Today I’ve corralled a little collection of animal themed vintage Valentine’s Day cards complete with the requisite corny wordplay… a tradition that continues today over at Cute Overload where you can spend hours (literally) looking at pics of cute animals all with baby-speak captions.

Can’t get enough?  Might I suggest picking up a copy of the Daily Puppy or attending the next meeting of the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee.

Gimme an L!
Gimme an O!
Gimme a V!
Gimme an E!

What’s it spell?

Given that yesterday was Superbowl Sunday, it seems apt that we tackle the sports section of our vintage Valentine’s Card countdown.

“Well life’s on a farm is kinda laid back
Ain’t much an old country boy like me can’t hack
It’s early to rise early in the sack
Thank God I’m a country boy”

Today’s vintage Valentine’s Day cards take us out to the farm where the poster boy of old school country boys is singing his heart out. And while I love vintage John Denver, my guess is that your kiddos would rather hear it sung by Hampton and the Hampsters.

Today’s continuation of my vintage Valentine’s Day card round-up makes a detour through the drive-through with a transportation theme.

Honestly though, when I think of transportation themed Valentine’s Day cards I think of  the one Lisa Simpson gave to pitiful classmate Ralph Wiggun (way back in season 4) featuring a locomotive and the phrase, “I Choo Choo Choose You!” See a clip from this classic Simpsons episode here or download and print a high res version of the card for your little Valentine here.  Even better?  Try your hand at these adorable “I Choo Choo Choose You!” cupcakes!

Like most holidays, Valentine’s Day presents us with the opportunity to craft a little something special for those we love. For your consideration I’ve designed a little party favor, but truth be told you need not throw a party to make one. You and your kiddo can craft a kangaroo for her teacher, place a joey next to Junior’s juice at breakfast, surprise a co-worker with a kangaroo on their keyboard or fill the ‘pouch’ with something decidedly more adult (say, a champagne truffle) for your beau.

My merry marsupial is inspired by the random pairing of old school parties where every place setting included a decorated nut cup and those stylized Dakin Dream Pets that were so popular when I was a kid.  Hoping it’ll inspire you to tell someone how much you love them!

Materials & Tools:
copy paper and a printer
colored card stock
spray adhesive, glue, scissors
paper cup
candy/snacks

Step 1:
Click on the image below to download and print out the Valentine Kangaroo pattern and adhere it to a piece of colored card stock. I used a piece of red Plastisheen paper I had on hand, but standard issue construction paper works just as well.

In a well-ventilated space spray the back of the print-out with an adhesive like Spray Mount. Allow to dry for 30 seconds and then place on the card stock, gently smoothing with your hand to remove any air bubbles. You can use a thin layer of white craft glue, but this may warp your paper.

Step 2:
Cut out your kangaroo following the dark yellow outline. You may find it easier to navigate around arms and ears with smaller scissors.

Step 3:
Once cut, refer to the diagram in the lower right hand corner of the print-out. Following the red fold lines, fold the legs, arms, neck and ears using a bone folder (or the back of a spoon) for crisp edges. It can be useful to score your fold lines first using a bone folder and ruler.

Step 4:
Using colored scrap paper, design a face for your kangaroo. Cut out eyes and a nose and any other features you want to include and lay them out on your work surface. When you’re happy with the proportions and arrangement, glue them onto the kangaroo’s head.

Step 5:
Cut a paper heart for your kangaroo to hold. I used paper punches from the craft store, but you can cut one just as easily freehand - you know the old trick of folding a piece of paper in two and cutting half the heart along the fold to create perfectly symmetrical hearts. Cut two vertical snips in the upper edge of the heart, inserting one of the kangaroo’s paws into each slit as shown in the photograph below.

Step 6:
Create the kangaroo’s pouch by placing a paper cup between the legs - a small drinking cup, nut/party cup or cupcake baking cup would work well.  Glue the cup in place if you’d like to make it stationary/secure, or leave it loose so that it can be switched out for multiple snack times.

Now fill the pouch with treats!  I used cinnamon hearts, but you might also consider conversation hearts, grapes, pretzels, M&Ms, Goldfish crackers.  If you’re going to be transporting your Valentine Kangaroo wrap the treats in a napkin, piece of tissue paper or plastic food wrap and tie it with a bow before placing it in the pouch - this will avoid spill.

Your cutesy-poo ‘roo is now ready to hop into the heart of some lucky little (or big) kid!

Day two of our vintage Valentine parade and we’re cookin’ up something sweet with this little grouping of food themed cards.

And if you’re looking to bake your love something special on the 14th, spend some time browsing the delicious round up Valentine’s Day treats on the ever-inspiring Edible Crafts blog.

I love vintage children’s Valentine’s Day cards and confess to having more than a few of them. They’re silly and sweet and typically reply heavily on cornball world play. In our run up to February 14th, I’ve compiled two weeks worth of mini-grouping each around a central random theme. Today, I though we’d start at the bottom and work our way up - shoe-themed Valentines ‘with sole.’

