♥ Day, Part 2

The candy is ready to deliver in the VALENTINE cans. Zach said he likes M & M candies. Sarah Jo won't open hers, so it is filled with rice! She hasn't opened her Halloween treat because she likes it for a decoration.
Sarah loves owls, so one is for her and one for her sweetheart, Alex. The others will be delivered to Grandma and Grandpa after school tomorrow.

These really are easy to make once you have saved the right kind of fruit cans and opened them on the bottom. I wash and dry them, then spray the tops outside on a nice day-like today-65 degrees!! Fill them with treats, and glue or tape the bottom back on. I've discovered that tape holds them shut just fine and is so much easier than trying to glue them. Cover the cans with paper and decorations and thread ribbon through the pull tab on the top.

Happy Valentine's Day!

♥ Day, Part 1

I found these cute tags and cards to print for Valentine's Day. After I cut the tags out I glittered the bubbles, added string, and attached them to the bottles of Softsoap. I want to share them with my friends at school tomorrow even though the kids celebrated last Friday.
Now I need to finish decorating the candy cans and get them ready, too.

Sweets for the Sweet

Chocolate Decadence Cookies

Photo: Leigh Beisch; Styling: Dan Becker

Time: 30 minutes, plus chilling and cooling time. Don't overbake these! They're best when slightly gooey.

Yield: Makes about 40 cookies

Ingredients

• 10 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

1. Put chocolates and butter in a medium metal bowl and set bowl over a pan filled with 1 in. of simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until melted, then remove from heat and let cool slightly. Whisk in eggs and sugar, mixing until combined. Then whisk in flour, baking powder, and salt. Chill dough, covered, until firm, about 2 hours.

2. Let dough sit at room temperature 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 1 tbsp. portions of dough, rolling each into a ball, and put onto sheets 1 in. apart. Bake cookies until they no longer look wet on top, about 8 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.

Make ahead: Batter up to 1 day; baked cookies up to 2 days, airtight.

This recipe is from Sunset Magazine, December, 2009. One comment on the recipe page was to bake the cookies an extra minute. I really don't know what Sarah did with hers, so see what works best for you and your oven. We also had ours for more than two days and they were OK to eat.

Sarah crushed peppermint candy canes and sifted them to get the finest crystals to sprinkle over the top of the frosting she used. So pretty and OH--MY--GOODNESS, THESE ARE SO DIVINE.

Please go over to visit Liz at Brambleberry Cottage for more sweet things.

Kid Central and LOVE Craft

Brambleberry Cottage is hosting two craft themes for Days 6 and 7, so I am combining them here. I always loved having the children in my classroom create crafts that a parent would treasure and be proud to have on display. These open hearts were easy to make by gluing puzzle pieces onto cardboard. The kids got to use lots of glue and learned to have some patience while the first layer dried. Depending on how much time there was, we added up to three layers of overlapping pieces. The only thing I did was spray paint them so they'd be pretty. Either magnets or hangers can be attached to the back side. Sometimes we did these puzzle shapes at Christmas time to look like miniature trees.
The children also made cards/books for their parents using their very best penmanship. This year I used the same poem to make one for a card swap. It is on its way to be delivered next week.
Pictures of all the pages ...
pages are 'off center' so the edges could be scored to make a neat fold and then stacked in order to 'bind' with ribbon.




Enjoy all the other craft ideas. There's still time to join in and make family and friends a special remembrance for next Sunday.

Seeing Red

Visit The Brambleberry Cottage for 14 Days of February to see the latest additions from the participants. I know Liz has done a lot of work to make this a fun month. Today's post is Seeing Red.

I'd rather be seeing cardinals in the yard, but they just don't come to Colorado. These two came home with me after I stopped in Eaton at Victoria's Tiny Tea Room one Saturday in December after going to see my mom. Julie is the best shop owner in Eaton as far as I'm concerned. She has developed four small cottages into a small town business empire. It is right on the highway and so easy to stop by and drool at all the lovlies. And the tea room!! Oh my, you should be so lucky!
I think this one was from a trip to Estes Park. Each trip up the Thompson Canyon is a favorite and has been a summer family tradition for many years. We have been there in the winter for their Christmas parade right after Thanksgiving, too. I like to take the birds to school to help the children have a visual aide for our winter poems. Most of the kids learn to love poetry with me!
This cardinal came home with me before Christmas this year.
There's not much red around right now, but what teacher doesn't have the "Little Red Schoolhouse"? I don't collect apples as many teachers do. I seem to have enough other collections. (I know I have enough stuff)! Maybe sometime I'll get around to sharing a picture of my small antique school desk. It is my understanding that there aren't too many of the smaller ones around.
A red tea kettle to heat water in for our tea time.
Here I tried to arrange red things. I usually don't have things out because of the two kitties that let me live here. I've had the dolly for a long time and have always referred to her as my Danish doll. I think an aunt gave her to me.
Hope you enjoy seeing red and will have a happy day and a great weekend.

Straight to the Heart

Please enjoy visiting The Brambleberry Cottage for 14 Days of February. Today's posts are all about hearts.

I would say I have LOTS of hearts around the house. These are on the soffit above the kitchen cupboards. They go around three sides of the kitchen and are dust catchers that I don't climb up to clean very often.

This copper mold is on the fourth wall with a lot of other 'stuff'. I don't have huge dramatic pieces; instead, I have many smaller things that I tend to find or collect.
This lacey heart was in the bedroom but had to be taken down to take a picture of because the location was too difficult to get a picture of on the wall. Besides, it needed a dusting, too!
These are in the kitchen by the sink and it would have made more sense to put this with the other kitchen hearts, except I need to get to school on time today (and every other day).

Hope you all have a lovely day. Winter snow/rain is predicted for us today.

Valentine's Party

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can! I've never linked to anything before, but here are some instructions for me to try, so I AM going to work on it. We'll see how that learning process goes...will I have the patience with my crazy internet connection?
I am positive the ground shakes the tower every time a semi goes by the house or the coal trains rumble along and shake the earth just enough to mess things up. Do I know anything? No! So, if anyone has suggestions, I am a willing learner.

New Toy

Sarah and I went to town yesterday for Valentine's Day papers, stickers, glitter, etc., and saw this Martha Stewart lace scallop heart punch! I had a 40% off coupon at Michael's so this toy came home with us.
After church this morning, I started pressing and pushing the lever and LOVE the little hearts! It does take some strength to go through cardstock, but regular paper is easier to punch out. Now we need to have friends over for a card making session. Maybe next weekend...

I have enough paper to make LOTS of cards, so maybe I should get started SOONER!

Christian Glitter by www.christianglitter.com