Jolly Lolly Valentines
When I was growing up, we would never have dreamed of making homemade valentines. We ran down to the grocery store and grabbed a package of Popples and Star Wars cards. My brother and I would pick out the best ones to give to our best friends, teachers and secret crushes first and then we’d fly through the rest, scrawling our name on the bottom of each.
Ahh, Brian P. You always got my best Popple and my best penmanship.
We’ve become a crafty society now, though. And I think our kids are reaping the benefits. Not because they necessarily value things made with construction paper, scissors and glue more than mass-produced images of cartoon characters, but because they get to get their hands dirty creating something with Mom or Dad.
There’s a lot of joy in that.
A lot of markers staining hands and t-shirts.
A lot of scraps of paper and foam on my kitchen floor, sticking to the drips of maple syrup from breakfast.
A lot of candy being consumed on the sly.
But a lot of joy.
We set out yesterday to make our valentines, finding the directions to make Jolly Lollies on Family Fun.com (at the suggestion of reader Heather).
We used:
- 2 pieces of red foam
- 2 pieces of brown foam
- scissors
- tape
- strips of white paper (we cut index cards into 1×3 inch strips)
- a pen
- a pencil
- a tiny hole punch or sharp knife
- Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops (these are all natural down to using black carrots and pumpkin for the coloring and they come in awesome flavors like Pomegranate Pucker and Mango Tango)
We first determined how many boys and girls were in each of the girls’ classes, using their respective class lists.
This is a crucial step because “Rowan,” “Bailey” and “Riley” could go either way and you don’t want to give a girl a mustache. Trust me, I know.
Next, we traced lips on the red foam and mustaches on the brown foam.
Next, came the cutting. Lots and lots of cutting.
Meanwhile, the girls wrote the names of their classmates on the strips of white paper.
Pea Daddy carefully punched holes in each of the foam pieces, and then we inserted a lollipop in each.
Cute, yes.
But you don’t get the full effect until you actually eat the lollipop.
Foxy ladies. That’s another one for the wedding reception slideshow right there.
We then taped on the little tags the girls had filled out.
Which left nothing left to do but cleanup.
And by “cleanup,” I mean do ridiculous things with the scraps.
Like make crowns.
And turn ourselves into Angry Birds.
I’m so glad we made our own valentines.
And I’m so glad I’m the one with the camera.
There’s a lot of joy in that too.
Awesome!!
The cutest. Literally. Please send me one mustache and one set of lips. Happy Valentine’s Day Pea Family!
I want a mustache too
So cute! We found some valentines at the dollar store and decided not to make ours. You punch ours and a balloon pops out. Iblove the angry birds eye brows.
That sounds awesome!
SO adorable!!! Love the pea daddy pic! Haha! Definitely in touch with his inner child!
I had his begrudging permission to post that.
What a cute idea! I bet your daughters’ classmates will think they’re the coolest Valentines
Great pictures!
I hope so!
haha i love this
Awesome! We made ours this year too and it was so much more fun. We melted broken crayons into heart shapes, bagged them up and wrote “you color my world” on the tags stapled to the top. The girls loved picking just the right colors for each person.
That’s so cute…we thought about doing that too. I hope the girls bring home some fun homemade valentines too.
I just want to hug you all. <3
We’ll take it!
Oh angry birds (shakes fist) you always get the best of me!
These are so cute…way better than the valentines and the penmanship I ever gave anyone growing up!
this is so awesome! i might make the mustache one for my friends haha
You should!
Very cute idea!
Can you buy those lollipops in stores?
Yup. I bought them at our local health food store, but you can also get them at Whole Foods.
Sooo cute! My boys and I made homemade valentines for their classmates too. I actually gave them the choice….store bought or homemade, and they picked homemade! Love it! We used fun stamps, cut out heart shapes, and had a blast!
See…that’s what I’m talking about!
is it socially acceptable to make these and hand them out to my friends at college?!?! they’re SO cute!!
I say, “YES!”
Well, this is by far the cutest thing I’ve seen all day! What a fun day you guys had!
I love my family more than I can even tell you all.
I saw these on Pinterest a few months ago and saved it. My Liv is only 2 and the irony of a hipster mustache lollipop would be totally lost on her set right now, Those are super, super cute!!!!
Fantastic. Love love love the angry birds. Your family is priceless. <3
Love this idea for homemade valentine’s. I spent tonight cutting hearts and gluing in order to make my own homemade valentine’s.
I bet they are darling!
