Valentine's Day Cookies and Crafts

I made these for Valentine's Bunco!  

I know you expect cookies, here they are.  But how about a craft or 2?  And my reflections on Valentine's Day, even though no one asked...

It's the 70's and I am one of 16 kids in my small class in Iowa.  A day or two before Valentine's Day we all bring a shoebox to school and spend an hour in Art Class (everyone had it back then) gluing construction paper and doilies to the box. Sister would cut the hole in the top with the scissors that had a point.  And then on Valentine's Day, we would perch the box on our desk.  The little paper Valentines we had bought were signed and the little white envelopes that never stayed closed were addressed with each kids name.  And one for Sister.  We didn't bring candy, there were no Valentines with superheroes or cartoon characters.  They were sweet girls and boys holding hearts and saying Happy Valentine's Day.  Our class party would involve no parents, no chicken nuggets, no favor bags and no games.  We would have a napkin with a cookie or a cupcake and a paper cup of Kool Aid.  And we would sit at our desks and open our valentines and laugh and carry on like kids do. Sometimes we would do a craft, like making a Valentine for our Mom.  It was a great childhood.

Today I saw a commercial for a party store for all your classroom Valentie party needs.  Cupcake towers, pre-made boxes, bouquets of balloons, color coordinated M&Ms and streamers. Really?

This year I had a few Valentine projects.  The first was napkins for supper club.  I found a graphic print, 100% cotton.  Much to the dismay of many sewers, I did not prewash the fabric.  I think it makes mitering corners easier with stiff fabric.  You can learn to miter corners at Hipline Media,  It is found on the Home Decor download. I made 10 napkins with about 3 yards of fabric. Shop after the holidays for great prices and fill your stash!

Head to the quilting store for high quality cotton to make napkins for every occasion.  These have mitered corners and are oversized at 20" X 20" . 

This silly project was designed to bring a little light to my bar.  I really love this bottle.  Mr. Preppy drilled a hole in the back large enough to feed a small strand through, and then I found all kinds of things at Hobby Lobby to adorn the top.  It changes with the season!

Then I headed back to the sewing room for a Martha project.  These heart shaped potholders are so easy.  I whipped up a bunch and decided I didn't do a very good job with the binding.  But they are colorful and fun, and never look a gift horse in the mouth.  What does that mean anyway?  I did the pastel fabric for most of my friends.  The black and red for my friend that has a white kitchen with darker accents and finally, the mustache one for my mom.  She is a docent at the Dali museum, so I couldn't resist!

Be My Valentine

So I made dozens of cookies planning on sending them to Christina and her buddies as they have been working so hard in off season conditioning.  But they took a challenge for February and asked that I not send cookies.  I was so impressed!  So needless to say, I made a lot of other people happy.  Here is a sampling of what I whipped up.  Hope your Valentine's Day lives up to the hype!

Tasty Valentines

My sugar cookie obsession is heightened at Valentine's Day. I love the simple palette of reds and pinks, the sparkles, and of course the hearts. The travel schedule for February put a dent in my baking plans, but I did get a few cookies out, and had to throw them on the blog as a mini tribute to my Sweeties out there.

I made personalized hearts for the volleyball team. Pink frosted hearts with edible glitter and packaged with a tulle bow. I mean seriously, who doesn't love personalized, sparkly and edible? I also packaged up a few cookies for my USAFA Doolie who is going through "hell month", some sweet messages to my mother-in-law who is freezing in this crazy weather up North, and a Valentine's thank you to my mom and dad since I had such a great trip last month. It was also an old friend's birthday so I sent her a few cookies to Minnesota. Hopefully they won't shatter in the frigid temps!

Some people are a little surprised by the crispy cookie and hard frosting. This is exactly the way I like them. There was a pan this time however, that hung out in the oven a tad too long, so crispy may be an understatement. But I love the contrast of that butter cookie with the royal icing. I am often asked about the royal icing. I do not use raw egg whites in mine, but I do use Wilton's Meringue Powder. I wish I could say it was an exact measurement, but I just sort of dump some in the mixing bowl, add a little warm water and a small amount of powdered sugar. I whip it for about 7 minutes until it is gorgeous and fluffy. If the cookies are being mailed out, I add a little corn syrup, otherwise just some clear vanilla and about 2# of powdered sugar and warm water to get the consistency. I made a few extras for my own special Valentine as I am gone this weekend. Lucky guy, he can finish that awesome birthday cake too!


I also thought it would be fun to see what I was blogging a year ago. The Miracle WHip Facial is one of my most popular hits on my blog, but the Daring Baker's Challenge for January was one of my best Valentine creations!

I hope you all have a lovely Valentine's (read: over hyped, commercialized, and over rated) Day. There was a time when this day was full of expectation, excitement, even disappointment. It is much more fun giving my home made Valentine's to special people and making their day since I already have my Valentine.