A Fun and Easy Valentine's Craft, ages 2-5Michelle Gonzalez

Make a special Valentine with your child.
My daughter and I had SO much fun putting this together, that I thought I'd share it with you. Make an adorable Valentine's card for friends and relatives in minutes.

Materials-

Construction Paper
Glue Stick
Left over wrapping paper or other "pretty" paper (optional)

Parent, trace a large heart onto one side of a piece of construction paper. Use any color you like, such as white, pink or red.

Parent, cut out the heart leaving about a quarter inch all the way around. It should look like a semi heart shaped "blob" when you're done.

Parent, cut different colors of construction paper and/or other paper (I used left over wrapping paper) into various shapes. I found it easiest to cut the paper into a long rectangular strip, then cut the strip into small triangles. This was quick and easy, but you can cut the paper into any shapes, or even use a punch out heart from a craft store.

Mix the pieces up in a little bowl so many different colors are present.

The fun part:

Place the heart shaped blob on a piece of newspaper, with the traced heart facing down. Gently go over it with the glue stick. Instruct your child to choose paper from the bowl and place it on the heart. My three year old loved making her own designs and deciding where each color went. Let them overlap the papers and go over the edges as much as they want to, as it adds dimension to the project when it's done.

Once the paper is covered with pretty paper shapes, simply let it dry and cut the heart out. You have a very unique card! You can write a message on the empty side of the heart, or (as I did), print a short note and picture of your child. Don't forget to add the date, and I guarantee that grandparents will pull this out and enjoy it for many years to come.

About the Author

Michelle Gonzalez is the editor of both www.youthweekly.com and www.inspiredparent.com . A mother of three, she enjoys writing articles as well as poems and stories in her spare time. Her passions around childrens literacy and good parenting led her to create her two successful ezines.

Unique Area Rug - A Vital Component Of Interior Decoration

A unique area rug proves to be a vital component by the dint of which the interiors can be given an aesthetic fervor. A stylized unique area rug ensures not only revitalizing the glory of the interiors of the house but also let the people lead an elegant life with style, luxury and comfort. The aesthetic look of the high quality unique area rug can deliver a high degree of invitational note along with adding some inspirational glory to your room.

There are so many types of area rugs such as accent area rugs, contemporary area rugs, carpet rugs, sitting area rugs, Victorian area rugs, traditional pile area rugs, tufted area rugs and so on. But all of these categories may not prove to be perfect for your life style. Selection should be in accordance with the kind of life you are leading and the type of area rugs you actually need. Unique area rug has always been the best way to revitalize or upgrade the look of the interiors of your office or home or hotels or business malls or etc.

With a unique synchronization of ambience, beauty, comfort, elegance and style a unique area rug can transform any drab corner of your room into a dreamy paradise. This is why the glorious area rugs are enjoying demands at great level almost every in corner of the world. Especially, in America the demand for these aesthetic rugs seems to be at the zenith.

With the change of life style there has been a noticeable change in the style of area rugs as well. Although the cotton and woolen rugs and the silk rugs have been the main categories of area rugs until the recent past, the natural fiber area rugs have come into the scene during the present era. The unique area rug of these natural fibers is also enjoying good degree of demand. The major reason behind the fact is that a unique area rug that is made up of the natural fibers is really durable and can be easily maintained. Another reason of the high popularity of a natural fiber unique area rug is that it tends to be quite cheaper as compared to the other categories of area rugs.

The natural fiber unique area rug is perfect not only for your home but also a perfect choice for your office. A unique rug crafted out of the mountain grass or jute or sea grass or sisal delivers an exceptionally extraordinary dimension to the look of your room or your office. On the other level, a unique area rug made of wool or silk are also smart enough to give a transcendental fervor to the beauty of the interior, but they are not as hardy as the natural fiber area rugs.

Although these traditional aesthetic rugs are glorious but the prevailing fashion are more inclined towards the natural fiber area rugs. A unique area rug made from the natural fibers tends to decorate the modern homes and offices with some inspirational note of style. While purchasing a unique area rug it is advisable to opt for a renowned rug store. Shopping for a unique area rug should be done only after collecting requisite information in this regard.

Samantha Clark heads consumer reviews at http://www.dealsdepot.com.au and http://www.rugstore.com.au - the web's most popular Online Shopping sites.