Holidays Archives - Page 40 of 63

Valentine Cookies

February 14, 2011 jennifer Valentines Day

One of my mini-goals this year is to make sugar cookies more often. I like to decorate them, and would like to get better at doing it. What’s the point of having a bunch of awesome cookie cutters if you never use them?

So I made a batch and managed to steal a few minutes here and there to decorate them.

Sometimes I let things sound so time intensive in my mind that I never get around to doing it. Sugar cookies usually fall in this category. This time I tried flavoring the royal icing with some pina colada flavoring oil. It added a fun scent and subtle taste to the cookies which I like because royal icing isn’t the yummiest frosting on earth.

I’ve decided to make small batches more often so I’ll get it through my head that it’s really quite simple.

The technique above was my #1 goal. I wanted to try it. I’d seen a picture in a catalog and wanted to learn how. Mine aren’t exactly like the picture, but they were so much fun to make. After filling in the centers with royal icing, I put a little circle of contrasting icing in the center, then quickly pulled a knife down through the center of the dot to form the heart (a lot like I did with this baking project).

I really like how this tiny cookie turned out as well. It reminds me of my baby.

I have hosted many baking parties for my girls, and every time I think about how much fun it looks while I supervise the organized chaos. I had so much fun decorating this batch on my own (ok, my oldest daughter helped too). It was a great creative experience and I learned something new.

Now they’re waiting patiently to be devoured for our FHE treat tonight. Except for one, which we used on Friday for a mini-celebration….

See that little nibble on the edge? I’ll share the reason soon.

Meanwhile, Happy Valentines Day! I hope you’re having a fun one.

Sincerely, Jennifer

One comment baking, valentine

Heart Decor

February 14, 2011 jennifer Paper, Valentines Day

While making this fun little craft, I cut out a second, smaller heart to experiment with.

Using this technique (again!) I made a rolled paper heart. You can see the other things I’ve made with these flowers here , here and here .

Unlike the wreath, this project took just a little while to complete. I still really like the look and feel of this technique.

Once it was done, I taped the back of the heart to a piece of pink cardstock paper that I’d cut to 8×10 inches. I removed the glass from a large silver frame and put the heart in.

Right now it’s functioning as a simple piece of art above our bed.

It’s a nice twist on Valentine decor. Neutral in color, understated, not too feminine, but still fun. I like the three dimensional quality it has while not being too obvious. And unique. I’m big on unique.

I love projects like this.
Hope you’re having a great day!

One comment Paper, valentine

Sugar Roses

February 11, 2011 jennifer Decorating, Valentines Day

Last fall I bought some sugar roses to use for my daughter’s baptism. BUT we forgot about them, so now they’re finding new purpose as Valentine’s Day decor.

I cut a large heart out of foam board and hot glued the sugar roses to it.

Every year I think about how fun it would be to make something like this with real flowers, but for some reason I’ve never done it. This is a fun substitute. Made from materials I had on hand, it cost me nothing.

I glued ribbon around the outside edges of the heart to hide the foam base.

I love that it’s unexpected but very simple. And white. I still love white.

It also looks pretty against red. A bit more traditional.

The weekend is underway at our house, with several things to celebrate. Should be fun!

Jennifer