Just where did this mushy day of love originate? Get ready to swoon! This site History.com explains that there are several versions of St. Valentine. One legend suggests that he was a Roman priest during the third century. When the emperor outlawed marriage for soldiers, Valentine disregarded the law and continued to secretly perform weddings for young couples. When caught, Valentine was martyred.

Another legend teaches that St. Valentine tried to help Christian prisoners escape the beatings and torture of Roman prisons. After he was caught and imprisoned, Valentine fell in love with a girl who visited him. He wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine” before he was killed. Whichever story you want to believe, St. Valentine was known to be popular, heroic and romantic.

It is believed that we celebrate St. Valentine on February 14 in an effort to “Christianize” an ancient pagan fertility festival held in mid February. Part of the festival included the pairing off of the young single men and women of the cities.

It’s kind of fun to learn the ancient legends behind our popular holidays! Why not share these stories with your grandkids as you engage them in some kids’ Valentine crafts?

Valentine coloring pages are a simple way to spend an afternoon together. You can also find a wide array free, printable Valentine cards here The Balance. If you’re up for something different, though, check out this clothes pin heart wreath. What an easy, darling Valentine craft!

Of course, Amazon offers Valentine stuff galore. Check out these fun, no-mess, removable gel window stickers. Speaking of stickers, if you know any sticker fans, they’ll love you forever when they see this set of over 1,000 Valentine stickers. The stickers cost under $20 shipped, and should last you until the day you die. Also, these Valentine pencils are perfect for passing out.

For your favorite LEGO fan, this Cupid dog set is adorable and costs only $10.

However you celebrate it with your grandkids, we hope you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day! Maybe you could break out your chocolate stash to share with your grandkids while they craft and play. (Orrrr, maybe not.)

The post The Curious History of Valentine’s Day appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.

It is out with the Christmas reds and greens and in with the pinks, whites, reds, and golds of Valentine’s Day. With a day focused on showing your love for those you love the most, decorate the house, give a card, and celebrate the day with these 11 Lovely Valentine’s Day Printables. But just remember, love is a year round expression. Tell those you love what they mean to you and show it often all year long!

Which one is your favorite?

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The first batch that I made of these cookies were too much for just my husband and I to eat by ourselves so I took them to our next door neighbor’s. They have a lot of kids and I thought it would be fun for them to have these as an after school treat.   Their oldest teenage daughter answered the door and pretty much before I could say anything, she excitedly asked “Are those Swig cookies?!!”

I was cool right then and there.

I then made them again for Valentine’s Day and my daughter inhaled them saying that they were much better because I had made them with almond extract instead of vanilla.  It’s kind of my signature cookie secret.

Bam. Cool again.

Print

Swig Sugar Cookie Recipe

Course Dessert

Author This Grandma is Fun

Ingredients

Cookies

• 5 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• 1 cup 2 sticks softened butter
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 1¼ cup sugar
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 2 TBL water
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp almond extract. Can also use vanilla
• Additional 1/2 cup sugar for dipping your glass into to smash cookies. Do not add this into the cookie mix.

Frosting

• 5 tablespoons Land 'o' Lakes butter softened
• ⅓ cup + 1 TBL sour cream
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2-3 TBL milk
• 3.5 to 4.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract. Can also use vanilla.
• 1 drop red food coloring. I used two drops of neon pink.

Instructions

Cookies

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a separate mixing bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and powdered sugar until well blended.
• Slowly pour in oil while mixing all the time.
• Add water, almond extract and eggs, blending well.
• Add dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
• Roll cookie dough into 2 inch balls.
• Put the additional 1/2 cup sugar into a small bowl.
• Place the 2 inch balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart because they will spread.
• Place a glass into the sugar (you may need to press the glass against some cookie dough to get the sugar to start to stick) and then press into the balls of dough.
• 
• Press until cookies are about 1/2 inch thick. The edge will become jagged and the cookie will spread beyond the bottom of the glass.
• 
• Bake for only 8 minutes. You do not want to over bake these cookies. 8 minutes is just about perfect.
• Remove cookies from cookie sheet and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• If you aren't going to frost these cookies right away, place them in an airtight container until ready to frost. This is what keeps them moist. I usually layer them in a gallon size ziploc bag.

Frosting

• Cream together butter, sour cream and salt.
• Add powdered sugar and add milk as needed.
• Add almond extract and food coloring (1 drop red OR two neon pink) until well blended.
• Add either more milk or more powdered sugar as desired. I like my frosting on the thicker side.
• Spread over cooled cookies and serve immediately.
• You can also allow the icing to dry a little then place in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Notes

Recipe adapted from The Idea Room

If you want to be a “cool Grandma” to your teenage grandkids, make a batch of these Swig Sugar Cookies.  If your teenage grandkids don’t know about these cookies, then you’re already cooler then they are.

Toodles!

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I remember when I used to visit my paternal grandmother that she would ask me to read to her.  We would take a book that I was interested in and I would read out loud to her.  We would sit on her bed and she would lean back and close her eyes and just listen and listen.  She would compliment me and tell me what a talent that I had in reading and I remember feeling SO special.

I have many, many other memories of doing things with my Granny Ola that I love but none of them were major events which taught me that it really doesn’t take much to be a wonderful grandma.  My grandkids love doing ANYTHING with Grammy even though it might be the smallest or the easiest thing to do.

