Valentine's Day: Barely Baked "mallomars"

These cheater cookies are super duper easy and sooooooo good! I would not recommend them as a giveaway treat, the chocolate coating melts like crazy but if you wanted to whip up a little fun for you and yours, this is an awesome project that you and your kidlets can do together.

You will Need
*1 bag o milk chocolate chips or other melty goodness
*strawberry flavored marshmallows (or plain)
*plain store bought cookies of choice
*2 cookie sheets
*spatula, fork & wooden spoon
*wax paper or parchment
*double broiler or microwave safe bowl
*sprinkles & fun optional

scrumdilly-do it!

Set oven to preheat at 350 F and assemble to goodies.

Have your kidlet place cookies on cookie sheet and top with a single marshmallow each. You can cram as many as you like onto your sheet. I think I got twenty on mine. Any cookie could work, but think smaller rather than large. When oven is preheated, pop the whole kit and caboodle in and set timer for two minutes. I make these cookies form scratch often but there are simply too many steps to simply whip them up. When I spied a bag of heart shaped strawberry flavored marshmallows I wondered if I could make up a cheater batch and this it what I came up with. I used chocolate animal cookies simply because the price was right, they were small and they were chocolate. .

Meanwhile, dump chocolate chips into top of double broiler, set flame to low and allow the chocolate to melt. You can also do this in the microwave which might work better since a smaller container allows for easier coating. Don't let the microwave go too long, it is really easy to burn the chocolate and then it is no good at all.

After two minutes, remove cookie sheet from oven and place on top of hot pads. The marshmallows will have puffed up with all sorts of ooey goodness inside. Use a spatula to gently flatten each marshmallow. Your kidlet may do this part if you think they are old enough to mind the heat of the cookie sheet, otherwise this a job for the grown-ups.

While the chocolate is melting and the marshmallows are cooling, have your kidlet pull out the second cookie sheet and top with a sheet of wax paper or parchment. Turn burner off when chocolate is all melted. Working as quickly and as carefully as possible, coat cookies in chocolate by dipping them and letting excess sloop off. The chocolate will be warm if not hot so this too is a job for the grown-ups. I'm a bit impatient when I do this and strive for simple coverage as opposed to pretty coverage. I plop the cookie into the chocolate and use a combo fork/wooden spoon to drag as much of the chocolate on top as I can. Then I use the fork to bring it up out of the pan, scraping the bottom against the lip before plopping the sticky mess down on the parchment paper covered cookie sheet.

As you dip and drop, have your kiddo decorate with jimmies and sprinkles and such. If you are making these for grown-ups as well, a pinch of sea salt is my favorite topping. Semi-sweet chocolate works too.

After all of your cookies have been dipped and decorated, make room in the fridge for the cookie sheet and pop them all in for a chill. This will help the chocolate set and keep little fingers off of them while you all clean up. If you must, hand over the wooden spoon full of chocolate and let your kiddo go to town.

After 20 minutes or so, enjoy one or two (but not three, three is overkill) with a glass of your favorite milk beverage and count the hours before you can indulge again. Happy almost Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Autograph books

This is a nifty little last minute Valentine's Day project that makes for a unique keepsake. Instead of making (or buying) many valentines, why not make a little book to collect Valentine's Day signatures and doodles? It's a lot easier to add this to the keepsake box and can be made from all sorts of goodies you may already have on hand. It also has the added benefit of containing two little "pockets" built right in.

You Will Need:
*scissors
*scrap paper
*paper doilies
*stapler
*small paper gift sacks or treat bags
*glue, felt, stickers (optional)

scrumdilly-do it!

Gather all your goodies and get ready to create.

Have your kiddo carefully cut straight across the bottom of your paper sack removing the bottom seam.

Fold sack in half with the seams facing in.

Fold paper doily in half and insert inside your soon-to-be booklet.

Gather small pieces of scrap paper equal to or slightly smaller than the sack and have your kiddo fold each sheet in half as well.

Sandwich all pieces inside the doily.

If needed, use scissors to trim excess doily from the top and bottom of your sack.

Carefully flip over the whole kit and caboodle and add two staples to the crease so that the folds are inside your booklet.

Flip back over and refold in half. Decorate and Ta-da! A nifty little Valentine's Day autograph book!

A fun Valentine Round-Up from Parent Map

Parent Map gave us a shout out in their most recent Valentine's Day round-up. How cool is that? Hop on over to get a looksie, there are some awesome projects in the post and we are delighted to be included!

Valentine Nine!

Here are nine fabulous Valentine's Day projects you can do with your kiddos. Clockwise from the top left, click on the link to the tutorial and keep us posted if you make any of them. We would love to see and hear from you!

