A Treat for the Eyes and the Tummy

I made some homemade candies to give as thank-you gifts, and had fun making them tasty to eat and lovely to look at. I bought the boxes at Michael's; I believe they're by Martha Stewart. I also bought the ribbon at Michael's.
Inside the boxes I put peanut butter balls (sometimes referred to as "buckeyes"), glazed walnuts, and mint oreo truffles covered in white mint-flavored candy coating. I wrapped the peanut butter balls in pink plastic wrap so that the mint wouldn't transfer to the peanut butter.

Piano Blocks

I like the look of wooden 2" x 4"s cut into blocks and made into words. I wonder who the creative woman was who first thought to make them; she's a genius.

Most of them I've seen say "love" or "home" or the names of the seasons. I wanted some for my piano teaching studio that said--you guessed it!--"piano". I found the background papers and ribbons at Michaels, Hobby Lobby and Joann's, and bought the pre-cut letters at Joann's. (Alas, I don't have a Cricut, and it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do about the letters.) My piano teaching room is decorated in a black and white theme; I love those colors together, and piano keys and music are always black and white. It was easy to find a good variety of ribbons and paper in black and white.

I wish the pictures did a better job of showing the red jewels. I put them on all the blocks to add some interest to the black and white.

Valentine's Day Treats

I had fun being creative with Valentine treats to give away to neighbors, piano students, the ladies I visit teach, the Primary children in our ward and the women I work with in the Primary Presidency.

For the 70 Primary children and workers I made pink tinted rice krispie treats with Valentine sprinkles on them and pressed them into a pan. Then I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut them out, put them into a goodie bag from Target and made the labels to go on them.

The Valentine brownies on the plate below were made with pink frosting and cut out with cookie cutters. I discovered a recipe for peppermint cool whip on a blog, and loved it because it used ground up candy canes that turned cool whip to a sweet shade of pink. I gave it away with packets of Land O' Lakes hot chocolate. (I'll post a link to the blog with the recipe as soon as I figure out how to do it!)

I gave the peppermint cool whip in honey jars on a plate full of Valentine treats to my neighbors. I saw some Valentine mugs on sale at Michael's, and gave my visiting teaching ladies the mug full of peppermint cool whip, some hot chocolate packets, and wrapped it up in Valentine cellophane.

For the ladies who work with me in the Primary presidency, I made heart shaped Danish puffs.

I've never made these as individual servings before. I've always made the Danish puff in long strips and then cut into slices, but this worked really well. (You can find the recipe by googling "Almond Danish Puff". Here are the steps:

First, make a crust with flour, butter and water.

Next make a cream puff type topping with egg, butter, almond flavoring and water.

This is what they looked like after they were baked.

Here's a close up, just because it looks so good. (My stomach is growling, it must be time for breakfast!!)

Ta da!! The finished product. One thing I really love about it is the frosting is almond flavored, and I like the uniqueness of that. Mmmm, good, and pretty, too!

Valentine Wall Quilts

Here a the Valentine's Day wall quilts I've made through the years. I haven't ever used a pattern; I'll just see a picture somewhere and tweak it a bit to make the wall quilt the way I like it. I think it's a good idea to not make things too trendy, in design or colors, or they quickly look dated.