Marshmallow Hearts

Like the terrible blogger I continue to be, I am finally getting around to posting about a cute activity Jackson & I did for Valentine's Day this year!  Feel free to ignore, since it won't apply for another 51 weeks, or squirrel it away to remember for next year, or even better - pin it so you don't forget!  :)

I found these strawberry heart-shaped marshmallows at the grocery store awhile back, bought them, and promptly forgot about them until the day before Valentine's Day.

I rediscovered them while searching in the pantry for something else completely.  I wracked (racked?) by brain trying to come up with something to do with them, and decided on keeping it simple.  Dip in melted white chocolate chips and then in sprinkles.  Wonderful, festive idea right?  Until I did it and saw what they looked like.

Happy Valentine's Day....here's your.....lump of pink sprinkles??

I tried dipping them in only halfway; same result.  I flipped it over, and lo and behold.....cuteness!  And they fit perfectly in the Valentine's mini-muffin tin liners I found last year at Target's 90% off Valentine's sale.

So....what did we do with all these fancy marshmallow hearts?  We put one on each place at our Valentine's meal (in case you don't remember, our traditional Valentine's meal is a heart-shaped meatloaf or hamloaf, and lots of other heart-shaped or red or pink foods).  We've also been using them in hot chocolate - adorable and tasty!

Valentine's Craft: Stuffed Felt Hearts

I don't have many seasonal decorations, especially Valentine's Day, and wanted to come up with something easy and cheap to do to show some love for my valentines!  I had been seeing felt hearts all over blogland, so I decided to make up my own version.

Materials used:  felt (the sheets I got at Joann's were either 29cents or 39 cents apiece, I can't remember), embroidery floss and stuffing (already had those on hand).

So so simple.  I used two sizes of cookie cutters to trace the hearts, sewed them most of the way together, added some stuffing, and sewed them up the rest of the way.  The thing I loved about these was if you just use an ounce of creativity, they can all turn out so different!

You can do the layered look:

Embroider designs or words:

or add embellishments, like buttons:

Another great thing....they are so versatile!
Put a bunch of them all together...

(hmmm...this one looked better in my imagination...)

Put a magnet on the back (or a clothespin with a magnet would be even better!)...


Just sit them around in random spots...

Or, add some cute ribbon or yarn to the back and hang it somewhere...

You can barely see it, but this was more of a way to show off my cute IKEA cabinet!

(Got the oven door decorating idea from Nikki)

Mine?  Right now they are sitting in this cute metal basket....which is just waiting for warmer weather so it can be spraypainted Heirloom White!

Click here for a list of fun parties I may have linked this to!

Looking for more great Valentine's projects?  Check this out...

Traditional Valentine's Day Meal

Just wanted to put this idea out there early, in case you want to start the tradition yourself.  This one is from my childhood - the traditional Valentine's Day meal - a heart-shaped meatloaf!!  My mom made one of these every year and it was a tradition I just had to pass on to my own family.

The above picture was taken last year (obviously pre-cooking) - I made it in the crockpot with carrots and potatoes for something a little different.  I also made layered jello (alternating layers of red, pink, and white) and cut it out with heart cookie cutters.  Another great thing for the kiddos is to put a drop or two of red food coloring in their milk, or get the cranberry flavored ginger ale!

Do you serve anything special for Valentine's Day?

Click here for a list of parties I may have linked up to!

Valentine's Day: Love Frame

Now presenting the first Valentine's Day project of the year...

There are so many Valentine's projects I've seen that I would love to do...unfortunately I haven't had the time or money to spend...using the basic idea of the JOY frame I made for Christmas, I put this together in a few minutes this afternoon with stuff I had laying around my craft room - a cheapy frame, scrap of cardstock, chipboard "LOVE", and paint!  Easy, free, and cute!

Click here to see a list of parties I may have linked to!