These Valentine Sugar Wafer Cookies are super quick and easy to make but it turns these ordinary cookies into a special Valentine’s treat.  Your grandchildren will think that you went to a ton of work to make these special just for them.  And they will be right except for the ton of work part!

More than remembering making these cookies with you, they will remember the special feeling as you spend precious time with them.  I promise that they will remember how you make them feel long after the cookies are gone.

But the cookies are still great fun so let’s get to the instructions!

Print

Valentine Sugar Wafer Cookies

Author This Grandma is Fun

Ingredients

• Candy Melts in your desired colors. I used white pink and red.
• Pink Sugar Wafer Cookies
• Sprinkles of your choice

Instructions

• In a microwave bowl, melt the Candy Melts per the instructions on the bag. Make sure your bowl is not shallow so that it is deep enough to dunk the cookies.
• Dunk one end of the sugar wafer cookie into the melted chocolate and then immediately sprinkle with your sprinkles. I sprinkled mine on the top and both the sides but not the bottom so they would lay flat.
• Place the dipped and sprinkled cookies onto some parchment paper or some aluminum foil.
• Cool completely before devouring!

Notes

Recipe inspiration from Sparkles to Sprinkles

 Have fun being a Grandma today!

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A few years ago, I made some cootie catcher Valentines for my husband and son using scrapbook paper, and they were a big hit. This year, I decided to make some printable versions that anyone could use for their Valentine.

The idea for the printable cootie catcher Valentines came from this cool seasonal cootie catcher from Bren Did that I found on Pinterest.

I know you remember folding cootie catchers or fortune tellers when you were in school. Well, kids are still making them and having as much fun as we did!

For these free printables, I made one lovey-dovey version filled with sweet nothings, perfect to give to your sweetheart for Valentine’s Day.

Each flap opens to reveal a sweet, loving message.

Since I am also the mom of a 9-year-old boy who bristles at the thought of having to pass out any kind of remotely sappy Valentines to his classmates, I also made a boy-approved version.

In fact, there’s not a mention of Valentine’s Day at all on the boy version. Just lots of “punny” punchlines to the joke, “I really mustache you a question.”

When I made my original cootie catchers, I filmed a video tutorial that shows exactly how to fold one. You might find that useful as you’re making these.

First, you need to download the free printable of your choice.

Mustache Cootie Catcher Printable
Printable Valentine’s Day Cootie Catcher

Print it out on your home computer on a sheet of 8.5X11-inch paper. Then use scissors or a paper trimmer (this affiliate link is the one I use and recommend) to cut out the cootie catcher.

Fold the paper in half, left to right along the center line. Then unfold and fold, top to bottom, along the center line. Unfold and place the paper face down.

Fold the points to the center.

Then turn the cootie catcher over.

Fold each corner to the center again.

Like so.

And your cootie catcher is finished!

To play with it and start predicting your (romantic) future, just slide your thumb and index finger into the flaps on the underside.

Lift a flap to reveal your future.

You might enjoy these other Valentine’s Day projects:

No-Sew Embellished Heart Cocktail Napkins

Valentine’s Day Vignette (and love story)

Sew Cute Printable Valentines

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Chocolate chip cookies and bars are probably one of my absolute favorite desserts and they come in so many different variations. I absolutely fell in love with this recipe I pinned to my Dessert board from So Festive!

Since it is Valentine’s Day, I definitely wanted to add a little of the holiday color into the bars so I decided to take the recipe and turn it red. Then, after they baked, I cut them into hearts versus bars. Other than that, I kept almost everything else the same.

Ingredients for Red Velvet Blondies:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp red food coloring
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Let’s Make It:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9×13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add in vanilla and mix well. Add in eggs, one at a time.

3) In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to the butter mixture letting each prior addition incorporate before adding more. Slowly add red food coloring until desired color is reached. Fold in semi-sweet chocolate chips.

4) Spread batter into the prepared pan. Top with 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips.

5) Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden on top. Let cool before using cookie cutters to slice.

So, I am not going to admit how many of these Red Velvet Blondies I ate during my photo shoot. Let’s just say that the family asked me to make them again so they could have more than one. I had tried other chocolate chip cookie bars before {we call them blondies because they are a lot like brownies} and this one was definitely the best. I loved the amount of chocolate chips and how soft they turned out. Just perfection.

I hope you will come visit me to find out what else the four of us at Just Us Four have been up to recently. You’ll find lots of delicious recipes and even a few crafts thrown in. Of course, you can also see what I am crushing on or making by following me on Pinterest and Instagram.

Some of my most popular recipes right now include {you can click on the picture to visit}:

This awesome post has been shared with Home Stories A to Z and Living Well Spending Less.

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Valentine’s Day is about red and pink. Hugs and kisses. Sweets and Chocolate. School class parties and sweethearts exchanging love notes.

Call me corny but I love every Valentines note/card I’ve gotten from my kids and husband!

I also love delivering special little goodies to friends and family to let them know how much I love and appreciate them.

Best part about these Heart Filled Cups? They are quick and easy to make, you can whip out a batch, and spend your Valentine’s Day having fun delivering them!

This Pin Rocks!

