I’d like to think I’m a cool mom.

I decorate the house for major holidays and try to find different adventures for the kids and myself but sometimes I fall short. I remember one year I totally forgot about valentine’s day until the day before. Rushing to the closest store to grab cards and candy for school and a little teddy for my daughter, I was stressed. Now I have two kiddos and two classes to grab cards for, so this year I decided to get a head start, and with that came the idea to make the kid’s v-day baskets as well.

You know the section at Target, the one you try really hard to avoid because while it starts at $1 it can go up from there and the more you grab the more you spend. Well, they got me with all the Valentine’s day items including these little heart-shaped baskets and that was that.

Once I started I realized I could grab more stuff from the dollar store to fill them even more so off I went.

If you need an idea of where to start here’s a simple list.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• holiday themed/colored basket
• filler for the bottom of the basket
• some candy
• a few small toys they’ll love
• an activity they can work on after

For a complete list of everything I put in my kid’s baskets check it out here.

The best part about DIY baskets is that you get to fill them with things your kids will actually enjoy. I remember getting those easter baskets with all the stuff and realizing I only liked one or two things in the whole basket. I’d swap stuff with my brothers or just throw the rest away. This way while a little extra work on me the kids get items they will actually use and it wasn’t too expensive. Plus any leftover candy I get to keep.

Everything in the baskets I found at either Dollar Tree or Target. The foam heart stuffing I found at Michaels on sale as well. So the key to making a DIY holiday themed basked in general is to find things your kids will love and have fun with it. It doesn’t have to be perfect it just has to come from the heart. Will I live to regret the Crayola bath paint? probably but at least they will love it.

Until next time.

XOXO,