Non Candy Valentine's Day Ideas

This is the first year Avery is in school, so it's the first time I needed to make Valentines for her classmates. I wanted to give out something that is not candy, because she get enough candy nowadays (yes, I am the house that gives out pretzels for Halloween).  Don't get me wrong, Avery eats candy, every time my husband goes to the bank, he comes back with a lollipop for her.  But coming back with twenty small bags of candy, that will sit in our pantry, I just find it a waste. 

I saw this idea on Pinterest to give out Clementine "Cuties" and loved it.  I decided to make my own labels and even put Avery's name in dot traceable penmanship font so she could practice writing her name.  That was probably my best idea ever.  It's usually like pulling teeth making her practice her writing, but with these labels, she eagerly wrote her name twenty times without complaining!

If you want to print make these I have attached my label that I used:

You can add the traceble penmenship font for your childs name using photoshop.  Free font found here: http://www.fontspace.com/p-j-cassel/trace-font-for-kids

Avery is actually smiling writing her name!

To put the label on I staple the back onto the plastic bag and then use double stick tape to adhere the front.  When you do it this way you won't be able to see staples in the front.

Here are some other great Valentine's Day ideas that are not candy:

Play-Doh Valentines

Pencil Valentines

Ruler Valentines

Toy Animal Valentines

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries Recipe

Happy Valentine's Day!

Every Valentine's Day I make chocolate dipped strawberries for my husband.  The first time I made it my husband at the entire plate, and every Valentine's Day after that he would ask me "are you going to make chocolate dipped strawberries this year?"  Making chocolate dipped strawberries is one of those things that is simple I don't know why people would actually go out and buy them.  Strawberries are always on sale around here during Valentine's Day also.  I purchased a pound for 1.50 at Ralphs (Kroger in some parts of the country).  

To melt chocolate follow the instructions here: http://www.thecheesethief.com/2011/09/chocolate-covered-gummy-bears-recipe.html but do not add butter.  The basic instructions are for 1 lb of strawberries melt 6 oz of chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 40 seconds.  Take out and stir with spatula for 30 seconds, reheat for 15 second intervals if chocolate is not melted enough.  

Two key things you want to do are:

1.  Wash the strawberries and thoroughly dry them.  You do not want any moisture on the strawberries.  Use a kitchen towel and go through each one to make sure they are completely dry.

2.  Let the strawberries sit at room temperature for about an hour or two.  This will help so you do not have to keep reheating your chocolate.

3.  DO NOT burn the chocolate.  Heat only as necessary.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have dry strawberries.  Moisture is the enemy of chocolate.

Melt chocolate in mug.

Stir until smooth.

Dip strawberry in wiggle back and forth gently a couple of times to get a good coat.

Pull strawberry up and place on parchment paper, foil or silicone baking sheet to cool.

Let cool in fridge for 15 min or on counter top for an hour.

Put a Picture Surprise in Your Valentine's Box of Chocolate

Avery and I made this picture surprise for my mom for Valentine's Day.  She helped me pick the pictures and arrange the chocolates back into the box.  I'm thinking of having her draw on the chocolate box cover too to make it special for Grandma.

I simply printed some pictures from my laser printer and cut them to the shape of the chocolate.  Avery put the chocolate back in their corresponding hole (i did have to stop her from eating the chocolate herself).

Write a Love Letter with a Hidden Message

I was looking though boxes of old stuff and found this love letter I wrote my husband years ago.  It was actually a book that I made him (hand bound and everything) for Valentine's Day that was filled with lyrics to our favorite songs and at the end I wrote him a love letter with a hidden message.  The hidden message in the letter was "I want you for always, days, years, eternities."

To make this hidden message letter, I first came up with the message and then wrote a letter that contained those words.  It wasn't that difficult because those are words I are typically written in love letters.  After writing the letter I printed it on a sheet of transparency paper (blanking out the words "I want you for always, days, years, eternities - to do this in MS Word just change the words to white text color).  Then I printed another copy of the letter on white paper, with only the message showing (again just changing the text of the letter to white color).  It was actually a Valentine's gift that my husband was impressed with.

When looking at the letter you can't tell that there is a hidden message.  Only when you flip the transparency over will it reveal the message.

I also made him a CD with our favorite songs and put our faces as the custom cover.  This was super easy to do in Photoshop.  Do people even listen to CD's anymore?  I am so out of the loop.  I still have a cassette player in my car.