Print

Chocolate Heart Cups

Author Made From Pinterest

Ingredients

• 1 Bag Milk or dark melting chocolate
• Valentine M&M's

Instructions

• Rub a small amount of olive or cooking oil in each heart shaped silicone mold and set aside.
• Melt chocolate in a medium mixing bowl in the microwave, or in a medium saucepan on the stove.
• Pour in enough chocolate to cover the bottom and sides of each heart mold.
• Refrigerate for 40 minutes or until the chocolate has hardened.
• Carefully remove chocolate hearts from the silicon mold.
• Fill with candy, fruit or mousse.
• Dab a small amount of melted chocolate on each heart where you want to the bow to go. Place the bow over the melted chocolate and apply gently pressure until the chocolate hardens and holds the bow in place.

 This awesome post has been shared with Home Stories A to Z and Living Well Spending Less.

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I loved the look of the pin I was inspired by, however, I changed my version up just a little bit because I wanted to give my Sprinkle Rimmed Glass a new twist!

To create these I used:

• Light Corn Syrup
• Red, Pink and White Non-Pareils
• Milk Glass

• Light Corn Syrup
• Red, Pink and White Non-Pareils
• Milk Glass

First I poured a fair amount of corn syrup into a small glass bowl and then I dipped the top of my milk glass into the corn syrup. You will want to remember to put enough corn syrup into the bowl to cover the top of the milk glass. The more syrup you use, the wider the layer of sprinkles will be! (And more sprinkles are always better, right!?)

Then I placed my sprinkles into a small bowl and dipped my milk glass into it.

This is not an exact art, you can definitely customize these in any way but I used the red, pink and white sprinkles because I thought these would be perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Doesn’t this look like a yummy treat!? A delicious glass of milk in a Sprinkle Rimmed Glass with a few delicious chocolates! I particularly love this scrumptious recipe for Peppermint Oreo Cookie Balls! They would be perfect to give to your special someone (or to eat yourself) this Valentine’s Day. Yum!

I tied a cute paper straw onto the milk glass with a piece of red and white baker’s twine just to make it look a little extra special. But these would also be perfect served without a straw!

I can’t wait to make a few of these as a special treat for my kids on Valentine’s Day too! They are going to absolutely love them!

And if you are looking for a few other fun Valentine’s Day ideas, you might also like these:

Chocolate Heart Pretzels

XOX Valentine’s Decor (Pottery Barn Inspired)

Heart Candy Dish

Spring Felt Wreath

I would love it if you took a moment to follow me via my Blog| Email | Facebook | Pinterest | Google+ | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube !

Hi I’m Ashley from Simply Designing! I am an interior designer turned DIY and Craft Blogger located in the Indianapolis area. My passion for interior design grew into a love of creating and one day I simply knew I needed to blog about it! And it has changed my life in many amazing ways: I absolutely love it! I love power tools and my hot glue gun, and occasionally I love to bake too! I love life and I try my best to find joy in the simple things! I love my family and friends and I am a firm believer that a good cup of hot cocoa or bowl of ice cream can cure most things. I am grateful for all I have been blessed with every single day. Come join me at my blog www.simplydesigning.net.

I’m so happy to have Ashley with us today! I met Ashley about 8 years ago,  I have always been amazed by her creative talents. Be sure to head over to her blog and check out her latest projects!

This awesome post has been shared with Home Stories A to Z and Living Well Spending Less.

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I love Valentine’s Day. It’s no secret I love any excuse to celebrate, and what could be better than a day dedicated to sharing love with the people most important to you?

As a kid I was always so excited for Valentine’s Day. Of course, I was in it for the candy. I might have quickly glanced at the “from” part of the card to find the name, but I really just wanted to see what treat they stuffed in that little white envelope.

As a teenager, I thought I was so clever when I came up with a “community valentine.” I figured no one really cared about the sentiment, they just wanted the candy. So at school on Valentine’s Day I carried around one single valentine and a tin of treats.

As I ran across a friend that day, I would hand them the valentine to read. I’m sure I spent hours composing the very heartfelt and sincere message: “This is a community valentine. Please read it and give it back. Happy Valentine’s Day! Love, Melanie” Obviously they must have been overwhelmed at my gushy-ness and many tears were shed. Then they would hand back the valentine and take a handful of candy.

Heartfelt and sincere, people. It’s just who that teenage girl was.

Now I like to put a little more effort into my Valentines. But let’s be real here… it’s still all about the treats. We are HUGE popcorn fans around here, and I am an even HUGER fan of simplicity. So this year my Valentines are combining a popcorn treat and a simple valentine.

Caramel popcorn is my weakness. I am a complete sucker for that chewy, caramel-y goodness. I have the most fabulous recipe that I shared at Forty Eighteen yesterday right HERE.

For these valentines I made up a batch of caramel popcorn, put a few handfuls in a cute cellophane bag, and tied on a tag for a great, tasty treat that shows my love. I mean, seriously, if I share my caramel popcorn with you… it’s true love.

But then it was time to get even simpler! Naturally I turned to Pinterest where I found these cute tags at Birds Party Blog and this cute valentine at Crazy Little Projects and was inspired to make some of my own. Not gonna lie. I kind of love them.

I picked up a box of microwave popcorn at Costco for my kids’ class valentines. It was nice of Costco to make their packaging red for me — so perfect for my valentines!

Making these popcorn valentines couldn’t be any easier. First, choose the tags you want and print them out – regular white copy paper is perfect. Click on each image to go to the download page. You can choose your favorite sentiment or print a variety page that includes all of them.

