Sweet on You!

There is something about chocolate.

Some say it's a "mood enhancer".

A friend in bad times, who listens without interrupting.

A tasteful moment, where if just for a second...

you don't have to think about carpools, homework, unpaid bills, or the grocery list.

A truffle can do that.

A bite-size little piece of chocolate heaven.

And since Valentine's Day is coming up, here is the perfect excuse to make some for those you love, and stash some away for yourself.

 Because you deserve it...especially after that science project you just did for your kid.

We know. 
We did 90% of it too.

 Truffle away my sisters.

And we're showing you some more love this week with a FREE PRINTABLE for your truffle boxes.

I've had this truffle recipe for 12 years...

There becomes something so sentimental about a recipe that's been "well loved". 
It's from Martha Stewart's Living magazine from 2001.

 The "original blogger" of all things wonderful, sweet and crafty.

It has been folded, stained, carried in my purse, and shoved back into my cookbook many times over. I lovingly take it out every February and make dozens and dozens of these beauties. 

I wrap them up in pretty little boxes and give them to my chocoholic friends who need it the most. You'll be amazed at how easy these are to make, and how just a box of chocolate can light up someone's face.

Here's what you need: (Each batch makes 4 dozen which will fit on one baking sheet. Because I make so many at once, I will usually quadruple this recipe which fits on all four of my baking sheets. My large stockpot will easily fit and cook 4 batches.

This is the recipe for 1 batch:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons of light corn syrup
• 2 pounds of semisweet chocolate chips (the best quality you can find)
• toppings (my favorites are powdered sugar, chopped andes mints, sprinkles, cocoa powder, and chopped walnuts)
• candy wrappers (found at most craft supply stores)
• wax paper

Add cream, butter and corn syrup to a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. 




Turn off the heat and add 1 pound of the chocolate chips. Gently swirl them in to cover them with the cream, but don't stir. Let that stand, undisturbed for 5 minutes. 
(I'm sure someone needs you right about now anyway)

Whisk the chocolate until combined and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Then refrigerate, stirring every 20 minutes. 

After 45 minutes to an hour, the mixture will thicken quickly, you'll want to stir every 5 minutes, until you have a nice hard consistency (cookie dough like).

Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, form 1 inch balls (don't worry if they aren't a shape yet, you'll do this when they harden a little more).
Place the balls on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Pop them into the freezer for 10 minutes or the refrigerator for 25-30 minutes. You want them firm enough to roll in your hand.

Now it's time to melt your other pound of chocolate.
I always microwave mine in a microwave safe bowl every 30 seconds, stirring each time until I have perfect smooth dipping consistency.

The toppings for your truffles can be your signature.
My favorites are cocoa powder, powdered sugar, choc chips or andes mints, and walnuts.
I've also used chopped pistachios and pecans, crushed candy cane, crushed butterfingers. 
The combinations are endless.
Do something that makes them yours.

Roll the ball in your hands to make a nice round shape and dip it into the melted chocolate. Then drop it into your topping. The topping will cover the melted chocolate so that you can lift it out of the bowl. I usually dip with my left hand and use my right hand to dip into the toppings.

Aren't they gorgeous?
They'll last about a week in an airtight container stored at room temperature.

You've always heard that presentation is everything.
With these truffles, the packaging just makes it all the more beautiful.
I buy candy boxes at my local craft/hobby store and line them with tissue paper.
Place the truffles in the candy wrappers before putting them in the box.

Michaela made you all this darling FREE printable to use with your truffles!
Just click HERE to download it!
So easy...just print on cardstock or sticker paper.
They are just under 3 inches so you can use a 3 inch circle punch with these.

Want the tag personalized? Click HERE to purchase the personalized tag

If you decide to do a "trial run" on your first batch of these truffles and decide not to give any away...that's OK too. 
We won't tell. 
We've got your back.

Now that's sweet.

Love Wins.

Here's what a typical Wednesday conversation looks like in our house of three kids.

6am-7am 

"Don't forget your saxophone!" "Did you brush your teeth?" "Did you REALLY brush your teeth?" "You are not going out of the house wearing that. Go change." "We are leaving NOW."

2pm-3pm 

"Get in the car." "Get out of the car." "No, you can't have that for a snack." "Do your homework." "Focus, we don't have much time."  "Stop bothering your sister." "Stop touching your brother." 

4pm-6pm

 "Hurry...we are going to be late!" "Get in the car." "I told you to stop bothering your sister!" "Please put your phone away at dinner." "Have you finished your homework?"

7pm-9pm 

"Seriously, stop bothering each other!" "Take a shower." "How can you live and think in this mess?" "Stop asking me things when I"m on the phone." "No, you can't wear that tomorrow."

Not a lot of love going on in our words. 

It's there.

I'm sure there were some "I love you's" that fit in that day.

But it's a lot of reminding, and picking and picking, and reminding.

Even as I wrote this I feel very convicted.

For the month of February, we as a family have made a commitment 

to send each other a "love note" each day. 

We're not perfect, it may not happen every day. 

But, I'm hoping for love to win.