*fingerprint love trees
*potion
*straw & paper garland
*lacing cards garland
*valentine scarves
*pink drink
*sugar buns
*stuck on you
*puzzle love

valentine diy: sweet puzzle redo

I see these little wooden tanagram-style puzzles all the time in various dollar sections. While I am a sucker for wooden puzzles I am not too fond of the droll colors they exhibit. With a can of white spray paint and a couple of bottles of acrylic you can transform something a little dull to a lot of happy.

These pieces are very porous and soak up a lot of paint, we blasted them first with a can of white spray paint which only dulled the original colors a wee bit. Enough though to make the puzzle a little more intriguing.

Next up, while keeping the puzzle intact, remove your lightest colored pieces first. Give them a coat or two of your lightest paint and allow to dry. Return them to their happy positions.

Continue with your next lightest set and so on.

Once you approach your darker pieces, you may need to give them a white coast before applying color. Some paints cover better than others. Take your time and allow each coat to dry.

Don't forget to work in batches. The first puzzle I painted had fewer pieces and I thought it would be super easy to put them back. I was wrong. Take a picture of the puzzle before working in case you forget how to reassemble it. You may also wish to trace the outline of each shape on the puzzles bottom to help your kiddos (and you) put the pieces back together. Try writing "secret" messages on the puzzle backs for more fun.

Have fun, break out those paints and enjoy your Valentine's Day!

pretty valentine trees

**

This is a fun and messy Valentine project for your kiddos. (I have proof too!) You do not have to do it exactly as I have, if yer kiddo is too young for the straw painting or you do not have liquid water or food color, use crayons or markers for the trunk instead. Enjoy!

You will need:
*paper, card stock or blank cards
*scissors
*pencil/pen
*liquid watercolor or food color
*acrylic, tempera or fingerpaint
*straw
*painters tape
*paint friendly work area

scrumdilly-do it!

Set up your work area. If you do not have a splat mat you can improvise with a long sheet of wax paper and/or a cookie sheet.

Begin with a sheet of paper, any size you wish to use. Fold it in half and tape down inside portion to work surface. I used masking tape which will tear your art a wee bit, painters tape is a much better option though not as pretty.

Drop a few drops of the liquid paint close to the bottom of your paper and in the center. You can also use watered down tempera or acrylic for this. The easiest way to drop your drops is to have your wee one place the straw in the paint while their finger is over the top part of the straw.

With the clean end of the straw, have your kiddo gently blow on the drops to "guide" them to for ma tree shape. This isn't as easy as it may seem so if you and/or your wee one gets discouraged, blow a little then use the paint end of the straw to "paint" the tree trunk. Sometimes serendipity strikes and you get an awesome tree right away, other times, not so much.

If you find there are big puddles of paint, use a paper towel, rag or napkin to gently blot the paint up. Set aside to dry.

If you do not have the paint for the trunk, use a marker or crayon instead.

Take another sheet of paper, the same size or smaller than your first. Fold in half and either draw a half hear shape from the top down or have your kiddo do it. Allow your kiddo to cut it out if she or he is scissors ready.Open up cut folded piece and arrange it atop your trunk picture once that has dried. The heart will be the body of the leaves. Tape into place.

Set out leaf colors and have your kiddo fingerprint leaves within the heart stencil. use the lightest color first. You do not have to use all pink and reds, mix it up, have fun with it. Set aside to dry and begin on your next tree!

You can make these trees as big or little as you like. The bigger the tree, the easier it is to create. However an index card will work as well as any folded sheet of paper. I would suggest you let yer kiddo paint the trunks first and then do the rest. It will allow the wet trunks a little more time to dry. If you have a tot who absolutely refuses to get dirty, use a q-tip or the eraser end of a pencil. If you feel inspired, carve a wee heart shape from a potato and use that. If you want to shy away from paint all together, draw up the trunks and use stickers or rubber stamps for the leaves. This can be as open ended as you want it to be, have fun and please feel free to ask me any questions! I can be found on Facebook and twitter. My gmail is jekinthebox or scrumdillydo and there is a flickr group for you to play along. Fridays we'll be featuring crafts and projects from the group.

**the photo at the top is of a Valentine made by six year old Alaina, daughter to the super talented Tara Anderson of the pink couch who graciously jumped in to make one and took a pretty picture to boot! Thank you Tara!

crowns of gold and pom-poms

This lickety split craft is perfect for a birthday party or classroom event. The supplies can be found at some dollar stores or teacher supply stores. I paid $2 for the poms and the bulletin board edged, the glue I had on hand.

You Will Neeed:
*bulletin board edging
*pom-poms
*glue (tacky glue has the most tack)
*tape and/or stapler

scrumdilly-do it:

Set out supplies in a mess friendly zone and let your kiddos get gluing. Markers will generally not work on foiled edging. When I ran children's event for a bookstore, we used the corrugated rolls of bulletin board edging, we simply cut the lengths we needed and let the kiddos loose. If the pre-cut edges are too short, cut an additional piece fro ma spare and affix with tape or staples. Allow 20-30 minutes for the glue to dry. Have fun!