I'm "Beary" Happy You're In my Class Gummy Bear Valentine's

Leave it up to Valentine's Day to get me to come out from underneath my rock:) I do L.O.V.E. Valentine's Day. It takes me back to the days when I was little.

I'm obsessed! So of course I make all the Valentine's and my kids get a "little" say in what what they want. LOL. I usually give them two Pinterest options and then they get to pick which one.

I wanted to makes these gummy bear valentine's last Valentine's Day but I could not find the individual packaged gummy bears. But this year I spotted them at Target so even though I had bought these really cute eraser Valentine's at Target earlier for my little one I knew when I saw them I had to make them!

They are really easy if you don't reinvent the wheel like I do every.single.time. I do a craft. Here was my inspiration from CreatingReallyFunAwesomeThings.com but I wanted them to include a pink gummy bear and I didn't really like the look of their gummy bears either so I redid them and of course I had to add my daughter's name at the bottom because getting her to sit down and right her name 22 times would be a chore. Her teacher already lectures her enough about how she still is writing capital M's for her middle letters. So I made it easy on her and just typed it in:) YAY!

If anyone is interested in me putting up a printable without my daughter's name of course included ...leave me a comment at the bottom and I will try and get one up.

Valentine's Day 2017

Happy Valentine's Day! My littlest decorated cupcakes during her class party. I think it's the cutest. I know....I know....I am not partial. Right?

Oh, and here is Ginger popping in to say "Happy Valentine's Day" too. Since the kids were at school she was modeling for me:) By the way she is a very demanding model. She went through lots of treats. LOL

Homemade School Valentine's

Here are Payton's "girl" class Valentine's this year.  I was pretty happy that I designed them using my Silhouette. I used the Silhouette also to cut the slits on the sides so I could slip the candy necklace candy watch/bracelet through.  I used candy watches instead of necklaces because they were less bulky on the backside of the valentine and because I saw them at the Dollar Tree and couldn't find the full candy necklaces.

Here are the valentine's ready to be packaged up.

I put them in treat bags from Michael's. Then I didn't like that they didn't have each of the girl's individual names on them. So I put each girl's name on a heart shaped sticker on the back to close them up.

These turned out super cute if I do say so myself:)

Homemade School Valentine's

Here is Payton's teacher valentine.  This is actually last year's but I never got around to posting it.  I usually will recreate the tags myself when I see something I like but I waited until the very last minute and didn't have time.  They are super cute too.  Here is where you can get one too.

This tag was not intended for valentine's but I made it into one by editing it a little bit and attaching a ring pop with a hole punch and glitter ribbon.  This was for the girl valentine's.

Here are the boy valentine's.  A cute tag that says, "I'm glad we're in the same school!" attached to a bag of goldfish.

Rolo Pencil Valentines

Here is what we decided to do for the teachers for Valentine's Day.  I saw these on Pinterest here and I thought they would be easy enough....and they kind of were...just time consuming and the cardstock paper is kind of hard to work with especially when you are trying to get it tight around the rolos.

Right after I took this picture we put them in a bag for my daughter to take to school and low and behold before we could get out the door our dog, Ginger ate one whole pencil including the paper, kiss, string and all.  She was feverishly working on the second one when we caught her.  Needless to say she spent the rest of day OUTSIDE. 

Gotta love a dog.

So only my daughter's most "favorite" teachers got one. 

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"Owl" always be your friend - Valentine's

I used this template from Smitten Blog Designs and tweaked it a little bit.  I download it to my computer, then opened it up in Gimp (a free editing program, like Photoshop) enhanced the colors a little bit and erased the wording and redid it so it would look all after I typed in the names.

I also had my Silhouette do the cutting for me.  I tried to do the slits where the pencil goes with my exacto knife but I like for it to look perfect and I just wasn't achieving that so, through the machine they went. 

Then we finished it off with a pencil.  It would have looked cuter with a Valentine's Day decorated pencil but me being the procrastinator I am we had to settle for the regular'O yellow #2 pencils.

These turned out better than I expected and my daughter loved them as well as her friends...or so she said.  What kid would rather a pencil over candy?  But I thought this was a good alternative to the massive amount of candy that the kids would be be getting.

