Disclosure

Pets have a pretty significant place in our lives. They make us happy. The give us unconditional love.

I’ve loved animals for as long as I can remember. Except for cats. Cats are evil. They’ve never liked me much but that’s okay because the feeling is mutual. For the time being, a parakeet holds the only title of pet in our home. The three dogs we adopted many moons ago, as well as those that we rescued and rehabilitated, hold a special place in my heart. While we support the local animal shelter, I’m not ready to adopt another dog just yet.

Don’t worry; we still find plenty of opportunities to bring animals into our home. As you can see from the photo above, the kids made four-legged Valentine collection boxes. When I was a kid, we were each given a manilla folder that we stapled shut, decorated and hung on the front of our desks. Back then, the only Valentine’s students gave each other were cards. These days, it takes a shoe box sized collection box with a large enough hole to allow for a variety of Pinterest-inspired Valentine gifts. Thankfully, creating one is very simple and doesn’t take too much time for your child to complete. Translation: If the kids notify you the night before the Valentine party at school, you can still crank out this cute pet in no time.

Pet-inspired Valentine Collection Box

What you’ll need:

Medium sized shipping box or large shoe box. (Approx size 5″ x 7″ x 10″)

Cardboard box (any size)

Packing tape

Utility knife (adults only)

Colored construction paper

Markers

Scissors

Scotch tape

Glue stick

Glue

Steps:

Use the packing tape to make sure the box is sealed shut. Determine what type of animal you want. Use the glue stick and tape to adhere the animal’s base color to the box. Have an adult use the utility knife to cut a 1½” by 5″ hole in the back. Use different colors of construction paper and scissors to add details to the animal. Spots, ears, eyes, tail. Use markers to add additional character lines such as nose or mouth. Have adult use utility knife or scissors to cut legs from the extra piece of cardboard. Since it will be elevated and can be seen from any direction, attach construction paper to the front and back of the cardboard legs and use markers to finish the details. Use the glue to adhere the legs to the body so it can stand up. Allow it to dry overnight then bask in how adorable a creation you made!

We do miss our dogs and think about them often. They were a huge part of our lives for so many years and were our children at a time when getting pregnant wasn’t in the cards for us. Once we were blessed with kids, our dogs were incredibly patient and protective of them. They were awesome and totally tolerated us doing goofy stuff like dressing them up in costume or manhandling them for photographs.

Now we get our fill of pets by visiting the dog park, the animal shelter, playing with friends’ dogs and of course streaming pet-centric shows on Netflix.

Some we watch as a family and others are safe for the kids to stream on their own. Annie, Snow Buddies and Step Dogs are just a few of the great shows available. If you plan to see the new Annie movie that is out, be sure to sit down with your kids and watch the classic one first!

Although I don’t like cats, ones of the cartoon, digital and fictitious type are just fine. One of my favorites is Garfield but Puss in Boots is a close second. If you haven’t heard, it’s actually a Netflix original! Littlest Pet Shop has always been a big hit around here and Pet Party looks pretty cute but we haven’t watched it yet.

Feel like something a little more grown-up? There are also several shows perfect for watching after the kids have gone to bed for the night: Frasier, Friends, Family Guy and Wilfred to name just a few.

So enjoy the animals – the pets in your home, the animal Valentine box or stream animal stuff on Netflix. Don’t have a Netflix account? Enter for a chance to win one!

Netflix Subscription



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