happy valentine's day

happy valentine's day!  

before i run off to do some more baking, let me share with you this year's work valentine's treats.  
i was especially excited to make something this year because i was so busy the past few months with a nasty deadline that i didn't have time for my normal christmas baking/craft craziness.

i wanted to pass out individually packaged treats this year, and remembered the white chocolate bark with berries and toasted rice from 2012.  the colors work perfectly for valentine's, and i could incorporate a cheesy pun as well.  i did run out of white chocolate though (meaning i ruined a huge batch), and had to make a batch with milk chocolate.

the heart strawberries on my tags were cut with my silhouette.  i had a great time assembling everything. it was the best part.

this is a special batch i made for bffbf.  i got these candy molds from ikea a while back, and decided it would be a good time to test it them out.    i filled the middles with toasted rice and freeze dried berries as well.  i didn't bother tempering the chocolate, so the bottoms look lumpy, but that's ok.  they still TASTE good. 

oh, if you've found yourself in need of a last minute valentine's card, you can print out the one i designed a couple years ago (wow, was it so long ago?) for free.

free printable valentine's day card

i made you a card that you can print out and give to someone else.
it's simple and to the point.  i hope you like it.

click here to download the pdf file.  for personal use only, please and thank you.

i suggest printing on a sheet of 8.5"x11" heavy weight white cardstock.  cut the card in half (i drew a short gray line beneath the card indicating where to cut), and fold in half, using a scoring blade if you have one.   when completed, the card will be 5.5"x4.25".

enjoy!

packaging edison

half the fun of making a gift is deciding how to package it... for me at least  the elephant in the last post was a present, and i contemplated a while on how to tag him.  i made this card with edison's story inside (see story in the post below).  my lotus root pattern is printed on one side of a 3"x3" card that fits into a square envelope, also with my lotus root pattern printed on side.  the husband kindly participated by making me an envelope template.

my chinese is very limited and i made a typo.  oops.

unfortunately, i forgot to take a picture of it, but i cut slits in the envelope, slid a ribbon into it, and then tied it around the elephant's head.  it was all sorts of adorable. truthfully, deciding how to present edison was almost more fun than making him.