Use a 2.5-inch circle punch or cut them out by hand. Then it’s time to add to the cuteness level, so use a 3.5-inch scalloped circle and some scrapbook paper to embellish your tags. You can do this part by hand, too, but I would choose a simpler shape. Just stick the circle to the scallop and it’s ready to go!

While you’re cutting, you are going to need some strips of white cardstock, so go ahead and do that, too. Mine are 1.5 inches.

Finally it’s time to assemble. Wrap a strip of white cardstock around a microwave popcorn bag. The ends don’t touch quite, so use a piece of clear tape to tape the ends down. Stick a tag to the front and you’re done. Voila! Instant cute valentines!

You can find my crazy good caramel popcorn recipe and even more Valentine’s Day fun at Forty Eighteen.

My favorite Valentine’s Day tradition is our annual family party.

My husband, Steve, gave me this perfect Valentine’s Day surprise last year.

Spoil your valentine with this AMAZING treat.

I would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter, too! Instagram is my favorite! And of course, Pinterest. Oh how I love Pinterest. Have you discovered the awesomeness of Google+ yet? Seriously awesome.

What about you? Do you love Valentine’s Day? Do you have any special traditions or plans? I want to hear them!

This awesome post has been shared with Home Stories A to Z and Living Well Spending Less.

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* We’re sharing our favorite links from last week’s party at the beginning of today’s party.  Check them out and then keep scrolling down for the link party.  Happy Weekend!

Thanks for participating in the Best Recipes and DIY Projects Party last week!  We’re thrilled to share some of our favorite links from last week’s link party with you.

In just one short week, we’ll be celebrating the day of love, Valentine’s Day!  It’s fun to put decorations out that reflect the joy of love and friendship.  Are you looking for some cute updates to your Valentine Decor?  Here are a few easy projects that were shared during the link party last week.

Valentine Paper Straw Garland from The Happy Scraps

Valentine’s Day Wall Hanging from Better in Bulk

Sparkly Hearts Pillow Cover from Busy Being Jennifer

Ombre Wood Heart Plaque from The Hatched Home

Valentine’s Day Felt Heart Garland from The Gracious Wife

Now, let’s get this party started!

 Happy Weekend, everyone! We’re delighted that you came to our party. The link-up is live and ready for you to share your recipes, DIY projects and crafts, just make sure you follow these guidelines:

1. When you link up, you are giving us permission to feature your project and pictures on our blogs and social media with a link back to you.
2. We’ll feature our favorite projects from this weekend’s party at the beginning of next week’s link party.
3. Weekly favorites will also be pinned to our Link Party Favorites Board on Pinterest!
4. Add a text link back to the host blog.
5. You can link up any post you’ve created during this past week.
6. We’re excited about your handmade items, but this link party is limited to blog posts only. Please don’t linkup your Etsy shop.
7. Share the love and comment on two or more of the other projects that are linked up. We all love comments!

This party starts every Friday at 5 P.M. MST, and keeps going until the following Tuesday evening. Feel free to invite others to join in the fun!

Thanks for participating! Your Hosts,

Ruthie from Cooking With Ruthie, Jeni from Bakerette, Mandy from Mandy’s Recipe Box, Dan and Chris from Live Dan 330, and Deb, Tracy, and Sherri from Made From Pinterest

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Hello! It’s Toni from Design Dazzle sharing this Valentine’s Day crazy cake recipe today. It is always such a treat to share over here on Made From Pinterest. Especially when I get to make sweets to try out and taste! When I stumbled upon crazy cake recipe from a Sweet Little Bluebird, I knew it was meant to be. A cake with simple ingredients that I have on hand and can be mixed right in a greased baking pan?! Not to mention people with food allergies who can’t eat a “regular” cake with eggs or milk or butter. It was love at first sight.

I decided to give it a try, making two batches using the original recipe from a Sweet Little Bluebird, and also making a gluten free version with a few slight modifications. The only ingredients I switched out differently were to use gluten free flour and use 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda rather than 1 tsp.

This was my favorite step! I love not having dirty an extra mixing bowl. Less clean up means more time to enjoy cake!

I’m not sure how necessary this step is for the cake to turn out properly, but I do think it is important to make the 3 depressions- one is slightly larger than the other two.

When you pour the water in, it kind of swirls the vegetable oil, vanilla, and vinegar.

Make sure to mix it all together very well to avoid any lumps!

Now you certainly can cut up the cake and serve as typical cake squares. But since it’s Valentine season, I decided to use a heart-shaped cookie cutter and cut out heart shapes with the cake. Store bought canned frosting with a little pink added was a cute addition for making little dots with peaks on the heart-shaped cake. Such an easy Valentine treat for loved ones.

Thank you so much to the blog, Sweet Little Bluebird, for the recipe. This is definitely the easiest cake I have ever made, with the least clean-up. I love simple recipes like this!

This cake tastes good but wouldn’t win the worlds most tastiest cake. But due to the fact, with the simple, on hand ingredients, the recipe works with food allergies and it’s easy with quick clean up, I would have to say that this pin rocks! For the gluten free version, it really needed the frosting to take it up a notch!)

