Is there anyone else who, like me, struggles to get those Valentine’s boxes made on time? I wish I liked it. I wish I did!! But I just don’t. I’m not super creative and my patience for craftiness starts to run thin pretty quickly. A few years ago as we were getting close to the big day, I had three kids who needed boxes made and my idea bucket was empty. On a whim, we ran to our local party store and I told each of the kids pick a piñata. We took them home, cut holes in appropriate places and called it good.

It was a total desperate mom move at the time, but was surprisingly well received by both my kids and their friends. And it has become our tradition ever since! Now my kids look forward to seeing what’s new in the piñata world every year in February. And we’ve discovered that other kids at the school are also hopping on the bandwagon, which is always fun.  Our party store in town has a decent selection, but you can get them other places, as well. I recently saw a ton of cute ones at WalMart and they were even cheaper than the party store! It might pay to look around while you’re out shopping! 

We’ve had some great Valentine’s boxes as we’ve burned through our piñata resources for all four kids- soccer and baseballs, a frog, a treasure chest, a moustache, an old school boombox, a Tiki god, and a strawberry. It’s been fun to see what the kids will pick each year. Luckily we are almost through elementary school and these parties will be a distant memory. Can I get a  hallelujah?! It may not be homemade, but it has worked for us. And it has taken the stress out of Valentine’s parties for me. It’s a win-win! 🙂