It all started when my son – my oldest and least crafty of the crew – announced he wanted to DIY his valentines this year. This boy not only NEVER requests to craft, but he also wanted to re-use the Minecraft valentines I’d created for him last year. This, even after I offered to buy the store bought kind. Be still my crafty heart! This called for a celebration!
I decided that over the weekend I’d surprise all the kiddos with a sweet valentine breakfast and then have a crafting workshop. Okay, I have a way of getting a little carried away…but food is my son’s love language and I wanted to have a little fun with this rare opportunity.
Sharing the love on Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be a huge investment. This year we started a new family tradition: love notes to each other. Every day leading up to Valentine’s Day, one family member wakes up to balloons in his or her room. Each balloon has a sweet note from another family member.
Need a valentine candy detox? I bring you respite from the mountains of sticky sweet candy concoctions dominating the internet: the Healthy Berry Spritzer.
Do you love the look of those great pallet signs on Pinterest (my own version here!), but not the time and labor that goes into them? You’re in luck! Today I’m going to share with you how to make a faux pallet sign in just 10 minutes using inexpensive wood print paper.
It’s that time again! Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and today I’m sharing some of my favorite ideas with a Valentine’s Day printables round-up round-up .
Are you a fan of the Soda Shoppe Valentine’s Day printables I shared earlier this week? I have one more soda-themed valentine for you. My son loved the idea of giving candy wax bottles to his buddies at school, but he was kind of hoping for a more cola inspired theme and wanted it to read “soda great” instead of “soda sweet.” You don’t want to send the wrong message in 2nd grade, apparently.
I whipped up this very basic tag that he’s a big fan of, so I’m sharing this Soda Great Valentine’s Printable here for my subscribers today!
You can download this free Valentine’s Day printable by subscribing here.
I can’t help it – I’m a sucker for retro inspired candies. When I stumbled across candy wax bottles the other day, I had a retro Soda Shoppe Valentine’s Day idea I couldn’t get out of my head.
Today’s sweet Valentine’s Day printable is brought to you by my daughter’s upcoming birthday party.
You see, in brainstorming her pink lemonade party favors, I couldn’t help but think they would also make great valentines. Since I’m all about pulling double duty on party planning, I’m offering these Pink Lemonade Valentines as a printable for you today!
Need s’more (sorry) Valentine’s Day ideas? Just grab a box of graham crackers, a bag of mini Hershey’s chocolate bars and some heart-shaped Peeps or marshmallows, print out one of the free printables below, and you’re in business!
Dress up a common paper lunch bag to be something extra special! EClaire needed to take favor bags to school for her half birthday (summer birthday problems!). I had a few awkwardly shaped items so I needed a decent-sized bag, but I didn’t want to spend much.
As usual, I headed to the Dollar Tree fro some paper lunch bags and doilies. Then, I secured them with these tiny craft clothespins that you can get at Hobby Lobby or here on Amazon. I love how these turned out, and you can make 40 for just $6. Next time, I love the idea of trying these for birthday party favors with colorful doilies and clothespins.
These would be great for Valentines, Birthday parties or even for quick and easy gift wrap for small gifts.
Is your little one obsessed with Minecraft? I feel you. Dub has the game, the app and the collection of hardcover books that he studies relentlessly. It’s Minecraft hysteria up in here.
I knew I had to make his Valentine Minecraft-themed. I just wasn’t finding the right thing, so I had to create it myself. I was most inspired by this adorable candy wrap by Simple as That, but really didn’t want to buy a full box of Mike & Ike candy for each of his classmates *cough*cheap*cough* and I was too lazy to cut out those adorable tags of hers. I know, this says a lot about me.
So I went to work creating a wrap for a standard box of conversation hearts. Once it’s printed, I helped cut out the wraps, and then I put Dub to work wrapping the box, using stick glue to seal it on the side, and he signs the back. Done (I love when a good plan comes together).
Remember the Princess Candy Necklace favors i made for my daughter’s birthday? Well, I’m all about upcycling my work, so I made a few modifications so we can use them for EClaire’s classroom Valentines. The party favors have been such a hit among all my readers, so I’ve decided to offer these up as a free Candy Necklace Valentine printable, as well.
Just print these out, two-sided, on some card stock, cut a slit on either side of the card and finish with a candy bracelet!
For Eve’s Princess Birthday Party, I was going for a generic princess feel rather than a Disney princess kind of feel. As part of that, I wanted to create some custom party favors. I didn’t really find anything out there I loved for purchase, so I went about creating my own.
You already saw the Candy Button Crown favors I made for the party. Today, I’m sharing the hit of the party – Candy Necklace Cards. I’d seen a super cute concept online, but nothing princess themed. So, I went about creating these myself in PhotoShop, using hair and dress colors that somewhat inspired by Disney princesses, but with look that still felt sweet and unbranded.
There’s just something about Candy Buttons. These nostalgic candies are surprisingly easy to make, and are perfect for birthdays, party favors, or just a fun sweet treat.
To make Candy Buttons, all you need to do is prepare a simple royal icing recipe. You can use the recipe listed on the can of Meringue Powder, but I used the following recipe, inspired by Sweet Sugarbelle:
What you’ll need:
1 lb. confectioner’s sugar (4 3/4 cups)
Meringue powder (about 1/4 cup)
1/3-1/2 cup water
1-2 tablespoons flavored extract (I used almond extract because it’s what I had on hand, but there are tons of fruity flavors at the craft store that would be fun to try!)
Food coloring
Electric mixer
Freezer paper
Icing bag and small round tip (or a resealable bag with a tiny corner cut off would work in a pinch)
To prepare:
Whisk the dry ingredients together.
In a separate measuring cup, mix the flavored extract into the water.
Slowly begin pouring the liquid mixture into the powder mixture while it mixes.
Mix the frosting on medium-high speed until the frosting forms stiff peaks (around 7 minutes)
Add food coloring to achieve desired color. (I first made pink frosting, and later added a few drops of blue to make purple to get two colors out of one batch.)
Next, tear off a sheet of freezer paper – large enough that you can fit a large batch of buttons on (you won’t cut the paper until these are dry).
Fill your pastry bag (I used my Pampered Chef Decorator Bottle Set*) with frosting and twist the top, removing excess air. Now, simply pipe evenly sized dots across the paper. If possible, print a template in advance and place it below the freezer paper. Be sure that the design will fit into your final packaging. If you’re using pretzel bags for your packaging, your design will need to be approximately 2.15 x 5″ to fit the pretzel bags I would be placing them in.
Let the Buttons sit overnight to dry. Any excess frosting will keep in a resealable bag refrigerated for two weeks.
Now for the fun! Once the Buttons have set up overnight, you can begin cutting the freezer paper to your desired shapes.
Package your Candy Buttons for the occasion. I placed them in Wilton pretzel bags that I got at JoAnn’s for $1.37 using my 40% off coupon. Think of the possibilities! Birthday party favors, Valentines, and more!
In addition to being featured on the fab blogs listed on the right of this blog, this post was also featured on Huckleberry Love.
Dress up a common paper lunch bag to be something extra special! EClaire needed to take favor bags to school for her half birthday (summer birthday problems!). I had a few awkwardly shaped items so I needed a decent-sized bag, but I didn’t want to spend much.
Let the Buttons sit overnight to dry. Any excess frosting will keep in a resealable bag refrigerated for two weeks.
