Valentine’s Day comes every year we all go out to purchase chocolates and little cards to give out to our friends, family, significant others and/or fellow class mates. This year we thought we would take a new twist on Valentine’s Day and make it more of a family oriented holiday rather than a run to the store. We have a couple of ideas that can replace the normal chocolates and candy and some fun cards you can make at home for your significant other or your children’s class mates.
Homemade Cards:
Picking out a valentine’s card for your mate or your kids to give out to their class mates can be a daunting task. You want to have the best card and you want it to be cute but meaningful. But there is nothing more meaningful than a homemade card! We have chosen two cards to feature here that you can make at home. One is for you and your kids to have fun making and another for you to make for your significant other.
The first card we are featuring is a fun, easy craft project you can do with your kids. All you need is some pink and red lollipops, various shades of pink and red construction paper some googgly eyes, some tape, glue and scissors. Take the paper and fold it in half, cut the shape of a butterfly wing out of the paper and unfold it then take the lollipop and tape it to the middle. What do you have, a valentines butterfly! Then put the eyes on the lollipop to bring it to life. You can decorate the wings as you see fit. This will only take a few minutes and it’s a wonderful and inexpensive card for your kids to give to their class and friends at school.
The next card we are featuring is for you to make for your companion. For this one you will need various shades of pink, white, and red construction paper, tape and/or glue, scissors, and either a printer or a permanent marker. Instead of making one card for your love we liked the idea of making several “love coupons.” On each coupon you can write a little note with something you love and appreciate about the person receiving it and on the other side you can have a redeemable coupon, i.e. this coupon is good for a sleep in as long as you want Saturday morning.
Homemade Treats:
Everyone buys those same little heart shaped chocolate boxes from the store, and let’s be honest most of those chocolates aren’t even very tasty. So this year instead of wasting money why not make a delicious treat at home. You can do it with your kids and they can take it to school or you can leave them at home for you and yours to munch on.
The first treat we are featuring is a fun dessert you can make with your kiddos to take to school or just have at home. It is a chocolate cupcake made into an owl. You will need chocolate cupcake mix, pink icing, Oreo cookies, junior mints, pink candy corns and pink and red M&M’s. First you will bake the cupcake, let it cool, and ice it. Then take the Oreos’ and twist them apart carefully, you need all the icing to be on one side. Place two Oreo halves with icing on the cupcake, then take a junior mint and put it in the middle of the Oreo. Next you will take to candy corns and put them at the top of the cupcake to make it look like eyebrows and an M&M and place it as the owl’s beak. Pretty easy and fun for the kids!
The next dessert we are featuring is a little more “gourmet”. This is a more complex dessert but fun and delicious, you are going to make heart shaped cheesecakes and write sweet notes on them. You will need 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (15 squares), pinch of cinnamon, 1/2 stick butter (melted), 16 ounces (2 blocks) cream cheese, softened, 1 cup sugar, 3 large eggs, 2 cups sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, food coloring – pink, purple, blue, green, yellow, and red. You will also need a bowl to mix this in, a mixer, a rubber spatula, a fine tip brush or icing you can write with, roasting pan and a silicone heart shaped pan.
First set the oven to 325 degrees, then combine the grahams, melted butter and cinnamon and mix it up until it looks like sand, then put in the bottom of the heart shaped pans as the crust. Next, beat the cream cheese on medium to high until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Be sure to scrape the cream cheese out of the mixing blade as well. You don’t want lumps in your cheesecake. Add sugar and beat for one minute. Add eggs and beat until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl once. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix just to combine.
Then separate your mixture into bowls so you can add in the food coloring. Mix it together well and pour the mixture in to the heart shaped pan oven the graham cracker crust you have put in there. After that, put the silicon sheets in to the roasting pan which should have already be in the over with heated water in it to help set the molds. Bake for 15-30 minutes depending on the size of your cheese cakes. Then you will remove your hearts from the pan and take either icing or a fine tip paint brush with food coloring and write on the cakes making them conversational heart shaped cheesecakes.
All of these treats and cards should be a fun experience for you and your kids. Remember to have a good time making them and not get too crazy about everything being absolutely perfect. If you choose to try one of our featured projects please take photos and send them in for a chance to win a gift card and be featured in our future newsletters. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!