker stick down through the center of the first roll.  You can use other candy, but the sucker stick holds it nicely in place.


Fluff and primp as needed.


Get well soon gift


Place in a clear party favor bag and tie a bow on top.
You can add a cute tag if desired.

Fun Sayings I've Used:

You Knock My Socks Off

You Give Me The Warm Fuzzies

You Warm My Soul

In Case You Get Cold Feet
(bride or groom gift)

New baby giftFuzzy Socks

Cold Feet

Valentine's Day gift

Fluffier socks work best.  The ones pictured, I purchased on clearance for a 3 pk for $1.00.  They are the least fluffy ones we've used.  As you can see they still worked, but aren't quit as full as others we have made.

We'd love to hear about how you gifted these socks.

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Valentine's Day Party Games

Hershey Kiss Party Game






















Thursday, January 21, 2016

Valentine's Day Party Games

This all started with mom talking about helping with my youngest daughter's Valentine's Day Party at school. My older girls were teasing that they were too old for class parties, and how much they missed them. 

So, we held a mini Valentine's Day Party for fun while dad was at work.  Pajama Style!

Don't Break My Heart


The new game we found and tried from mrsschmelzer.blogspot.com . The kids liked it, but the large clothespins were too easy for older kids.  So, we tried the smaller craft ones. This was more challenging to clip on and time things out right to let go.  Then, we went ultimate and got out the mini clothespins.  


You will need a large heart cut out of tissue paper and a clothespin for each player.

The smaller the clothespin the more challenging the game.

Have players pass the heart around from player to player only using clothespins NO HANDS!  your must pass only on the upper rounded parts of the heart, otherwise it most likely won't rip.  Play continues until the heart is ripped in half.










Conversation Heart Games

You can use either large or small varieties.  For almost all the games
the large ones might be a little easier, because they are flatter.







Stack'em in a minute

You can use your fingers or for added difficulty use chopsticks or even Popsicle sticks will work.  It's funny to see how each player uses the chopsticks.

Large Conversation Hearts







Small Conversation Hearts

They were more challenging because they would fall over easier then the large during stacking.









Get in my mouth

Place a large conversation heart on your head and try to move it into your mouth using only your face muscles in one minute.  If it drops you must start over.

Minute to win it Valentine's Day GamesMinute to win it Valentine's Day Games


Minute to win it Valentine's Day Games




Balance and Stack

Try to stack as many conversation hearts on top of each other on a Popsicle stick being held in your mouth within one minute.

Large Conversation Hearts




Small Conversation Hearts





Let's Talk About Love

Have the kids make a funny sentence using only conversation hearts.




Take out Conversation Hearts

Using chopsticks move conversation hearts from take out containers (or a plate).


Minute to win it Valentine's Day Games



Catch My Heart

Toss conversation hearts and have a teammate catch them in a cup with one minute.








Drop a Heart

Place a jar on the floor. See how many you can drop and make it in the jar.
My mom used to play this with us using beans as a kid.
Could also use M&m's, Skittles or mini erasers.








Scoop of Love

Place a bowl full of conversation hearts on one side of the room.  Divide the group into two groups.  Using only the spoon race to transfer the full bowl to the empty bowl.








Hold Onto My Love

You can also race teams.  Put half the team on opposite sides of the room.  place a conversation heart in the spoon.  Each member must walk across the room one at a time and transfer it to the other player.  The team wins who gets the last person across the room successfully.  The hard part is if they drop it, they must start over.


You Take My Breath Away

Suck a conversation heart with a straw and transfer it to another bowl within one minute.










You can also use M&M's or Skittles











Mom won with a whopping 34 in one minute, the next closest was 21.

Cup Toss 2

Toss a heart across the room into a bowl, see how many you can get within one minute.







Tic Tac Toe

You can either just play that or have it ready for fast finishers.


Nerds and Squeezers

You can play this game two ways.  Compete using tweezers move your color of nerds from one cup to another in a minute.  Or, you can play individually dumping both colors into a bowl and separating them into separate bowls using tweezers.










The Classics

Don't Eat Pete
You have nine squares.  Place a piece of candy in each square.  One player leaves the room.  The other players or room Mom pick a square to be Pete.  The player returns.  The player begins to eat the candy until they try to eat Pete, Everyone yells "Don't Eat Pete!"  The player must stop eating the candy at that point. There are tons of versions out there, here are a few I've used.

Musical Hearts

Just like musical chairs, but you use hearts.  You could even tape hearts to the chairs.
In a circle place heart for each player.  Remove one heart.  Start music.  The players must walk around the circle until the music stops.  When the music stops each player must stop on the closest heart.  The player that didn't get a heart is out.  Remove another heart and play continues.  Repeat until one player is left and declared the winner.

Bingo

There are tons of versions out there, here are a few I've used.

Conversation Heart Version
Save on Ink Several Versions
Monster Version

Mad Libs

A fun game or activity for fast finishers, I've even got them out at the treat table to keep kiddos under control.  Think about the audience and ask if they will understand the joke or if it is to advanced for them when picking a mad lib. There are tons of printables out there, here are a few I've used.

Mad Lips
3 versions

 I remember when my oldest was in Kindergarten, I got thrown into running the Class Party at the last minute, and had no idea what to do.  Panic moment.  These are the games I've learned, tweaked or made up over the years of many class parties later.  Hopefully, they will give you a starting point for your party.  Usually, you need a couple of games, a decorate a sugar cookie station, and a craft or two. 

We'd love to hear about your party and ideas.

If you liked these party games you might also like these older kid game ideas on our blog: