A week ago, Bart and I were looking over our schedule for the week and Bart said, “We should give Ella the chance to do a Valentine’s mailbox, like you used to do in elementary school.”
After a little discussion about how to best facilitate such an activity, we decided to invite all the friends from our apartment complex over on Sunday afternoon, and have each couple or family bring a decorated mailbox and a Valentine to hand out to every family.
Bart sent out the evite (listing Ella as the host, which I thought was darling), and we quickly got an enthusiastic response.
Ella was thrilled about painting her mailbox (Bart was less thrilled about all the glitter I let her use on it), and couldn’t stop talking all week about “my party wif friends.”
I was in charge of the Valentines we would hand out and when I saw these little tic-tac-toe cards on my Valentine’s Pinterest Board, inspiration struck.
I remembered how, at Christmas, Ella fell in love with Don’t Eat Pete (it was one of our advent activities), and I thought it’d be fun to do a Valentine’s version for one of our Valentine party games.
I made the cards and then had them printed as 4×6 photos (if you sign up for an account with Walmart’s photo shop, you can get 25 free prints, so this cost me exactly nothing). I then picked up a handful of the clear spice bags from the bulk section of my grocery store and filled them with a bunch of red hots (so cheap! so festive! so tongue-burning!) and stapled the bags to the back of the cards.
I was extremely happy with how they turned out, and Ella insisted we play many rounds of it during the week.
I did some vegetables and crackers with a couple of dips, because I like to pretend to be healthy.
And hello to some of my favorite cookies, these granola cookies, which I loved for this event because they were definitely a treat, but they also had some substance, with granola, coconut, flaxseed, wheat flour, cranberries, almonds, and peanuts. They were met with rave reviews.
And a couple of mini-loaves of cinnamon strawberry bread. I wisely stashed one loaf away for myself to eat later because all of the slices I put out got scarfed.
After an hour or so of visiting and eating, every family showed their Valentines and then we set out all the mailboxes on the kitchen counter and went around delivering one card or treat to each box.
We had some great little treats and cards:
And we had one happy little girl (who may or may not have been quite hopped up on sugar by the end of the evening).
If you’re unfamiliar with Don’t Eat Pete (it makes a great Valentine party game), here’s how to play: Place a candy on each square (or heart, in this case) and send one person out of the room. The other players choose one number to be “Pete” and then invite the first player back into the room. That player begins eating the candies off the board, one by one, until he or she picks the candy that has been named Pete, at which point the other players all yell, “Don’t eat Pete!” Download the printable game card here.
Ash says
I love this in all its Valentines cuteness. The hostess is adorable, as usual:)
46bb3da0-7463-11e2-88cf-000bcdcb5194 says
Did you just accidentally reveal Ella's name? 🙂
Janssen says
Her name isn't really a secret – I just don't want it to be searchable, so I don't really mind if it's in a photo.
Rhea says
I LOVE it!
Creole Wisdom says
So fun! I bet she loved every minute of it. In my opinion, the boxes are the best part of Valentine's Day. We made them when I was in AOPi in college 🙂 Had the time of our lives and I would still now… maybe a group at church will do them! 🙂
audrey says
When I clicked on the download link, it took me to a page where it said that the download was not available. Has anyone else had this problem?
Janssen says
You're right! I had the settings on private – first timer, clearly! All fixed now.
Rhi says
Oh my goodness. Too cute. I cannot wait to do this kind of stuff with Henry.
Jenny says
Your sister lives in your apartment complex?
BEST EVER.
Don't Eat Pete! is on our top ten favorites for party games.
CUTE party.
Amber says
What a cute party!! We also play a version of that game- called don't eat Santa 🙂
Jessie says
I just introduced my kids to "Don't Eat Pete" yesterday and they have been loving it!! They can't get enough 🙂
ct says
Don't eat Pete looks fun. My 2 year old will love it. I must admit I was confused why you posted some other child's mailbox on here but then remembered Ella is a pseudonym.
Peaceful Reader says
Groovy Girl just complained to me the other day that as 5th graders they no longer have a Valentine's party at school. She was so sad as she listed off "no mailbox, no treats, no cards to read." I think the mailbox is the best part. Great party Ella!
The Apron Gal says
Such a cute party! We loved it! And all your food, as usual 🙂
Packrat says
You come up with the best ideas. Sounds like a good time.
Lindsay says
This is so cute! I'd love to have a Valentine's Day party like this. You have great ideas for your family. 🙂
Shelly says
Fun idea. You make party throwing sound easy, and do-able.