Crazy Cake for Valentine’s Day Recipe

Recipe Type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups flour
• 3 Tbsp cocoa (unsweetened)
• 1 Cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 5 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 Cup water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8 inch square baking pan.
2. Mix all dry ingredients right into the greased baking pan. (My favorite step!)
3. Once the dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed, make 2 small and 1 large depressions.
4. Pour vinegar in one small depression, vanilla in the other small depression, and vegetable oil in the larger depression. Then pour water all over the mixture.
5. Mix well until there are no lumps.
6. Bake for 35 minutes (oven times may vary, be sure to check!).

The gluten free version I used 1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour (Pamela’s) and used 1 1/2 tsp baking soda. Everything else was exactly the same.

*I frosted the gluten-free cake with coconut pecan frosting. It was a yummy addition!

Be sure to check out my blog, Design Dazzle! Here are two posts I shared recently:

Take a peek into my craft room

Free printables for a giant kiss filled with kisses!

Follow Toni on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google +.

Toni Roberts
designdazzle.com

This awesome post has been shared with Home Stories A to Z and Living Well Spending Less.

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They are so easy to tweak for any theme (making them perfect for any party from birthday to holiday) and with simple stitching, right up my no-sewing-abilities aisle.  Seriously, even if you say you have no crafting skills, you can do this! I mixed it up with gold supplies…who says Valentine’s Day has to be all red and pink?

Supplies needed:

• drop cloth (I found a 5′ square package at Home Depot for less than $8!)
• baker’s twine
• embroidery needle
• decorative heart ribbon (I found it by the yard at Paper Source)
• scissors

1. Cut 4″ wide, long strips of the drop cloth and cut the long strips down into about 10″ strips.
2. Fold a strip in half, canvas side out so the bottom of the bags do not have to be stitched.
   

    

3. Using the baker’s twine, started stitching from the bottom of the bag, and take your stitches a little over half way up the bag.

   

4. Stitch large stitches across each topside of the bag, leaving some thread on both sides to have enough to tie the bag, once the bag is filled with candy and other treats of your choice.  You could even put in cookies since the waterproof liner of your bag will keep things from getting greasy and seeping through.
5. Cut a heart from the ribbon, remove the sticker backing and attach to the bag.

 

 

See? I wasn’t kidding…now go make a gang of them for those special people in your life!

 

A big thank you to the ladies of Made From Pinterest for inviting me over. Please feel free to follow me on Instagram and Twitter for sneak peeks on upcoming projects and check out more of my favorite ideas I hope to do one day on Pinterest.

Need more Valentine’s Day ideas? I have a few ideas to inspire you…

Love Is In The Air party table

Candy cane hearts with free printables

Color Of Love party table

Dawn’s color of Love party table is such a fun idea, I really like how she used the plastic paint palette to organize the cupcake decorations! These would be perfect for classroom parties.

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Here’s What You Will Need:

Paper Mache Letters

Wooden dowel

Feathers

Leather cord

Felt or glittered fabric

Hot Glue Gun

Exacto Knife

Spray Paint

Let’s get started!

The first thing you will need to do is remove the inner support card board from your paper mache letters. Using you exact knife, cut a small flap in the back of each letter. Pull out as much of the center cardboard as possible. You will need to remove this in order to get the dowel through the letters.

Next, spray paint your letters your favorite color. Of course, it can be red if you want. But I love how the original letters were spray painted gold. And gold is a go to color in my decor.

It is helpful to prop your letters up on old cans when you spray paint them. This allows you to reach the sides easily and they don’t stick to your painting surface as they dry. Apply 2 coats to each side.

While your letters are drying you can attach the feathers and leather cording to one end of the dowel. Just add a touch of hot glue to the end of the dowel and apply the feathers around the dowel. When that is dry apply another drop of hot glue to attach your leather cord. Make sure you wrap the cord around a few times to cover the ends of the feathers and then glue the end in place.

Once your letters are dry, measure 4 inches up each letter and mark with a pencil. I only advise this because I didn’t do this! I had a little trouble lining up my dowel and letters since I skipped this step. When you have your letters marked, cut a hole about the size of the dowel in each letter. Thread the dowel through the letters and cut any excess dowel from the end when all the letters are on.

I found some of this thick glitter-covered fabric near the felt at the craft store. It was just what I wanted to make the heart for the end of cupid’s arrow. I cut out 2 small hearts thinking I would use them back to back. But then I only ended up using one. To attach the heart to the dowel just apply a little hot glue to the end of the dowel.

I’m so glad I got to share this project with you today. I’d love for you to stop by and say hello at my blog Chic California. I love to share vintage style and interior design, rehab previously loved furniture and DIY on a budget. Chic California is the place where Shabby Chic Meets California Cool. You can also find me on

Here are a few of my most popular posts:

Dollar Store DIY: Vintage Locker Bins

Easy DIY Fabric Wall Treatment

Easy Valentine’s Day Craft: Birch Bark Heart Garland

Adrienne is right, I always thing of red and pink for Valentine’s day, now that I’v seen her Gold Cupid’s Arrow Love Letters I’m in love the look!

This great post has been shared with Living Well Spending Less and Whipperberry.

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Last year around this time I pinned a super cute DIY Heart Mason Jar found at DecorChick. When I was going through my Valentine’s Day board this month, I ran across it again, and wanted to do something similar.

And while I love mason jars, I also have several currently painted and sitting unused…so I thought I’d better do something just a little different. Instead, I decided on this candle holder/hurricane that I’ve had for a while but haven’t used much.

