Easy-Peasy Minecraft Valentines

This is yet another entry into the annals of involuntary crafting. The first one was my kids' birthday parties, which were pretty hellish. I had to make creeper cakes, people. And I don't bake. Period.

And now it's February, Valentine's Day is approaching, and Mojang Inc. has not licensed any Minecraft valentines. Hence I must, yet again, create my own Minecraft-themed paraphernalia.

Ugh.

Words cannot express how upset I am about this. I am NOT crafty. I would much rather purchase pre-made valentines than make my own. Curse you, Mojang!

But I have no choice. Guess how many I have to make. No, seriously, guess.

Ninety-Nine!!!!!

I kid you not. But yes, three Minecraft-crazed kids times thirty kids in each class plus three teachers/aides per kid equals ninety-nine valentines.

I hate my life right now.

Luckily, these are pretty easy to make. All you need is a creeper face template, a pack of green craft paper from Michael's, a heart-shaped cookie cutter, scissors, a pencil and a black marker.

Trace out the heart shape onto the paper, color the creeper face in, and cut. Voilà, instant valentine.

My template was too big, so I ended up free-drawing the face. But it would be a lot easier (and more consistent) if you made a template.

Anyway, now I have 12 valentines. Only eighty-seven to go. Woo-hoo!

The Easy-Peasy Minecraft Birthday Party

My kids are Minecraft crazy. The game has taken over our computer, our house, and our life.
So, of course, when we made birthday plans for the kids they had only one request, Minecraft birthday party.

I'm not a crafty person, so I panicked when I realized that there are no pre-made Minecraft party supplies. (Hello, Mojang, fabulous licensing opportunity here). A google search did not calm me down. People do make home-made Minecraft parties, but the ideas I found on the 'net were far beyond my meager crafting and baking skills. There's a lot of very creative parents out there, but, sadly, I'm not one of them.

But, after much brainstorming and googling, I did manage to put together a relatively simple Creeper-themed party. So, here it is, the Easy-Peasy Lemon-Squeezy Minecraft Birthday Party.

I found lime green supplies at Target and Party City. I bought bags, plates, napkins, and cutlery.

I printed out a creeper face template and used it to make the bags. I used black construction paper and pasted it on the bags with rubber cement. I also ordered a bunch of green balloon (half are transparent and half are opaque).

 Then I made a creeper cake. It turned out beautifully.

I'm not a good baker by any means. I found the square cake molds at Michael's.  The supermarket carried black frosting and green frosting paint.

I used two boxes of chocolate cake mix. I made two square layers and put the one on top of the other with chocolate frosting in the middle. I then covered the cake with plain white frosting. I laminated one of the creeper face templates and placed  it in the middle of the cake.

Then I sprayed the white frosting with green spray-on paint and prayed.

It worked!

I added some dark green sprinkles to give the green frosting a pixilated look. Then I took off the creeper face template. That left me with a white creeper face. I covered the white parts with the black icing.

Voilá! Instant creeper cake. It was super easy.

Next, I made some laminated bookmarks and keychains with printed creeper figures. I found the keychain kit and the lamination paper at Michael's.

This wasn't an elaborate party, but it was Minecrafty enough. My kids were happy and their friends were pretty impressed.

Luckily, the kids are now getting into Pokémon. I'm pretty sure I can find Pokémon party supplies at the party store. Whew!

Minecraft (and all associated images) are owned by Mojang Inc.