Valentine Chocolates Switch-a-roo!

I saw this idea out in bloggy-land....and had to share it with you!! You start with a box of chocolates...the one I saw was from a really nice chocolate shop with the little papers for each piece of candy...but any kind will do nicely...



You take all of the chocolates out...i.e. EAT THEM!!!.....



And then put money in all of the compartments instead! I always get my kiddos treats for Valentine's Day...and now that T. is getting older, I thought he'd prefer some cold hard cash instead of a lot of little trinkets or a DVD....I do have some candy for him...but I think he will be quite pleased when he sees the switch-a-roo I made on his box of chocolates!

Valentine's Day Lunchables

Your little person will love this! Cubby is always begging be to get him Lunchables and I REFUSE.....but who's to say you can't make your own???? They're super easy...just get out your little mini cookie cutters and cut your ham and cheese into hearts....throw in some Ritz crackers, a baggie of goldfish crackers, some carrot sticks or apple slices, a juice pouch and of course a fun-size candy bar for a treat.




They will love you more than they already do.

Knit Some Hearts For Your Sweetheart

I saw these over at a blog I follow...A Friend to Knit With...you can print the pattern for free. I did, and now I've become OB.SESSED with making them. OBSESSED I'm sayin'! I had the perfect little ball of red yarn in my stash...a cashmere I ordered on ebay from China for a pair of fingerless gloves I knit for my sister a while ago.



They are super quick and easy...You knit up the two sides, then use a blanket stitch to sew them together, add a pinch or two of stuffing...and you have cuteness :)



I made some to tie on a few Valentine treats...I thought they would also be pretty in a glass jar I have from my mother in law.




I have the pattern memorized and can knit a few in the dim morning light after the older two kids get on the bus while I'm sipping my coffee waiting for Cub to get up. At this rate who knows how many I'll have done by Valentine's Day!?

Seven Will Have to Wait

We're sad here today....The Steelers quest for their seventh Superbowl win will have to to wait. What a dissappointing loss!!! Cubby was all decked out with lots of team sprit...waving around his pom-pom and terrible towel.



He made signs and helped me hang up some streamers too!



He even got pup a Steeler sweater....but to no avail...3 turnovers was too many to recover from.....maybe next year. We love you Steelers!!!!

Favorite Friday

As always, handmade is always a favorite! Cub made a Valentine craft the other day...he's very punctual about holidays, on February first he wanted to switch right in Valentine's mode...So we took down our snowmen on the snowday we had Tuesday and put up all of our Valentine decorations.



Valentine's Day is one of my favorite days of the year....and this frame Cub made will always be a favorite.

Birds Everywhere

I have been seeing birds everywhere....and not just at the feeder in my backyard. There was a big segment on the Today show last week about how to spruce up your surroundings with these little cuties...on dishes, linens, pictures,salt and pepper shakers and pillows. I was in Marshalls and TJMaxx last week...and sure enough, birds everywhere! I couldn't resist switching out a few pillows in my own house. Love them! Kinda has my mind wandering toward spring a bit. Oh, and can you see my snowman tree in the background?.......I have loved every minute of having it this month...but it will be coming down this week to make way for the Valentines Day decor.

We're Making Chocolates Over Here

I've been wanting to try this for a while now...and I've taken my time picking people's brains and figuring out my game plan. The candy supply aisle is about the only one I haven't hit at Michael's and Joanne's. I've been chatting it up and kicking it around....and more importantly I was hoping it would be a fun activity for Cindylou and I to do together...she was enthusiatic about it...so we decided to make candy for our friends for Valentine's Day. My real-life friend Joy from Joybeadworks dropped off a TON of candy molds a few days before I got started.....
You can seriously make ANYTHING out of chocolate!



I spent some time going through them...and got things a little more under control.



But for our first attempt we decided to got with the 2 molds I got at Joanne's a while ago...



...and this idea I saw in Family Fun magazine using mini candy canes to make lollipops.



We also decided to make little chocolate covered pretzels too. The girl who does our hair told us about Almond Bark.....and she recommended Hershey's chips for the best taste. So basically all I did was shave down half a block of the Almond Bark and melted it in a bowl with a bag of chips. She has a chocolate pot she got at Joanne's, but I just kept it warm in my mini crockpot. Then we got started....



We made the lolllipops first....just bake them in the oven for 10 minutes at 275 degrees...take them out and pinch them together with the stick in the middle...then put a little bit of melted white chocolate inside and sprinkle with the nonpareils.



Moving on to the pretzels....it took a little bit to figure out our technique...but people you CAN'T MESS THIS UP!!!!!!! Just be sure to stick everything in the freezer for 15 minutes...or in our case it was cold enough to just set stuff on our deck right outside the sliding glass door.



We sampled a broken lollipop and they are as good as they are cute.



We got into dark chocolate too....YUM!!!!!!!!



These are the chocolate covered Oreos. WOWZA!!!!!! Just fill up the mold and push the Oreo in. Done.



Here are the pretty white things....the little hearts are just too easy to pop in you mouth!



We had a great afternoon together making chocolates....and we were soooo happy with the results...for our first time we thought they looked pretty professional. As we were making them we kept coming up with more ideas for our next time...turtles, peanut butter cups...chocolate covered raspberries....yikes!