Love it! Way better than cartoon cards with generic sayings. This is a great idea!
So. Stinkin’. Cute!
I have got to remember this for when I have kids!
Please, please don’t perpetuate gender stereotypes with your children and those in their classrooms!
Ahhh….. I love these. I’ve seen them before, but forgot how funny they are.
I was cursing the few Valentines I had to fill out today for the boys. Not my favorite holiday. Those eyebrows in the last picture go well with a vacuum in hand. 
Ha ha ha!
That is SO adorable!! And I freakin’ love the “angry birds” eyebrows! Made my night!
There is just something so darn funny about a person with cartoonishly oversized eyebrows
Indeed there is. And of girls in mustaches. Luckily I had the camera around my neck when I was modeling that one.
You guys are just adorable! What a brilliant idea:) Happy Valentines Day to you! I’m about to start baking those incredible sea salt kissed donuts- yum!!
Too cute! I love the idea. Oh man, I am with you on the rushing out to get a box of valentines cards.. I loved that. And then sealing them up in an envelope with a few gross conversation hearts. Turns out the conversation hearts say things like LOL and Tweet Me.. all I have to say to that business is WTF?
Also, making my valentines box every year was the best ever. I remember one girl had a GIANT balloon made into a hot air balloon and the cards were delivered into the basket below. I was so jealous–pretty sure I just had a boom box made out of a shoe box that year.
Love you!
What a cute idea! And it is so true that so many names now go either way. Even though it is more common to come across a girl Aubrey than a boy one now, it still seems weird to me! I guess there will always be boy’s names that make that transition!
These are too cute! I just got done editing the pics and pre-writing my post for tomorrow, which is me…doing arts and crafts projects, i.e. addressing Valentines. But unlike you, I didn’t actually make them. I just bought them and addressed them.
Yours are adorable!!
Bahahaha…that picture of Gigi with her lollipop-containing lips is really making me laugh
Aww this is SUCH a cute idea Mama Pea! Is it sad that I’m 23 and even I want to make mustaches and lips for my co-workers?! I hope the girls have a lovely Valentine’s Day tomorrow and I’m sure they loved spending this time with you and PD!
I think you should make them for your office!
Love it! I bought those same lollipops for Meghan’s Valentine’s. Which, ahem, we haven’t made yet. Gotta get on that.
Aren’t they the best? I may have snuck a few for myself.
These are adorable and so simple! Great pictures
oh these are too cute- their classmates are pretty lucky!
This is the cutest idea!
Awwwwww fun! I was just saying at the dinner table how much I miss making a valentine’s day box with Anthony, we always had fun doing that! I should of came over and had some fun making valentine’s with you guys!
How simple and cute!
Happy Monday love! <3
You are always welcome at our kitchen table!
How stinkin’ cute is that?! Seriously, pinning for like 10 years from now – ha!
OMG – how stinkin cute are those???? I LOVE the angry bird eyebrows!!!! TOO funny! Can you adopt me???
xoxo from Trinidad
Love this idea!
We never our own cards growing up either. So glad times have changed.
Your cards that you and Summer made were ADORABLE!
Pretty sure those are the cutest valentines I’ve ever seen! I can’t wait until my own little Lulu (6 months) is into crafting
This year I tried finger painting with valentines and she was SO not happy about it….
Oh, that sounds terribly messy!
Just about as messy as giving a 6 month old finger foods– avocado, steamed sweet potato, egg yolk, etc. So yes, VERY MESSY!!
These are so cute! I would never let my mom help me make homemade valentine’s, I always wanted store-bought ones. I’d much rather make homemade ones now that I enjoy doing crafts and such!
I don’t really appreciate you making cute valentines things that would have saved me from valentine’s frustrations after I prepped and distributed valentine’s to livi’s teacher . . .
Ha ha. But did you get My Little Pony valentines?
Are there any other kinds?
Of course we did!
Those lollipops are awesome! I get them any time I am requested to bring candy for something. I love the black carrot and pomegranate juices too! I always wonder what the parents think when they see organic candy in their kids’ bags. I hope it sparks their interest in organics and creates a new consumer for the organic market
I hope so too!
Those are so cute – the mustaches are hilarious!!! Looks like such a fun weekend!!
I had a fun weekend eating your Sunshine in a Bowl salad. OMG…I had no IDEA what I was missing. I could eat that every single day of my life. My husband and I inhaled a bag of kale in like 10 minutes flat.
That is awesome. And so good for you both!
What a cute idea!! I’m sure the kids will love their valentines.
