The Valentine Box

It amazes me on a daily basis, the perceptions of my children. For Alden's preschool, family project, we had to design a Valentine Box. OK, so I got a heavy-duty shoe box (supplied from my dad), contact paper (supplied from my mom), and lots of creativity supplied from Alden and Olivia. I asked Alden what kind of Valentine Box he would like, and he said, without hesitation, "I want Mickey Mouse's Aston Martin!" For all of those who are unsure what an Aston Martin is, it is the souped up, fancy car that James Bond drives in his films and apparently what Alden believes that Mickey Mouse drives. I had to laugh to myself, for what 3 year old knows what an Aston Martin is, let alone, most other people? I had to laugh to myself thinking how I was going to make an Aston Martin! I first cut the box top to fit the Valentines. Then, I used the white contact paper and wrapped it around the box like I would a gift. The contact paper did not stick properly, so I had Alden help me glue the sides. Alden did not care to work with the glue, as he does not like to get his fingers dirty, however, Olivia was right in there, gluey fingers and all. Well, the glue did not hold so I had to come up with another plan. I found some heart wrapping paper and decided to wrap the box in that instead. I did that and Olivia loved the hearts. Alden did not. "Momma, Mickey's Aston Martin doesn't have hearts, it is red." Time to bust out the acryllic paints. Alden and Olivia both painted over the nice heart paper with bright red paint. Alden was done for a bit after that. Baby steps. I cut out some wheels, a grill, a spoiler, and a Mickey Mouse picture that I attached to some cardboard. Alden and Olivia painted the wheels black and we added a heart stamp in red on each wheel. Again, Alden had a difficult time with getting his hands messy, so I kept a wet paper towel nearby for him to wipe his hands. Of course, Miss Olivia, was all over the paint and loved getting messy! I helped paint the grill and we all finished the spoiler. I got out the handy glue gun and constructed the pieces together on the shoebox. Once together and the glue had dried, I cut out some oval circles in white paper and had Alden help paint an "A" in the circles. These pieces would be the crucial emblems. I added the "A" emblem to the spoiler and the grill along with some headlight circles that we also painted. It was a complete Valentine Box work of art! Alden hadn't seen it all together yet and I brought it to the dining room table. Now, Mickey was not on the Aston Martin yet since Alden had to play with the cardboard Mickey for a while. I was so excited to show Alden our finished, amazing work of art and was even more thrilled to see his reaction bringing his Aston Martin to life. "Look, Alden! Look how awesome your Aston Martin Valentine Box looks!" Alden looked at the box, then looked at me, then looked at the cardboard Mickey and said, "Momma, that's not an Aston Martin! That's a DODGE!" I had to laugh to myself. I then asked if we could glue Mickey onto the Dodge, but Alden said, "Momma, Mickey can't drive in a Dodge!" As for the "A" emblem, Alden was Ok with that and called it the "Alden Emblem." Well, needless to say, we tried to build Alden's Aston Martin, but sometimes in life, we just have to settle for the Dodge!