For the finale of another year of dance, with the help of my almost 4-year-old, we picked out princess crowns from Amazon that come with a small wand and ring. I put the want and ring into a bag and tied them to the crown with a bow and card.

For the card, I wanted something clever that tied the item into dance class - so low and behold, I give you - DANCING QUEEN! Lol. I purchased the crown clip art from Etsy. Paper Sphinx is my go-to for clip art!

When it comes to the holidays, I try to know my limits. I can only commit to so many gatherings, cooking baking, shopping trips...the list goes on. Adding to the stress, the end of the year is always a bit hectic at work too. This year, I also vowed to stay healthy - which meant some extra trips to the cycle studio. 

Knowing that the kid has holiday parties at school and dance, I tried to brainstorm early something different other than candy. I was rather proud of my dance class idea, so i had to share. 

I found these $1.50 hair bows (on sale) at Target and I knew they’d be perfect for Lennon’s dance class. I scoured the internets for a cute saying to put with the bows, but couldn’t find one. So I made this up and it worked for a Christmas party favor! 

With only five girls in Lennon’s class, I walked away with this party favor under $10! 

Further proof that my child is really my child, she loves holidays. For Valentine’s Day, she selected an adorable unicorn card from Minted. She now attends a school that doesn’t allow food-related treats for holidays, so while brainstorming treat ideas, I stumbled upon the idea of making our own crayons. I’ve always wanted to try this and we have an abundance of less-than-perfect crayons laying around the house (and in my purses).

When the molds arrived from Amazon, I was so excited to get started. However, my 4-year-old had a breakdown. It took a few minutes to understand what happened, but she thought we were making unicorn CROWNS vs. CRAYONS. Perhaps a little Pittsburgh-ese misunderstanding.

To compromise, she handed out two treats - CRAYONS & CROWNS.

Back to the crayon making.

This was so easy and I can’t wait to try it again. First, you need some old crayons. Peel off the wrapper. Or, like i found out too late, use a knife or scissors to help get the wrapper off. I don’t suggest allowing the kids to use the sharp object to do that!

Then, break the crayons down into the mold. I tried to match some colors together and towards the end I got fancy with our molds and put some yellow or gold near the horn of the unicorn!

Once you have the molds full - but not overly full - bake at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes - or until the wax has meltedWe had one batch that had some non-Crayola crayons that just wouldn’t melt as easy. Just a warning if you are using some of those unwanted restaurant crayons!

After the crayons were done “cooking,” I let them cool off a little and then put them into the freezer for another 10-ish minutes.

Once they cooled off, we popped the crayons out of the mold. We did have some break, put jsut popped them back into the next batch.

Overall, it was a super easy craft that we could do together! Lennon was very proud that she helped make a gift for her friends!

You guys know that I live for a good themed class treat. I feel like Valentine’s Day is a holiday where I can really get my creative juices flowing.

As soon as I possibly could, I ordered sun-themed Valentine cards from Minted. I mean, I totally love a standard Valentine Card from Target, but I can’t help myself with personalized paper goods. Yes. I’m that extra mom.

I ordered heart-shaped sunnies from Amazon. All pink for dance class and multi-color for school. I do fear some kids may get testy with the color variety (there are some blues and greens), but oh well.

I’m planning to punch a hole in the envelopes, while avoiding the card (already testing it) and attaching the card with a ribbon.

In the end, for 30ish "treats" I came in a little under $50. So, about $1.66 per kid.