We designed a "family mailbox system" for you that's easy to make, inexpensive, and a super cute Valentine's decoration in your house. 

And we've included a FREE printable for your love notes. 

Now that's love.

Here's what you'll need:

• small mason jars (8 ounce size) You'll need 5 if you're a family of 5
• Wood plaque or piece of wood of your choice. (We found this one at Michael's that was the perfect size and already sanded and ready for our craft project. $8.99)
• Craft paint and color of your choice and brush
• 3/4 inch Pipe clamps (size 36) These are available at Home Depot or Lowe's for around a $1 a piece.
• Wood screws 3/4 inch (no longer than the depth of your board)
• a cute man hanging around with a drill

It took us about 4 coats to get it to the color and look wanted. 

You'll want to wait a day until it completely dries.

Knowing how many jars you'll use, measure out the length of the board and mark those spots so they are evenly spaced. Then (with the help of the cute man, or if you can use a drill yourself we're seriously impressed) pre-drill a hole for the wood screw to go in, using a drill bit smaller than the screw size.

Punch a hole with a hammer and nail in the back of the pipe clamp.

Then with a wood screw, use a screwdriver to screw the wood screw into the pre-drilled hole.

The 8oz mason jar is the perfect size for these pipe clamps, no adjustments needed. But, the pipe clamps can be adjusted if you wanted to use something else. Just lay the mason jar right into the clamp. The lip on the jar will hold it in place.

If you have a Silhouette that cuts vinyl, now's the time to get it out!

If you don't, you could paint the letters with a stencil or use sticker letters. Get creative!

Now, all it needs is a whole lot of love.

Click here for the FREE printable love notes.

My heart is melting already.

Love wins.

Whimsical Valentines for Kids

Valentines for Kids

Remember that time in your childhood where you got 20 Valentines as a given, 

just because you were in the same class? 

What a beautiful tradition that starts in our life, and yet fizzles out as we get older. 
We usually end up saving that Valentine card for just one special person, instead of spreading that love like we did when we were kids.

It's a day of love.

It should be celebrated with those we love, and not called "Singles Awareness Day" 
just because you aren't married or dating someone.

We all deserve to be recognized on this day, because we all deserve love.

Our children, our friends, our families...

the Starbucks girl who gets your order right every morning with a smile.

Doesn't she deserve some love?

Over the next few weeks, we will be bringing you ways you can show EVERYONE some whimsical love this Valentine season.

Let's start with those adorable little people.

We've been working hard to bring you
12 whimsical ideas

for kids to give as Valentines this year.
Some are sweet, some not so sweet. We wanted to cater to you moms out there who have been "banned" from bringing in anything with sugar to your class parties! 
Ours isn't even called a Valentine's party anymore...it's now called a Friendship party!

 These tags seen in this post can be purchased as a personalized printable file in our 
Etsy Shop
Print out the file, cut, and you are ready to go! So simple and easy!

AND, to show our love to YOU,
we are offering a FREE PRINTABLE in this collection!
Just scroll down to the Pixy Stix Party Flags!

Cut up button candy strips and bag them up for this "sew cute" Valentine!

Or, use a ziploc bag and use a bag topper.

Use Keebler "Scooby Doo" snacks that look like real dog bones for this Valentine and bag them up with a cute tag like this one! 

 Party Flags are really popular right now. 

We came up with a way to wrap them around Pixy Stix or even a cute lollipop!

AND, as a way to show our love to YOU, 

we are offering you these flags as a FREE PRINTABLE

Click here for the FREE PRINTABLE

Or, you can have them personalized in our Etsy Shop!

We bagged up green army men for a "Camo" themed Valentine!

And even included an idea for girls...pink painted army men!

Bag up some donuts with this tag and maybe even attach a coffee card with this one! We thought this one would be great for kids AND adults!

(We've never turned down a donut.)

We found a soccer "hacky sack" at the party supply store for $.50.

Great for all kids!

Gumball Heaven!

We found these cute containers of gumballs at a party store, but you could also just buy a bulk bag of gumballs and bag them up yourself! Or, use this tag with bubbles, for a non-food option.

We used Nabisco Teddy Grahams and placed them in a cellophane bag.

You could print this tag on sticker paper 

and place it on the snack-size Teddy Graham packs. 

You could also use gummy bears!

We attached the tag with some ribbon and hole punched the top.

This would also look great if printed on sticker paper 

and then just place right on the goldfish bag!

It's about that time in the school year where all the kids are needing a new set of crayons!

Problem solved!

We can't get over how cute these came out. We found adhesive furry "mustache stickers" at Party City for $.29 each! Just attach the mustache to the card and you're done!

This is Michaela's favorite. She loves s'mores ANYTHING.

We used Red Heart Peeps, a chocolate Hershey bar, and two graham crackers.

Everything you need to make a s'more!

All we used was a simple Ziploc sandwich bag and folded  and stapled the bag topper over it.

A great way to show YOUR friends some love!

We hope you found some great ideas for your kids, 

or even ideas you can do yourself for others! 

And remember...love isn't love until you give it away.