{ Treasure Jars. }

The girls and I recently attended a Valentine’s Day Crafting Party at our friends’ home. Our hostess and her three girls explained in the Evite invitation that they would have stations set up around the house where we could make Valentine-themed crafts. All we needed to bring was our creativity and an appetizer to share.

I was in charge of one of the stations and decided to make Treasure Jars, which would involve many of my current obsessions—jelly jars, red-and-white baker’s twine, and Dove chocolates. I had exactly 30 minutes on the day of the party to gather supplies, so I ran around Walmart tossing whatever seemed like it could work into the cart: jelly jars, paper doilies, pretty scrapbook paper, stickers, construction paper and a little heart-shaped punch to make confetti, fabric for the lids, chocolates, and candy conversation hearts. Whew!

Once home, I threw the lot into a bin and added scissors (regular and pinking), glue, decorative hole punches, string, and buttons. At the party, I just plopped it all out on the dining room table and let the girls go crazy. They decorated their jars and then filled them with candy, paper heart confetti, and little messages to their valentines.

Here are some of the other projects we made:

Felt Fortune Cookies.

Matchbox Valentines.

Crayon Hearts.

The party also finally clued me in to what a great tool Pinterest can be. After the party, our hostess sent us a link to Pinterest, where she had gathered all the projects onto one board. You could click on any of the images to go directly to the original post for instructions.

The girls and I enjoyed a lovely evening laughing and creating and eating good food with good friends. But my favorite part was being a fly on the wall, listening to the girls’ conversations as they made their Treasure Jars. It was so sweet hearing them chat about their lives and discuss who the lucky recipients of the jars would be. And watching how the older girls helped the younger ones. And how they all inspired—and were inspired by—each others’ creations.

I can’t wait to get together again. I’m already thinking of some ideas for Easter….