While I followed the basic idea of the DIY Heart mason jar, I also wanted to go in a different direction. So I started by taping off the top section of my glass with painter’s tape so I could get a color blocked look. I also decided I wanted one larger image, so I used a paper punch to punch out a heart shape from painter’s tape and applied it to the glass instead of stickers.

On went the paint

and when it was dry (several coats), I peeled everything off and stuck my candle inside for a fun, simple Valentine’s idea that I wouldn’t mind sticking around a little longer.

Then pair it with my feathered heart canvas, and you’re ready for a chic and slightly non-traditional Valentine’s Day that’s trendy and cute!

Now if you liked this, I hope you’ll come check out my blog (Mabey She Made It) for more fun tutorials and projects like these:

Vintage Suitcase Side Table || Flower Hair Comb || Creating a Colorful Room without Commitment

And be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + and Instagram.

Lisa
Mabey She Made It

 This awesome post has been shared with Living Well Spending Less!

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I know it seems we just put our Christmas decor down and Valentine’s Day seems so far off, but I have been pinning projects to use with my Cricut *affiliate link* and just couldn’t help myself. If there weren’t so many cute crafts around the holiday, it probably would pass by pretty quietly at our house but when I saw Rebecca’s cute XOXO Bunting and knew it would be the perfect project to get me in the spirit.

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Hi to all of the Made From Pinterest Fans! This is Melanie from Artzy Creations again bringing you a very simple and easy DIY project for you for Valentine’s Day. I know what your thinking…Valentine’s Day already?! We just had Christmas and now it’s already on to Valentine’s Day. However, it will be here before you know it. Thanks to my youngest daughter Lily reminding me that Valentine’s Day is only WEEKS away. You would think I was paying her to say it. Lol! So, I wanted to bring you something that was simple, fun, and easy to make. Here’s how to make this Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Votive.

Here’s What You Need:

• Mason Jar
• Heart Stickers
• Pink Spray Paint (Matte Finish)
• Clear Spray Paint (Matte Finish)
• Ribbon, Trim, Scrapbook Pieces (Kaiser Craft) For Embellishment (Optional)
• Tea Light Candle

Step 1: Apply the heart stickers to the Mason Jar.

Step 2: Spray paint the jar and let dry.

Step 3: Very carefully and slowly peel off the heart stickers. If the spray paint happens to become scratched off before you seal it, take the spray paint and apply it to a paint brush and touch up the spot. When taking off the stickers, I found it was easiest to remove them from starting at the bottom and peeling them in a clockwise motion. That way it wouldn’t peel off any excess paint.

Step 4: Seal with the clear spray paint and let dry.

Step 5: Add ribbon or trim. You could even attach a love note!

I love how this turned out! If you have a special loved one that you would like to give a gift to, this would be just perfect. Or teacher’s would just melt, if they were to receive one. Just saying since I’m a teacher.

I love how this votive just radiates warmth and love.

Give your special Valentine something the will cherish and keep for a long time without spending hours laboring over the gift!

Thank you to three wonderful sisters from Made From Pinterest for having me. I hope your readers will hop on over and follow all of the crafty goodness from Artzy Creations.

Here’s wishing you all a wonderful 2015 and I will see you again in February!

You can follow Artzy Creations on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google +.

Check out these fun projects too!

Candy Heart Arrows

Candy Heart Arrows

Valentines day Gift Containers

Valentine’s Day Gift Containers

This post has been shared with Living Well Spending Less.

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Dear Made From Pinterest Readers,

Please accept my sincerest apology. You see, my plan was to share with you an easy DIY. Easy. Cheap. And lightening speed fast …

that, my new friends, was the plan.

And when I spotted a clothespin wreath online – and pinned it here on my it started with Valentine’s Day Pinterest board – I thought I found the easiest and cheapest Valentine’s Day project idea. Ever.

The clothespins were $1.00 for 36 at the Dollar Store. The hanger was free. The cheap part worked out as planned.

And it would have remained easy if I didn’t insist on fussing with it. In my need to add a bit of color, I ended up tacking on an extra hour-and-a-half of tedious time-consuming work. That whole cutting of Washi strips from a one-dollar-and-change full sheet of pink with white polka dots Washi paper I found at Michaels …

and then affixing the cut strips of Washi to 70+ clothespins.

I started the whole process during the last half hour of Good Morning America, and finished attaching that last piece of Washi when Kelly & Michael were signing off.

If I had skipped the Washi tape step, this project would’ve taken under 15-minutes. All I needed to do was bend a wire hanger into the shape of a heart …

and then clip on the clothespins. One-by-one …

all the way around …

So I’ll leave it up to you, my dear Made From Pinterest readers. You can take the easy path with the naked clothespin look. Or you can take the more time consuming one and add some Washi.

Oh, and there is a third choice. You could always just add color with some spray paint …

You can find me on my blog, It All Started With Paint.

I also like to hang out on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google+

This is such a cute project Linda! I think I would like whoever makes mine to attach one reason they think I am fabulous to each of the clothespins. That would really make my Valentine’s Day! Want to see what we are up to today? Check us out over at It All Started With Paint!

Sharing this project at:  Whipperberry, Tatertots & Jello, Be Different Act Normal, Flamingo Toes, Inside BruCrew Life, Sugar Bee Crafts,Lamberts Lately, Living Well Spending Less, Tater Tots and Jello,

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February…the month of love. What special things do you all do for Valentine’s Day? My husband and I don’t normally do anything super special for Valentine’s Day, and I’m fine with that. The kids, on the other hand, love Valentine’s Day. And I love making this cupid’s holiday special for them!

