Friday, February 15, 2013

shoebox

I'm cheap.  I've never bought G a box of store valentines to give out.  But it's more than that.  It's that I'd rather make cute cookies for him to give out, than to pay (probably cheaper) for store valentines.

This year I used the cookie press my sister gave me years ago, and made pink heart cookies.  Then I used a blender to make frosting, which is to say that it was really good thick frosting.  And I made really cute sandwich heart cookies.  Wrapped in cellophane and a sticker with each name, it was cute.

So I got to have the fun of creating, and you don't get that from buying things from a store.  I'm pretty much addicted to creating things.  Even when it is cheaper to buy them from the store, I like to make it. 

G needed new shorts this year (hurray he's growing!) and since I couldn't find any shorts at the thrift store I bought 4T pants and altered them.  Sheesh these were some wide leg pants for 4 year olds.  So while I would have liked to have found shorts that fit him for $1 each, I'm happy I got to alter pants I found for $1 each.

I've just cleared my life of 3 big projects that were hanging over.  I need to be careful about that.  On Monday I did a lot of sewing yet there is still a rather large mound on my sewing table.

I was reading the Carolyn Hax column for Valentines day and each time she referred to "shoebox" I associated this with the Hallmark Shoebox collection.  Eventually I realized that maybe they meant a literal shoebox that would be used as a valentines mailbox.  In my childhood we mostly made big construction paper heart mailboxes.  Geoff always has a paper bag decorated to function as a mailbox.  Then I had to laugh as I realized that I had actually sent him to school with is valentine cookies neatly tucked inside a shoebox.  His one and only shoe box from his first ever pair of new shoes.

2 comments:

Julia said...

I wished I could make Valentine cookies, but we're not allowed to send homemade food to Ari's school- because of allergies. This makes me sad, but on the other hand, I know people with serious allergies, and that's rough, too.

Lucky Day said...

Since there are only 16 kids in his grade, it's easier to be aware of the allergies. Also, it's a school that has a very thorough admission process, they have medical records on each kid as a matter of course.

Last year there was a kid with PB allergy and we never sent much in because everything is packaged in facilities with nuts.

There was one child with a milk allergy and I contacted his mom to ask if a Rice Crispy treat made with margerine was ok. She replied that it was a mistaken diagnosis so anything was fine.

Our home school co-op has only 10 families and 3 have major food allergies though. So everything is "bring your own" and often people go great lengths to bring the gluten, lacto, ovo etc...free treats.