Quick 4th of July Countdown

I have been wanting to put together a 4th of July countdown for my kids. They love counting down to holidays. With our previous countdowns we have read a book every night and then they get a little treat. I think this has made holidays so much fun! The 4th of July, however, has completely snuck up on me. Yesterday I ran to Michaels and grabbed a few things to put together our quick 4th of July countdown!

First, I found some fun books about the US/ the 4th of July at Barnes and Noble. We will read one each night of the countdown.

I got four cute little patriotic buckets for $1 each at Michaels and added some fun little sparkles and a flag.

I added some numbers . . .

. . . and the candy . . .

. . .  and it was done! It was quick, easy, and cute PLUS I think the kids will LOVE it!

Do you do anything fun to celebrate the 4th of July with your family?

Easter Countdown

We just started our Easter Countdown! I found this "Easter Tree" at Hobby Lobby. I originally bought it for a recent Young Women lesson (here), then realized it would be perfect for our countdown. My kids love to have countdowns for holidays. Here is one we recently did for Valentine's Day.

I found these really cute sparkly eggs at Walmart. I love them!

Each night we read an Easter book for a bedtime story.

Then the kids get a surprise out of one of the eggs! They love it! 

I was going to add numbers to the countdown, but couldn't settle on a way to go about it. I will keep thinking about it and put that on my to-do list for next year!

Does your family have any fun traditions for Easter? Do your kids like to have countdowns for holidays? 

Valentine's Day Countdown

During the month of December our family counted down the days until Christmas by reading a Christmas book each night and then getting a little surprise out of our stocking. The kids LOVED it! It was kind of sad when on December 26th they still asked to read a book and get a surprise out of the stocking. Because they enjoyed it so much and because I love celebrating holidays with my kids, I decided to make another countdown for Valentine's Day!

When I was young, we used to make these woven felt hearts all the time for Valentine's Day and I thought they would be perfect to use for our countdown! 

I bought some extra felt, but I mostly just used odds and ends I already had around the house- ribbon, puffy paint, and clothespins.

We just started our Valentine's Day book collection. I found a bunch of fun books while I was at Michael's recently. I hope to eventually collect 14 so we can read a new one each day!

The best part about the hearts is that they make a little pouch just perfect to hide a surprise in!

How do you celebrate Valentine's Day with your family? Do you have a favorite Valentine's Day book?