Share the Love

It has been Valentine’s Day stuff all weekend long here so I thought I would share it with you.

Maybe you need a very last minute gift idea still? Or, you can file these ideas away for next year!

I couldn’t post the teacher gifts early because I think they are on to me! {smile}

My girls carried these surprises off to school this morning so I think I am safe!

Our teacher gift was a sock cupcake! I saw the idea for this on someone else’s blog, but I can’t find it again. (If anyone recognizes it, please send me the link so I can share! UPDATE: The original idea came from the blog seven thirty-three HERE--thanks!) I loved the idea, but I wanted something fabulous to hold it all together.

I thought a coffee cozy might work, but wasn't sure. After finding out that one teacher drinks coffee often and the other sometimes, I decided it would make a great cupcake wrapper and decided to just go for it. Turns out it works perfectly!

{Love those kinds of projects!}

I found my pattern HERE. I wanted mine to be completely reversible, so I used fun fabrics on both sides.
I also used Insul-Brite (or Insul-Bright which is heat-resistant batting) inside of them to make them a little more heat resistant.

I found these wonderful socks at Bath and Body Works before Christmas. I bought a few pairs and, before I could store them away, saw the idea for the sock cupcake and was thrilled to be able to use them right away. These fuzzy socks are scented and I was a little worried about storing them for too long.

I removed the tags (but saved them and put them in the gift bag so the teachers would have the washing instructions) and rolled both socks tightly from toe to top.

Then, I wrapped the coffee cozies around the bottom and fluffed up the socks to look more like frosting.

I added a cherry on the top using a cherry cupcake topper made on my Silhouette and glued it to a toothpick. I thought about gluing a pom pom to a toothpick for the cherry, but I liked the “cherry/cupcake topper combo” look. I just carefully poked the toothpick through one of the spaces in between the rolls on the sock.

Finally, I put it in a cellophane bag and tied it with a ribbon. Done! These would be great for a Teacher Appreciation gift, too!

Now, I kinda wish we drank coffee just so I could make a bazillion fun coffee cozies! Drat!

My older girls worked for a long time on their Valentine Boxes. In the past, we have worked together to make really creative Valentine boxes. I think my girls were just ready to do what everyone else was doing.

Olivia made a rocket ship and was thrilled with it. After her Dad helped her cut out the right holes and wrap it in foil, she wanted to do everything else on her own. (She doesn’t know The Love Boat, but “Love Ship” did make me chuckle!”

Alison specifically requested a regular box (we used a cereal box) that was just wrapped in paper and decorated.

The girls also made their Valentine cards for their friends. Every year I try to talk them into (cheap and easy!) store-bought cards, but no such luck. Olivia told me months ago that she wanted lemon drops or red hots and she knew just what she wanted the cards to say. I bought both candies and told them to decide which they wanted to do. So this is what they came up with.

 

We dipped strawberry heart-shaped marshmallows in chocolate and sprinkles, put them on skewers and wrapped them up for a few friends.

I also stacked some in a small candy box for one of the teachers. (The other teacher specifically requested that the children not give her candy for Valentine’s Day.)

**BTW, I saw some tiny takeout boxes in Valentine designs at Joann’s a couple of weeks ago. They would have been perfect and I wish I had bought them! I just might be checking for them on clearance this week to save for next year!**

I was worried about the marshmallows getting hard, so I wrapped the box tightly in a cellophane bag, too. Cross your fingers that they are still fresh and soft by the time the teacher opens them up!

I spent a long (long!) time making THESE cookies for my daughter’s class at school. I signed up to send in cookies for her party and was thrilled when I saw THIS idea last week. I couldn’t resist trying these out. They turned out pretty well, but took a lot longer than I thought they would take to make. But, they are delicious so I think it was well worth it!

source

You know mine look exactly like this, don’t you??

(Well, my cookies do, but my pictures do not!)

Actually, my cookies look almost just like this—because the directions are excellent!

UPDATE: Per request, here are my cookies…

That's what we are doing for Valentine's Day Stuff--

What are you doing?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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