by Alyssa Tomasello and Christine Byrne
Valentine’s day is a day to remember the ones you love and to show them how much you truly care about them. Many valentines are bought at the last minute from a local store. These lack sincerity and a personal touch. But what better way to show your affection than to make homemade valentines? Homemade Valentines warm the heart and are so much more special. This is because the artist took the time to make it. There are so many different styles of homemade Valentines: baked goods, homemade cards, and music mix-tapes of their favorite tunes fall under these categories. You need to decide whether you want to give that special someone an edible treat or a memorable card or a digital treasure. Here are some great ideas to guide you along this overwhelming process.
Make a play list of songs that will remind the person of all the fun times you have had together. This is a timeless gift, because even when friends have graduated and gone down separate paths, the friend can pop in the CD and take a stroll down memory lane.
Gather pink, red, and purple paper along with glitter, doilies, stickers, and a bag of Hershey’s kisses. Cut the assorted paper
into large hearts. Cover the center section with the heart- shaped doilies. Decorate the outer rim with glitter glue and sparkles. Write a “heart”-felt message to your friend. Strategically glue the kisses to the valentine to add pizzazz and flavor to your creation. Hand this yummy surprise out to all those that you treasure.
Here is an amazing recipe for mouthwatering sugar cookies, which after baking can be dazzled with icing, sprinkles, and sweet message!:
-3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon
salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature,
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
-In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.
-Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
-Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface; roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (1 cm). (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.) Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough, which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking.
-Frost the cooled cookies with pink, white, or red icing. Make designs with the icing and write messages to your friends on the cookies. Add a couple shakes of sprinkles and hand this treat out to all of your friends.
-Follow these easy steps and you will surely be hit by cupid’s arrow.
Recipe came from familyfun.go.com
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