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Happy Valentine's Day!

At Smoochie Baby the approach of February means one thing, Valentine's Day! This is the perfect time of year to show how much you care for your loved ones, but also a great time to get creative with your kids. Making valentines is a great way to spend a fun afternoon with your smoochers, and we have a couple tips and tricks on how to make them easy and sustainable! Make them and pass them out to family, friends, and teachers! It is an easy and lovely way to tell the people in your smoochers lives that you care.

Sweet Treats - DIY Lollipops

A way to make sustainable and adorable valentines is by making them edible! To create these easy valentines from local mom and influecer @brooklynfarmgirl, you only need a few supplies: red and pink jolly ranchers, popsicle sticks or fun straws, cute sprinkles, and parchment paper. Simply line a baking sheet with the parchment paper and place three jolly ranchers next to each other on the sheet (try mixing pink and red candies to achieve a marbled effect). Make sure to leave a few inches between the jolly ranchers as they will spread when they melt. Pop the lined baking sheet in the oven and watch them closely until they are melted. Immediately add a popsicle stick to each lollipop. Now this is the fun part! Get together your various sprinkles and decorations and allow your kids to get creative! You can even get eye sprinkles and make silly faces on each lollipop. Bundle two or three together with some ribbon and pass out these adorable lollipops to your friends and family! Find the orignal recipe here: https://brooklynfarmgirl.com/valentine-monster-lollipops-jolly-rancher-lollipops/ 

Get Personal - DIY Valentines

Valentines are always the most special when they are personalized for your special someone. With this amazing hack, every valentine you give out will remind your loved ones that your smoocher is thinking of them! First, start by taking a cute picture of your child holding their hand out to look like they are holding something. Once you get a shot you like, use a photo editing app (Snapseed is a good one) to add your desired text. Print as many copies of the photo as you want (the photos will be your valentine card)! Then, carefully cut two incisions with scissors or an X-Acto knife, on the top and bottom of the fist. Slide a lollipop through (perhaps the DIY ones you made above) to look like your child is handing it to their valentine. Finally, hand out these creative and delicious valentines that everyone is sure to love! Step by step reel by @tablefor5please here. 

Let Love Grow - DIY Plant Pots

Another fun project to do with your kids for Valentine's Day is to let love grow through potted plants! To make these simple and sustainable valentines all you need to do is head to your local plant shop with your kids and have them pick out a couple of plants they like (we like mini succulents as they are adorable and easy to care for). Make sure to buy a pack of clay pots and some potting soil as well. Bring your supplies home and set them aside. Assemble some materials like paints, markers, and heart stickers to decorate the pots. Customize them by adding the name of your individual valentine you are making it for! Once done with decorating, have the kids place some soil in each pot, add the plant and water them individually! It’s as easy as that! This is the perfect project to do with your kids and a great addition to any home. 

Here at Smoochie Baby we would like to wish you all a fabulous Valentine's Day filled with lots of sweets and hugs! Make sure to stop by the store for Valentine's Day clothing, accessories, and gifts (so much good stuff here) for your little valentines! If you get a chance to make any of the valentines we listed above make sure to post a photo on Instagram and tag us @smoochiebaby  so we can see your beautiful creations! Happy crafting!

With school back in session, we’ve got books on the mind, and since very few things in life give us more joy than reading to young children, we decided to round up our top 5 favorite books right now for toddlers and preschoolers. As parents, we love finding books that not only delight our babies and toddlers but ones we will enjoy reading to them over and over and over again! The best books for young children are entertaining, have engaging pictures, and encourage a life-long love of reading in your budding book lover.  Check out our top 5 favorite new books for young children and see if any of your family favorites made the list.

NY is for New York 

This delightful read is a great children’s book that can double as a tourist guide for New York.  It walks you through the big apple from A to Z. The artwork in the book is colorful and bright as it showcases iconic buildings like The Chrysler building and Rockefeller Center. It highlights landmarks in all 5 boroughs catching the essence and energy of the city! A must have for every New York City kid’s library.

The Story of Rap/ The Story of Rock 

The best time to influence your children’s musical taste is before age 10, according to a recent study by music streaming service Deezer. Get started early with one of these awesome board books. Their colorful illustrations give  a short playful intro to the most iconic artists of each genre sure to delight the youngest of music lovers. This board book will be a great addition to your library and a fun way to teach the history of Rap or Rock!

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My Art Book of Sleep

A bedtime story book about sleep? Yes please! This gorgeous, luxurious-feeling book for toddlers and preschoolers contains 35 full-page artworks from a variety of periods that feature sleep in all its forms – from naptime to bedtime, dreaming to waking, sunsets to night skies – accompanied by a brief, tender, read-aloud text. This book definitely makes reading at bedtime a work of art!

Cookies! Cook in a Book

Does your little one love to be in the kitchen with you when you're cooking? Then this is the book for you! Bake cookies from scratch inside this interactive recipe book - sift flour, whisk the sugar, crack the egg, pour the chocolate chips, and more! Simple yet factual recipe text takes young readers through the steps of baking cookies. One hundred percent adult-free, danger-free, and mess-free - baking cookies has never been so independent! 

I ♥ Science

Introducing curiosity to your young one can never start too early. I ♥ Science is a great way to celebrate just that. This book has everything your budding scientist could want ranging from flap-lifts, pull tabs and spinning wheels to feed their young and curious minds. It is an easy to read book with amazing illustrations to spark your child's imagination and get them understanding science early!