One of our all-time favorite snacks is popcorn. We made a traditional popcorn extra special for this Valentine’s Day by making it red, sweet, salty and chocolately.

Consider the base of this recipe the candy coated popcorn. How do you do this? Simply pop up two bags of microwave popcorn and put them in a large bowl.

Take red or pink Wilton Candy Melts and microwave them in a microwave-safe bowl until they are melted. Pour that melted candy over the popcorn and mix well. Lay out a few sheets of wax paper on the counter. Spread the popcorn on top of the wax paper and allow it to set for about 10 minutes until the candy is dry. And there you go! You have simple, sweet & salty popcorn!

Many times we like to eat this popcorn simply with the candy coating and no extras. When we need a fun snack mix, we add pretzels, peanuts, and M&M’s. You’ll love this recipe because you can add so many different things to it. Chocolate chips, raisins, bite-size candy bars, etc. You choose!

You’ll also love this popcorn because it is completely adaptable to any holiday or any occasion. You can even choose your favorite school or team colors of Wilton candy melts and have a fun snack to support your team!

Happy Valentine’s Day to each one of you. We hope you enjoy the day with all of your loved ones!

-Julie and Maddie

We’d love for you to follow along with us!

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Valentine Popcorn Snack Mix

2 bags of microwave popcorn, popped
1 bag (12 ounces) Wilton Candy Melts (any color you choose)
2 cups peanuts
2 cups M&M’s
2 cups small pretzels

Pour the popped popcorn into a large bowl. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the candy melts in the microwave for one minute. Stir well. Continue to melt the candy melts at 20 second intervals, stirring in between times until all of the candy is melted.

Pour the melted candy overtop the popcorn and mix until the popcorn is covered. Spread the popcorn on a wax paper, aluminum foil, or a baking sheet to allow the candy to cool and set. This will take about 10 minutes.

Once the candy coating on the popcorn has set, put it in a large bowl. Add the peanuts, M&M’s and pretzels and gently mix. Store in an airtight container.

Try a few of our other favorite snacks!

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Caramel Corn

Pineapple Pecan Cheese Ball

Fluffernutter Dip

We’re letting others know about this fun recipe at:  Whipperberry, Tatertots & Jello, Chef In Training, Inside BruCrew Life, Mandy’s Recipe Box, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Lady Behind the Curtain, Lamberts Lately,  Life W The Life of Jennifer Dawn

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We’re sharing these ideas at:  Home Stories A to Z, A Bowl Full of Lemons

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This pin rocks!

Print

Heart Shaped Chocolate Strawberries

Author Adapted from 1 Fine Cookie

Ingredients

• 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons Shortening
• Red Candy Melts
• Strawberries
• toothpicks

Instructions

• After washing and thoroughly drying the strawberries, remove the leaves. I tore them off by hand.
• Next cut the strawberries in half, and slice a little V at the top. Turn the strawberries cut side down and insert a toothpick to hold them together. I turned mine right side up again, and filled that little V cut with some Nutella.
• Strawberries can also be filled marshmallow fluff or leave them plain, whatever you prefer.
• Dry the cut side well with a paper towel and slather it with some melted chocolate. I used semi sweet chocolate chips thinned with 2 Tablespoons of vegetable shortening to make the chocolate shiny and easy to work with.
• To melt the chocolate using a microwave safe bowl, put the chocolate and shortening into the microwave for 1 minute on high. Stir the chocolate chips. They will not be all the way melted. Microwave in 30 second increments and stir until chips and shortening are melted and smooth. Don't over microwave your chocolate. It is best to stir when there are a few lumps of unmelted chocolate and just keep stirring until they melt.
• When that layer of chocolate has hardened, you can remove the toothpick. The hardened chocolate will hold the two halves together.
• Lay wax paper under a cooling rack and turn the strawberries over. Pour a spoonful of chocolate over the strawberries, pushing around the edges to get good coverage.
• After the chocolate on top of the strawberries has hardened, melt red candy melts using the same method used for the chips (no shortening is needed for candy melts). Drizzle candy melt over the top.
• These are best eaten within 4-6 hours of being made and are best stored room temperature until serving.

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If you need something special really quick SoBe drinks are the way to go!

I have a household full of SoBe lovers so I was thrilled to find this darling free printable from My Sister’s Suitcase. They post the most creative content, must be a “sister thing”!

My day got even better when I found SoBe’s on sale for $1 each. I grabbed a bunch of them and headed home. I walked in the door and got started by cutting the SoBe labels off, then replacing them with some fun polka dot and swirly red and white wrapping paper.  Next, I grabbed the free printable from My Sister’s Suitcase.  I punched a small hole in it and tied it onto the SoBe bottles with some pink and white bakers twine. It took me all of 15 minutes to make six great Valentine’s gifts!

My kids noticed them as soon as they got home from school and have been begging me for one everyday. I keep telling them “did you know SoBe backwards is be so”, and” I’d be so sad if  you drink my SoBes before Valentine’s Day!”. They just don’t understand my sense of humor…….that’s ok because…

This Pin Rocks!

The post Quick Valentine’s Day Idea – I Would So Be Your Valentine appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.

First, gather your supplies.