Fergus and Me
Blog of an interior designer and home stylist with a big family, a big heart and a dog named Fergus. Lovely recipes, design finds and kid-friendly goods abound.  Also see their corresponding Etsy shop filled with vintage finds for home and playroom. Many thanks for their sponsor Blogad this week.

Charlotte’s Fancy
“Favorite things, family life and fun projects,” is the tag line for this really delightful blog. Author Molly has a wonderful knack for vetting charming and quirky finds be they dreamy travel destinations or birthday party fun.

Beau Rabbit
This working journal of creative endeavors is filled with author Brooke’s “ideas for inspired children and highly imaginative adults.” I love that tag line and am currently obsessing over her sock monkey cupcakes.

Lest you become alarmed at seeing the word ‘gastronomy’ above a picture of a groundhog - rest assured, we will not be discussing the finer points of woodchuck barbecue. This coming Tuesday (February 2nd) throngs of people in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania will be waiting with baited breath to see what our friend Phil will do.

It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.

If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.

If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground

You can read more about this amusing annual tradition on the website of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. And learn more about the groundhog (aka woodchuck, marmot, whistle-pig or land beaver) on National Geographic’s groundhog page.

So in honor of Groundhog Day, I’ve put together a little food craft tutorial and it couldn’t be easier. A handful of ingredients are assembled quick enough for even the shortest attention span and what you end up with is a reasonable (and edible) likeness of Punxsutawney Phil poking his head up out of his hole.

Punxsutawney Phil
Pudding Pops

Makes 6.

Ingredients:
(1 box) pudding mix
(2 cups) milk
(6) wafer cookies
(12) sliced almonds
(4-6) chocolate chips

Supplies:
bowl, whisk, measuring cup
foil baking cups
cupcake pan
small microwave safe bowl for choco chips
toothpick

Directions:
1. First up, let’s create our groundhogs! Melt a few chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for about 45 seconds. Allow to cool for about a minute - you don’t want the chocolate to be runny, but more the consistency of glue. Dip the narrow ends of two sliced almonds into the chocolate and adhere to the back of a wafer cookie - this forms the ground hog’s ears.

Below is an image of a completed groundhog as seen from behind.

Next, dip the tip of a toothpick into the chocolate and dot onto the front of the wafer cookie to create eyes. Similarly draw a heart or Y shape with the toothpick and chocolate to form the groundhog’s nose. Set your groundhogs on a plate (face up) and refrigerate while you make the pudding.

2. Place empty baking cups into a cupcake pan. I found that foil baking cups were easier to release from the frozen pudding versus paper cups. (To make it even easier to remove the cups from the frozen pops, consider placing an extra wafer cookie flat in the bottom of each cup before pouring in the pudding.) Prepare pudding according to package directions - usually it’s just beating 2 cups of milk and the mix for 2 minutes.

3. Insert each groundhog about one third to one half of the way into a filled pudding cup. Place the tray in your freezer for about two hours until the pudding is solid. And then you’re ready to enjoy - viva Punxsutawney!

Alternate ideas:
*If you want to enhance the look of the “dirt” surrounding your wafer cookie Phil, consider crumbling a chocolate sandwich cookie (like an Oreo, but scraping off the white filling first) over the pudding before freezing.
*Don’t like pudding pops? Insert a groundhog into a chocolate cupcake - works just as well.
*Not into groundhogs? You can just as easily transform your wafer cookie into any number of characters - play around and have fun!

Fun fact! Did you know that the groundhog is the largest member of the squirrel family?

The Summer Palace, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2009. Photographer: Rob Cardillo.

Like fantasy playgrounds that appear to have sprouted and grown all own their own, North Carolina based artist Patrick Dougherty weaves these intricate sculptures from sticks, saplings and vines. His site specific sculptural installations invite the public to wander in and around their elaborate rooms - and quite frankly, I’m ready to move in. The major obstacle to me sending out change of address cards is that that these pieces are temporary in nature and typically only last a season or two. See more of Patrick’s brilliant stick architecture on his website.

“Combining his carpentry skills with his love of nature, Patrick Dougherty began to learn about primitive techniques of building and to experiment with tree saplings as construction material. Beginning about 1980 with small works, fashioned is his backyard, he quickly moved from single pieces on conventional pedestals to monumental site-specific installations that require sticks by the truckload. To date he has built over two hundred such massive sculptures all over the world.”

Around the Corner, University of Southern Indiana, New Harmony Gallery, New Harmony, IN, 2003. Photographer: Doyle Dean.

Close Ties, Brahan Estate, Dingwall, Scottish Highlands, 2006. Photographer: Fin Macrae.

Na Hale ‘o waiawi (Roughly translated from the Hawaiian language to mean: Wild Dwellings Built from Strawberry Guava). The Contemporary Art Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2003. Photographer: Paul Kodama.