I really love your book and I have been using many of the recipes
I wanted to ask if you can recommend your favorite cookbooks? (are they vegan as well because that would be wonderful!) I love how you have so many healthy recipes from breakfast to snacks…and I am looking for something similar
Thank you!
Are you wanting vegan cookbook recs or just good cookbook recs overall…I have a slew of both! But some of my vegan favorites are Eat, Drink and Be Vegan and Veganomicon. As for general cooking, you can’t go wrong with Mark Bittman and How to Cook Everything. Hope that helps!
I LOVE How To Cook Everything Vegetarian (Bittman) and I’m not even a for-real vegetarian!
I don’t have the Vegetarian one, just the regular version and it alone is brilliant! I must pick up the Vegetarian one!
What a fun family project. I have a bag of the same lollipops ready to go to school for my kids Valentine’s gifts (they are so very yummy).
Pea Daddy allowing you to photograph him as an Angry Bird is priceless, maybe you can use it in your next book.
I thought that was pretty generous of him too. He’s a team player for sure.
Really fun! Ours were a family project too. I am a teacher and I gently *encouraged* my students and their families to try homemade cards – was hoping none of them were cursing me!!
I bet you’ll see lots of creative valentines tomorrow!
You’re my hero. I would love to do something like this for my son. Where did you get those lollipops?
I got them at our local health food store, but you can also find them at Whole Foods.
This is beyond cute! I’m filing this away in my “things to do with my kids, when i have kids” file.
thanks!
Those are so fun! Much better than the bought ones. I love doing crafty projects & was going to make Valentines to send to some out of town friends, but ended up using some random cards & just writing Happy Valentine’s Day in them. I should’ve been more creative, seeing this!
I feel so bad for the teachers on these holidays. I tried to ban valentine’s candy one year and practically got burned at the stake. I was thinking of the kids with allergies and the diabetic but even she wanted the candy. so best to go with it and do organic, I have handed those out to kids too. and then promptly got hooked on them myself.
i would want a mustache even though I am a girl. valentine’s day should embrace gender bending and same sex couples too!
I will totally give you a mustache. In fact, I’m giving you one in my mind right now.
i made a green one with my smoothie! beat ya to it.
Such a great idea!!
These are absolutely adorable. Such a great idea!
That is such a cute idea!! Love it!
Our homemade valentines are still sitting on the table, and will probably be completed somewhere toward the nine o’clock hour in a mad rush. But seeing this, you have totally inspired me not to be a slouch!
As long as they get done in time for school, that’s all that matters!
when i am a mom, can you please send me a ounce of your creativity? Love it!
Wish I could take credit, but I have almost no original ideas of my own.
What a cute idea – so easy and crafty, looks like the girls had a lot of fun making them too!
Pea D and I too!
So cute! I love that crafting has gotten big again. It’s just so fun to make things.
Agreed! I hope we can do more.
Pea Daddy is getting a little gray around his ears. Travis is too. Makes me smile to think that we’ll grow old with these guys!
So am I…
That’s such a great idea – and actually a craft I might be able to do (unlike all the Pinterest ideas that I drool over but would never be able to touch in a million years haha!)
Aww such a great idea! I love the moustaches!
Happy valentines day!
Those are so cute! I should totally do this for my office too, that would be so much fun!
What a cute idea! This is my kind of homemade Valentine’s. Easy and fun!!
That is such a cute idea!!! I just love reading your blog, I like to take mental notes for when I have kids! You are so creative
From one lawyer-turned-stay-at-home-mom to another, thank you! You are inspiring me! I have two little munchkins that will love this. Saving this idea for next year’s happy hearts day
You are welcome! Ex-lawyers are the best.
I want a mustache ride!
Just got some protein from the site you recommended.
I tried to be earth friendly + order the plastic bags instead of the containers.
Wholly drug cartel scene in my kitchen currently….. big thick plastic bags.. lots of powdery substance everywhere.
Keeping it classy in Colorado.
Happy vday!
Sadly, I have been there more than once. With the protein powder, of course.
These are the cutest handmade Valentines I have ever seen! Oh I wish I had seen these a few days ago, I totally would have made that mustache one.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/babyhalo19/Blog/IMG_5566.jpg
Josh bought these mustache gingerbread cookies for us a few weeks ago. Clearly we’re still five at heart. ;p
I hope you’re having a wonderful Valentine’s Day!!
Okay, so I’m a little late to the party, but this is the cutest idea ever! Also, your family is beyond adorable!!!
Thank you!