Growing a Sweet Valentine

  It was all sweet and sticky smiles at the Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club meeting this month.  What more would you expect when Messy Missy comes by to lead the February meeting?  Youth got a chance to grow a really sweet flower by making it themselves.  Using her newly found Pinterest reference, Missy came up with three really neat projects for club members to do while celebrating Valentine's Day.
  First the youth got the chance to glue hearts together that would make the petals for their dum dum sucker flowers.  The dum dum suckers were actually the centers and the club members made two of these lovely flowers to give as gifts on Valentine's Day.  Not to mention there might have been a sucker or two that made it into people's mouths.
  After making their own flowers, the youth needed to make a pot to put them in right?  Actually they ended up planting the seeds of a sweet Valentine's Day by making this special card.  Using construction paper each member created their own flower pot form cutting it out and decorating it.  Then they attached a packet of seeds and put a Valentine's Day sentiment in the card meant for the special person they will give it to.
  After all that hard work it was really time to make a mess.  The club members took different colors of crayon and shaved them (becuase crayons are so very hairy), onto wax paper.  After getting lots of color we folded the wax paper and ironed it all to melt it.  After a few seconds it was not only melty but the wax paper fused together.  Then our youth were able to cut out a heart and make it look like a stained glass creation.  After adding a quick hole with a hole punch and a piece of string for a hanger, it was ready to hang in any window and melt the heart of the person it was made for.
    Club members had a good time and are looking forward to their next club meeting on March 12.  If you would like more information about this club please contact a member of the 4-H Staff at (910) 671-3276.