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DIY Valentine Mailbox

 Here is what you need:
Scrapbook paper, mailbox (bought from Hobby Lobby $4.99...I think), ribbon, glue.

Cut to fit the shapes and glue it all on and there you have it a personalized Valentine holder for school.

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Valentine's Day 2011 ~ Fruit Baskets, Heart Shaped Brownies, Pineapple, & Udaman Candy Bar

Here is my post for Valentine's Day......late.  I gave fruit baskets using these labels, pineapple (using these labels), homemade brownies (using this printable bag), and a Udaman candy bar (using this template).

Here are all the Valentine's waiting to be delivered.

Heart shaped brownies.

Cost breakdown for the brownies:

2 Brownie Mixes: 1.50 x 2 = $3.00

Total: 60¢/each

Fruit baskets for a healthier option.

Cost Breakdown for the fruit baskets:

Bananas: $1.14

Pears: $1.62

Apples: $3.29

Cellophane: $2.25

Baskets: $3.00 (From the Dollar Store)

Ribbon: 85¢ (From Hobby Lobby 50% off)

Total $3.90/each

Udaman chocolate bar for the mister.

Wrapped pineapple for a picky Valentine.

Cost breakdown:

Pineapple 99¢ (price matched Aldi's at Walmart)

Cellophane: 75¢

Ribbon: 14¢

Total: $1.74

Valentine's Day Egg in a Nest

My little girl loves eggs so, I thought I would change it up a bit and make an egg in a nest or you might call it a heart in a nest.  All you do is cut out the center of the bread with a cookie cutter and then break egg into the open hole.

Good For You Valentines!

Lots of parents are concerned with nutrition so here are some options that are on the healthier side for Valentine's Day. I think the fruit would be perfect to put in your child's lunch box.

Top Left: Twig & Thistle
Top Right: The Long Thread
Bottom Left: Twig & Thistle
Bottom Right: Twig & Thistle

Strawberry Crush Pop Valentine for My Baby Crush!

Aren't these Crush Pop labels for Valentine's Day the cutest things ever?  Since I had the hubs taken care of  I knew I better get the little one's Valentine done.  She loves pop but I limit her intake.  Since I do that she ALWAYS wants it.  So what better present for her then pop.  I saw these over at 2 Clever blog last year and bookmarked them for this year.  These are easy peasy.

1. Click here and print your graphic on cardstock. (I did mine a little different than the ladies on 2 Clever.)
2. Mine weren't printing out right so I dropped the graphic in Microsoft word and scaled it to 2.5" and used my circle punch to cut it out.
3. Use hole punch to make your hole at the top
4. Thread white string or pink/red baker's twine from Martha Stewart line (found at Michael's) through hole and tie on your Strawberry crush. I wanted to use the baker's twine like the girls at 2 Clever but couldn't find any locally and didn't want to have to order it.
5. Since the individual bottles come in a six pack you will have more than plenty. That is if you have more than one crush.

Homemade Popcorn Valentine!

Printable Popcorn Valentine Tag

I found these vintage Valentine images here and thought this was too cute not to do.  My husband isn't a big sweet eater but loves popcorn.  Here's how I made his Valentine.

1. Open the popcorn Valentine up in Microsoft Word and added a blue beveled border.
2. Print out on cardstock
3. Cut around border.
4. Affix using double sided tape to regular bag of individually wrapped popcorn.
5. Last I wrapped it up using a left over ribbon from Christmas
6. Ta-Da, an easy homemade Valentine that he will think is corny (like everything else I do).

Update: 2014  This post was so popular I searched back through my files and found it and am now offering it to you as a printable!

Click below to download:
Popcorn Valentine Tag

Valentine Ideas From Around the Web!

I love Valentine's Day.  I found all of these great ideas to do for your sweet.  I hope you enjoy them!
Valentine's Day Water Bottle Labels from Blonde Designs.

If you know me at all you know I love personalized water bottle labels.  It's quick, simple, and easy to do (especially when they provide the template).  The work is already done!

Personalized Treat Bags from Martha Stewart.
Create cellophane treats bags topped with your child's photo for their classmates and then stamp “Kisses love, (your child's name)” on the bags and filled them with Hershey’s Kisses–genius!

Creamy Fudge Hearts again by Martha Stewart.     