Red and white felt (I used 9 x 12 squares)

Pink Pom Poms

Ruler

Chalk

Scissors

Thread or staples (I used red and white baker’s twine)

Sewing machine or stapler

Now let’s put it all together:

Cut two pieces of felt to measure 3 x 12.

Put one piece of felt on top of the other, matching edges. Sew along one long edge with a 1/4 seam allowance. Sew again along the same stitching line to reinforce since you will be cutting through the stitching lines later. Trim seam allowances after sewing. Open it up and use a ruler and tailor’s chalk to mark lines every 3/4 inch. This is on the inside with the seam open in the middle and the raw edges in back.Flip the pieces over, so the seam is folded to the inside. Your marked lines should now be on the outside. Match the edges of the other long side. Sew with a 1/4 seam allowance. Again, sew over the same stitching line to reinforce. Trim seam allowance. You now have a tube in the shape of a heart.Pressing all layers as flat as possible, cut along the marked lines. Voila!

Don’t have a sewing machine or hate the thought of using it? Replace the sewing with stapling. Just mark the lines first so your staples won’t get in the way of cutting.

Now you can string it all together. Thread a needle with cord, or baker’s twine and poke through one side of the heart, through the center and then the other side. Alternate between red and white hearts, with pink pom poms in between. Make sure to fasten each end.

Hot City! You are done and ready to hang some love in the room. Granny used to say hot city to try and sound up with the lingo of her grandkids. I told her it sounded better to use the lingo of her day. So, in her honor, I hope you have a hunky dory Valentine’s Day.

This Pin Rocks!

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Ok I have to come clean and admit that I bought these cupcakes at the bakery department in Safeway store instead of making them myself. Sometimes you just have to cheat! Safeway was  kind enough to refrost these cupcakes with white icing  just the way I wanted. I came home and printed out some scroll hearts, cupid’s arrows, the words “Kiss”, “Love” and “Be Mine”.

Supplies Needed:

• Cupcakes
• Melting chocolate in your desired color.   I chose pink.
• Parchment paper
• Freezer Ziploc Bags
• Printout for tracing
• Wilton Colored Sugar Pearls

I taped my print outs down on my kitchen counter and then covered each one with a sheet of parchment paper.

Next I melted my pink candy melts and put it in a freezer Ziploc bag. Then I cut off a small piece off the tip of the bag. I used a regular sandwich bag first but I didn’t like how the chocolate was coming of the tip. The thickness of the freezer bag gave me more control when tracing with the melted chocolate.

When I started tracing the hearts and words on the parchment paper, I quickly found out that my hands are somewhat shaky!  With a little practice I was able to get some consistent results. If the chocolate was too hot it came out of the bag too fast and made a mess.

If I waited too long it hardened and wouldn’t work. Once my chocolate was melted I put it in my bag and waited 2 to 3 minutes before I began my tracing.

Sometimes just the chocolate in the tip would harden, I  pinched out the hardened chocolate with my fingertips and then kept on tracing.

If the whole bag of chocolate hardened I warmed it up in the microwave, waited 2 to 3 minutes to let it cool a bit and started tracing again.

The traced chocolate hardened within 5-10 minutes, without refrigeration. These toppers are easy to make but very fragile! I made my first set of hearts with a very thin line of chocolate then most of them broke when I tried to push them into the icing on top of my cupcakes. I used a thicker line of chocolate on the second batch and that worked much better! Keep in mind that these are very fragile when choosing your design. The thicker lines hold up much better.

For the final touch I added some soft pink Sugar Pearls from Wilton.

My store bought cupcakes are now a beautiful treat! The best part is I didn’t spend hours making them giving, me more time to enjoy Valentine’s Day. Oh yeah that means……

This Pin Totally Rocks!

Free  Printable                                                                                                         Free Printable

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Items needed:

Cans with a pop top lid

Valentine’s scrapbook paper

Coordinating ribbon

Tissue paper

Scissors and glue stick

Glue gun and glue

Most of the pop top cans that I use either have pineapple or mandarin oranges in them.  So make some kind of fruit salad but save the cans.  Don’t you feel good about re-purposing aluminum cans instead of tossing them?  I thought so.

When you initially cut open your can, DO NOT cut the top.  Cut the bottom but leave it attached just a teenie weenie bit and leave the top intact like this.  Remove the wrappers to get them ready for their new skin.  Take your valentine scrapbook paper and measure what size you will need for your can. Cut to fit making sure you have a little overlap so you can glue together.

After gluing on your paper, here is a free printable from Our Best Bites that you can glue on the front.  Isn’t it darling? “Just Popping through with a Valentine for You.”

Next take your pop top can and pour in some of your nummy Zebra Caramel Corn

Take your tissue paper and lightly put on top of your nummy caramel corn:

Next you gently close the bottom lid and hot glue it closed.Hang in there.  We’re almost done.  For the finishing touch, take some coordinating ribbon and carefully tie around the pop top ring and Voila!  A cute little popcorn themed Valentine’s gift.

These Valentine’s Pop Top Cans would make a great little gift for teachers, neighbors or your BFF!

I am so excited to pass some of these out and also excited to report that This Pin Rocks!

We are excited to be linking to these sites today:

Creations by Kara

Lil Luna

Ginger Snap Crafts

And Sew We Craft

Lady Behind the Curtain

DIY Crafty Projects

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