You really can’t graduate from childhood without learning how to make a cootie catcher (or origami fortune teller). Once you learn, it remains in the deep recesses of your brain forever!

When my daughter is at sleep away camp, I like to send her fun things in the mail (because I can only update her on the dog and our whereabouts so much). So I made this cootie catcher, wrote fortunes that will hopefully make her friends giggle, and sent it flat in an envelope. Our camp has a no packages policy (which I love!) so it’s fun for her to get something unusual!

Instructions for folding are below. Here are the instructions for playing this version that I made!

1. Friend picks a letter. You open and close the cootie catcher starting with the letter A until you get to that letter (I spelled the name of her camp).
2. Then, friend selects a sticker from the inside and you open and close the cootie catcher as you spell it. (If you are in need of the cutest stickers on the planet, go check out Pipsticks.)
3. Lastly the friend picks a sticker and you open up the flap and read the fortune.

Fold paper in half to make a rectangle, then unfold.

Fold in half in the other direction to make another rectangle and unfold.

Fold two points together diagonally to form a triangle, and unfold. 

Fold the other two points together, and unfold.

Fold four points into the center.

Keep folded, flip over, and fold those four points into the center.

Fold in half to form a rectangle to deepen the crease; unfold. Repeat and fold in the opposite direction into a rectangle. Deepen the crease and unfold.

Push four corners together, and slip your thumbs and forefingers into the compartments to complete the shape.

(Ignore that the pattern is on the inside of this one…the above instructions are correct!)

Every year, when spring decides to strut back in with its blooming branches and chirpy songbirds, I swear I love it more than the year before. The sunshine! The fresh green everything! The vibes! And every year, I make the same dramatic plea: Spring, please never leave me.

But here’s the good news—just because the season eventually slips away doesn’t mean the feeling has to. We can totally bottle up that springtime joy and sprinkle it around our homes all year long. Exhibit A: butterfly plant markers.

Let’s face it: remembering what you planted in which pot can be a whole guessing game. Cilantro? Parsley? Who even knows anymore? But pop in a butterfly marker, and boom—mystery solved and your plant gets a stylish little sidekick. Plus, butterflies = pure spring magic. It’s not just adorable, it’s practically scientific.

Everything you need for this project you can find at Michaels (except maybe the live plant)!

• Wooden hearts
• Acrylic craft paint
• Paint brush
• Popsicle stick
• Ice cream spoon or oblong wooden shape
• Aleene’s Tacky Glue
• Skewer
• Scissors
• Marker

1/ Paint wooden hearts a solid color of acrylic craft paint. (We chose white so that the colors that we added in the next step would really pop!).

2/ Using the end of a wooden stick or skewer, scoop small amounts of acrylic paint onto one of the wooden hearts. You can make dots, lines, or squiggles, but make a generous little mound.

3/ Now flip the other painted heart and press it onto the one in step 2. Pull them apart and let them dry completely.

4/ While the hearts are drying, paint an ice scream spoon or trimmed popsicle stick and about one to two inches of a skewer. Let these dry.

5/ Break the painted part of the skewer off and snap it into two pieces (scissors help score the wood or bamboo). Glue the two short pieces to the back of the spoon as the antennae and the remainder as the stick that sinks down into the soil.

6/ Add a drop of tacky glue to the points of the hearts and line them up so they are touching. Add a drop of Tacky Glue to each point and lay the butterfly’s body on top. Let dry completely.

7/ Write the name of your plant with a marker on the body of the butterfly.

In my online search for these party favor/toy machine games, I had absolutely no idea what to call them: Plastic disk rolling ball hole game? or Plastic disk tray chain face game? And then I found them and was today years old when I learned that these are called dexterity games or puzzles, or handheld dexterity games to be precise. There are so many amazing vintage ones that would make a super fun collection…here’s a cool history if you are interested!

I bought these coin protectors on Amazon for another project and I knew I was going to make mini dexterity games for something…and what’s better than a unique Valentine? Here are three super fun versions, all in time for some last minute Valentines!

You can find all of the materials on my Amazon storefront page!

YOU ARE MY PERFECT MATCH!

Materials:

• White cardstock
• Coin protector
• Heart confetti or Shrinky Dink Paper
• Colored pencils
• Tacky glue or glue dots
• 1 1/2″ circle punch (optional)
• Envelopes
• Template

1. Print out template for as many valentines as you need and cut them out.
2. Cut circles from white cardstock.
3. If you are using confetti, trace the heart in the middle of each circle and draw an arrow through it. If you are using shrinky dinks, color in hearts that are about 1.5″, cut them out, and shrink them according to package instructions. Once they are shrunk, trace them onto paper circles and drawn an arrow through it.
4. Glue the paper circle into the coin protector, place the confetti on top and close.
5. Use a glue dot or a small dot of tacky glue to attach the game to the card.
6. Sign your name and stick them in envelopes!

WHO NOSE?

Materials:

• Colored cardstock
• Coin protector
• Thin chain
• Tacky glue or glue dots
• 1 1/2″ circle punch (optional)
• Envelopes
• Card template and insert template

1. Print out templates for as many valentines as you need and cut them out.
2. Cut out the heart-in-hand insert into a 1 1/2″ circle.
3. Glue the paper circle into the coin protector.
4. Drop your ball on top. (We colored a piece of Israeli couscous pink!)
5. Use a glue dot or a small dot of tacky glue to attach the game to the card.
6. Sign your name and stick them in envelopes!

ROCK N ROLL

Materials:

• White cardstock
• Coin protector
• Small beads, round sprinkles or any round grain
• Tacky glue or glue dots
• 1 1/2″ circle punch (optional)
• Envelopes
• Card template and insert template

1. Print out templates for as many valentines as you need and cut them out.
2. Cut out the heart-in-hand insert into a 1 1/2″ circle.
3. Glue the paper circle into the coin protector.
4. Drop your ball on top. (We colored a piece of Israeli couscous pink!)
5. Use a glue dot or a small dot of tacky glue to attach the game to the card.
6. Sign your name and stick them in envelopes!

(1) Print out the target page for every member of your family. (Print this out too so you don’t have to open your phone or computer.) Grab a pen or pencil for each person.

(2) The target is divided into three sections by the arrows, so think of up to three things you wish had gone differently. These can be things that affected others or things that only affected you (’cuz we have to ask ourselves for forgiveness too!). Write those things in the blue stripe.

(3) Now think of what you could have done to acheive your goal. How could you have approached that situation differently? Could you have asked for help? Could you have been more prepared? Use the green, yellow, and pink spaces to brainstorm small steps towards getting it right.

(4) In the red center, write the ideal outcome.

Whenever I write letters to my kids at camp, I inevitably write something like “sending hugs” or “sending kisses” or “sending good vibes.” But do they actually feel my hugs, kisses, and good vibes?

This year, I sent an actual hug to my daughter at sleep-away camp! The craft is so simple, you won’t believe it.

1. First trace your hands onto cardstock.
2. Decorate the hands with colored fingernails, rings, freckles, tattoos…anything that will make the hands feel like yours!
3. Cut a piece of string or ribbon that is the length of your arm span. (Fun fact: our arm span is usually pretty dang close to our actual height!)
4. Glue the ribbon or string to the wrist area of each hand, and then write your message on the palm-side of the hands. Write some funny instructions like “Put one hand over your left shoulder, wrap the ribbon around you body, close your eyes, and feel my hug!”

When should you send a hug in the mail? Here are some ideas:

• Grandparents Day
• For a cousin who just went off to college
• Valentine’s Day (duh!)
• An “I’m thinking of you” moment
• Congratulations on making the soccer team!