Ingredients

Makes about 4 dozen 1-inch hearts
Canola oil for the pan and cutters
1 1/4 cups milk
3 1/2 cups sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
Pink gel food coloring, (optional)

Candy Cane Heart

Do you have any mini candy canes left over from Christmas?  If you do then I will tell you how to create a heart shaped candy cane sucker. 

You will need mini candy canes.  I bought mine at Target for 49¢.  Then you will need lollipop sticks.  You can buy these at Michael's and use a 40% off coupon you can get out of the Sunday paper.  The cellophane bags are optional to wrap them in.  I'm using them because I already had them.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees then bake candy canes for 7-9 minutes.  Take out of oven then place a lollipop stick in the candy cane.  The candy canes are hot but you can still carefully mold them around the stick.  I'm a perfectionist so, I want it to look perfect.  If you don't care if it's perfect then you can bake at a higher temperature and get more done. 

I usually only do three at a time because they are not that hot and they cool quickly making them harder to shape.

Valentine’s Coupon Book Freebie

Are you looking for a cute, but frugal Valentine’s gift? Download a FREE Valentine’s coupon book and have fun creating a coupon book to give to your kids/hubby, etc. Come up with creative coupons…such as 1 free hug…something special you can do for the recipient.

Unique Valentine's From Photoworks! Starting at .46¢/each

I love, love, love holidays.  I think that's why one of the reasons I wanted to become a teacher.  What a wonderful perk of the job getting to make crafts and go all out for every holiday.  Did I tell you I love the holidays?

Well anyways, Photoworks has these adorable Valentines starting at 47¢ a piece, NOW these Photoworks Valentines are a little bit more pricey, but of course cute and unique as well.

I tell everyone I know about Photoworks because of the great freebie I got from the Bonnie Hunt Show.  Remember the Photobooks she so graciously bought for what was it 25,000 customers? 

1.) Go to Photoworks HERE, look for the kids Pack Valentines.

2.) Select your style – they are cute, and upload your child’s image.

3.) Place the quantity needed in your cart – each sheet starts at $2.49 (there are 4 prints/images on a sheet.)

4.) During checkout, use the code 25PLUS to get 25% off all orders… plus FREE shipping!

Total – $1.87 per set of 4!

Valentine's Day: Heart Shaped, Strawberry Flavored, Homemade Marshmallows!

I know it's only January 5th but, I always like to try my recipes before they go out to someone.  So, I tried making homemade marshmallows.  The first one's I tried were Meyer Lemon Marshmallows.  Yuck!  I personally didn't like those at all. 

Next, I tried strawberry flavored ones.  Yum, they are a winner.  I plan on giving both grandparents 8 packaged strawberry marshmallows, candy cane heart sucker (from clearanced mini candy canes), a silhouette valentine card, and maybe a silhouette framed of there sweetie pie granddaughter.  Well that what I plan to do anyhow.

On with the marshmallows.  Here is the recipe I used:

Homemade Marshmallows
.75-oz unflavored gelatin (3 envelopes of Knox gelatin)
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cups light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
(I substituted and used 1/2 cup pureed frozed strawberries)

Line 9 x 9-inch pan with plastic wrap and lightly oil it. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for about 10 minutes.
(I also don't have a Kitchenaid stand mixer, which I think is best for this job.  But, my hand held mixer did fine.)

Meanwhile, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil and boil hard for 1 minute.

Pour the boiling syrup into soaked gelatin and turn on the mixer, using the whisk attachment, to high speed. Add the salt and beat for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, add in the vanilla extract beat to incorporate.

Scrape marshmallow into the prepared pan and spread evenly (Lightly greasing your hands and the spatula helps a lot here). Take another piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap and press lightly on top of the marshmallow, creating a seal. Let mixture sit for a few hours, or overnight, until cooled and firmly set.

In a shallow dish, combine equal parts cornstarch and confectioners' sugar. Remove marshmallow from pan and cut out with a small heart cookie cutter.  You need to get the deep metal cookie cutters because the marshmallow is quite thick.  I also used a pastry brush and oiled the cookie cutter about every 4th cut so, it wouldn't stick.  Dredge each piece of marshmallow in confectioners' sugar mixture.

Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 20 large heart shaped marshmallows, depending on the size of your cookie cutter.

I Heart Hot Chocolate!

Packaged and ready to go!