Make this easy and fun “You Rock” Valentine’s Day card from your rock collection.

Today I’m joined by my childhood friend and communication strategist, Tenaya Wallace, who is sharing her eco-friendly pet rock Valentines, and her unique sense of humor. Welcome Tenaya!

When my son was three I learned the importance of unique Valentines. Xan attended the most parent-involved co-op in the hippest hood in America (seriously, it was in Forbes) and we sent him to school with store-bought cards from the local CVS pharmacy. I think they were Sponge Bob-themed.

What we received back, from every single kid, were hand-made Valentines, including a painted rock, that we still have. From that point on I made sure to never be outdone by these crafty moms of Silver Lake. But this year I ran out of ideas. My husband joked, “why don’t you paint rocks” and we laughed at the reminder of our store-bought ways.

The kids and I turned to Pinterest, searching “DIY no candy kids Valentines” (because candy is as passé as pre-fab cards). There were super-cute ideas but all involved little plastic toys and since I am 1) unemployed and don’t have spare change for plastic toys, 2) working under a tight deadline and don’t have time to order said toys and 3) a former environmental activist who should despise plastic toys, I decided to put in a search for “pet rocks.”

The results where mostly pictures of smooth round stones painted to look like sleeping cats, but there was one photo of a ragged little rock with googlie eyes glued on. The kids loved it. We were making pet rock Valentines 

My son collects rocks and keeps them in a box that doubles as an end table. He is possessive of his rocks, picked up on camping trips or walks around the block. But he saw wisdom in paring down his collection and actually got excited about using some of them for this year’s Valentines. Score for mom who has been trying to get rid of those rocks for years.

Step 1: Collect Rocks

We selected 38 rocks for Xan’s class (yes, 38…but that is another story) and 26 for my daughter’s. We washed them and set them in the sun to dry. The next day I took a quick trip to Jo-Ann’s Fabrics and spent $4 on googly eyes, which was more than I needed but I decided to get both the small eyes and the really small eyes just to get crazy.

When the kids got home from school I put out the rocks and eyes. They each selected rocks they liked and placed the eyes where they wanted them. I was shocked at how good they were at transforming little nuggets of nothing into personality-filled friends by just placing eyes in a certain place. This part of the process really let them be creative and made the project their own.

Step 2: Glue Down Googly Eyes

I glued the eyes on, because no mom needs to take their kid to urgent care for googlie eyes crazy-glued to fingers. The crazy glue worked like a charm on both porous and smooth rocks.

Because I am poor and lazy and a former environmentalist, I suggested to the kids that instead of putting the rocks on notecards, we could cut up cardboard boxes from the recycling bin. They loved the idea and thought I was a brilliant environmentalist, not poor or lazy in the least. My son even went out to our blue bin pull boxes and my daughter helped cut them up. They liked the idea of each card being different for each different rock. My only issue was that now some of the Silver Lake moms are going to know that my kids eat Honey Nut Cheerios and frozen pizza, but whatever.

Step 3: Attach to Cards

Next I hot glued the rock to the cardboard. That way it will stay for now but can easily be pulled off later to keep as a pet forever. I did this step because again, no need for urgent care, but older kids who can be trusted with glue guns could totally do this on their own.

When I went to JoAnn’s I looked for stamp that said “You Rock” but they didn’t have one. I didn’t want to print “You Rock” on paper, because that started to defeat the eco-ness of the project and I didn’t want to argue with the kids about writing the cute catch-phrase 64 times. Once I glued the rock on the cardboard I realized they could just write “U” above it with the rock under. My daughter added an exclamation point with a heart on the bottom for added effect. Easy peasy.

Step 4: Write U *Rock*!

So now we have 64 pet rocks and they are so fricking cute that I kind of want to keep them all. But we won’t. I will, however, be adding googly eyes and crazy glue to my camping kit so that whenever we are out in nature the kids can make some brand new eco-friendly friends. And I won’t be worried that my kids don’t have the coolest Valentines in town.

More Valentine’s Day Ideas for Kids

30 Valentine Activities for Kids

Handmade Valentine’s Day Card: The Amazing All-in-one Envelope

Deconstructed Valentines for Toddlers

Self-serve Valentines Buffet

Heart Sewing Cards

To learn more about Tenaya, you can find her at Tenaya Speaks.

This weekend we went to the snow and had a great time building a snowman (snow person — what do you call it?), sledding, and drinking cocoa by the fire. We even got all geared up to ski, made it to the lodge for more cocoa, and were sent right back down the mountain because the winds made it too dangerous to safely leave the mountain later in the day. Thankfully my kids were zen with this, we still enjoyed an amazing view from the gondola (I shared this picture on Instagram – the view is stunning!), and sat around the fire where we played card games and made the best out of it.

While we were in the snow, which is a real novelty for us valley-based Californians, my eyes were opened to a whole new world of snow toys and snowball making inventions that you will love if you’re not already initiated.

First up: The Snowball Maker

Snowball Maker

So, you know how your mitten soaks through after making too many snowballs? And the problem with making snowballs that are too hard, and can whack someone in the head? This toy is a solution to these snowball follies!

They are such a great deal and a ridiculously fun toy, that I’m making this the featured maker supply. You can see the last featured supply here. You can easily find these in toy stores, shops like Walmart, hardware stores, and grocery stores in snowy places. And they also sell them on Amazon for around $5.

Snowman Kit

When it comes to snowmen, snowdogs, snowcats, and snowpeople, my kids like to forage for rocks and sticks, found objects, and pinecones to make it all come together. However, for a readymade snowman experience, there is a snowman kit that includes all the pieces you’ll need, including a hat you can stake down that won’t fly away.

Snow Block Mold

Make your own igloos and forts with this easy to use snow block mold. If you have a few snowball makers (above), you might need a few of these to build forts and and protect yourselves during a snowball fight. All in good, wintery fun, of course.

Snowfling

We saw people with these and thought they were using dog ball throwers, but it turns out that these are a snow product called Snowflings, and they’re designed to help kids (and grownups) throw snowballs far. This one gets great reviews and I like how the reviewers describe that it makes snowball fights more fair for those with worse aim trouble launching snowballs great distances. It seems these would be great for kid vs. grownup snowball fights.

That’s all for now. Although it’s raining, pouring, dumping, I’m happy to be back home and look forward to our next snow adventure.

Until next time, Rachelle

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This Caramel Chocolate Pecan Turtle Recipe is so simple that children can help make it (mine did) and it’s absolutely delicious.

Kid-friendly and a crowd-pleaser!

Caramel Chocolate Pecan Turtle Recipe

These Pecan Chocolate Turtles are beyond easy to make and I was able to make it WITH my kids. So much fun, and everyone thought they were delicious.

When I first made these, my one year old exercised fine motor skills by unwrapping the candies, while my 3 year old placed them on the pretzels. It was assembly-line cooking at its finest!

These delicious candies won’t disappoint you, I promise!

Ingredients

• Mini Pretzels
• Chocolate-covered caramel candy such as Rolos
• Candied Pecan Halves (or regular pecan halves)

NOTES

If you don’t have candied pecans, try substituting M + M’s, cashews, salted pecans, etc.

*Inspired by this recipe

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 300 F

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

Arrange pretzels on the sheet

Place a caramel chocolates on top of each pretzel

Bake for 4 minutes

Remove from the oven and gently press a pecan half on top of the warm chocolate

Cool and enjoy. To expedite cooling, you can put these in the fridge for a short time.

If you’re gifting these, package in waxed paper or cellophane.

When ours finally cooled I wrapped them up in wax paper and sealed them with a sticker.