happy valentines day weekend loves!  i love, love, love getting extra geeky about little ways to show affections around this time of year.  these are just a very cute little something to give your sweetheart or a buddy that could use a valentine.  

i am planning to pimp these out as the dessert arrives, after a delish dinner at our favourite local restaurant, Chaster Restaurant.  i'm going to take out a capsule and pour out the sprinkles onto our dessert and let him know that he's the sprinkles on my top!  oh emmmmm geezlehoffin, does that sound cheesy or what?  wow.  almost reconsidering posting this after re-reading it... but alas... with blushing cheeks... i will hit "publish".  livin on the edge baby!  living. on. the. edge.

now...lets get clear here, i have made 2 different kinds of "love pills" here.  ones that are filled with edible sprinkles, and the others i filled with, oh so very NOT edible, foil glitter.  the purpose is to make someone smile, feel loved and adored, and maybe...just maybe have a giggle or two whenever they look at them.  if you ingest one of the glitter pills....well....4 words... disco toilet party, batman!

you can do whatever you wish with these once you have made them.  they are a choking hazzard for the littlish little kids or for husbands who've had waaay to much vino, so, take caution;)  

i had these super cute little vials i got from here that i tried to make look like a cuter version of a pill bottle.  my friend, Nico, turned 40 a few weeks ago and i made a tiny glass vial into a necklace with one single rainbow sprinkle pill in it and told her that if she ever wanted to have fun again (after turning 40!!) that she could take the rainbow pill (lil Matrix reference) as i placed it around her neck.  she looked at me all suspiciously and asked with a suspicious smile, "w...hat's in it?"   i flashed her the same sneaky smile and replied, "sprinkles". k, yeah, funny moment...on with it...

what you will need:

• capsules
  
• sprinkles or glitter

and literally, that is it.  that and whatever you'd like to put them in.  a pill box would be suuuuper cute. you can get those at any pharmacy or dollar store.  here's a picture DIY.....have a fun v-day!!

you can find capsules at health food stores or vitamin shops.  i bet they even carry them at most pharmacies.  if you have the time, order them online.   i went crazy and made all the sprinkles i had in my baking cupboard into pills.  i'll use the rainbow sprinkles and the plain green ones for something funny on st. patty's day, etc....they are so funny and pretty unexpected.

oh the punches.  as some of you know, i am obsessed with these.  stars, hearts, tags, scalloped edges.  if you don't have a punch, you can get tags at any craft store or in the craft isle at the dollar store.  you can also just cut one out or use a sticker.  

valentines day can be such a mixed bag of emotions, failed attempts at romantic schemes, hallmark holiday strike lines, forced tokens of loves expression, true doting, breakfast in bed, stained sheets (um, because of the breakfast in bed...come on guys!), name written in the sky style romance (yeah. this totally happens) and super sweet surprises from your girlfriends (these are my fave). 

if you are a parent with a kid in school, i bet you've had the wonderful experience of  spending the night before valentines day pulling your hair out as your child takes 9 hours and forty two minutes trying to choose between transformer cards or go with the retro pack (which you are fond of and trying to sway his decision cause you wanna get the rock outta there already before you curse this love day into non existence)....thunder...thunder...thundercats...ohhhhh! 

then, just when you get home you realize, oh geeeziss, i need to have my 2nd grader address these to all of his 52 class mates, friends, teachers, family members...okay...back to calling off the holiday! where's the whiskey?

k...everybody remain calm. sit back, sip your whiskey and remember the cutest moments when you were little, walking around the classroom, dropping little treasured envelopes into cute valentine receptacles. trying to play it cool when you drop THE valentine into you know who's big heart. aww. adorbz! 

few hints: stay in that cute moment. be patient with your lil one.  they can mispell things and not start a card over.  but most of all....forget the store bought cards!!! oh my stars...come on...they just get tossed, hopefully recycled, candy pillaged and probz not even read. get creative...make something the other kidlets can keep and don't get swag candy to add the the hoards of sugar they will ingest that day! 


here's what we did this week.  you'll need:

• some sort of air dry clay. i used a paper based clay and liked it a lot. any craft store will carry it.
• a rolling pin
• some sort of letter stamps. i just got some leather stamps, but you can get little alphabet rubber stamps from michaels for $1.50! the dollar store might even carry them.
• i found little screw eyes at the hardware store, but anywhere that sells jewelry stuff will have something similar. this is for the pendants. 
• if you wish to make magnets out of the hearts instead...easier...then grab some little magnets at the craft store...i got mine at the dollar store. 
• paint. i used acrylic, but man...spray paint would have been a lot less time consuming. more expensive, but you'll only use a bit and have the rest for other projects in the future.
  
• wax or parchment paper
• heart shaped cookie cutter

start by placing a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface. roll out a handful of clay with your rolling pin.  cut out heart shapes.  you can keep re-rolling out the scraps of clay to get all the hearts you can out of that chunk of clay.  you wont need much.

using your finger, smooth over the edges.  now, stamp out cute conversation heart sayings on them or if you have a list of the names of the kids in their class, you can personalize them.  if you want to make necklaces, you will carefully screw in the screw eyes into the tops of the hearts.  if you are making magnets, you will glue them on the back after you are done painting them.

they'll need at least a whole day to dry out.  when they are dry, paint them.  ours needed a couple coats.  i did the first coat and then Loji, my little guy, helped me with the rest.  he helped with stamping too. 

i picked him up from school the other day with some markers, card stock i picked up from the print shop and cut into small cards there on their nifty paper cutter, and took him to the coffee shop to draw little cards for his friends.  we had so much fun!  he loves to draw though...if your little one doesn't care to...you don't need to...you're done.  they'll just bring the little treasures to school and pass them out. 

here's some pics to show you what we did....have fun!

hi buddies! i know...i know...it has been way too long.  for reals.  i promise i am going to make it up to you today and tomorrow! blog days baby! i really want to show you these crackers i made for my boys last week. they were a big hit.  they were so fun to put in Loji's lunch with little hearts of cheese and organic buffalo salami.  i used the same heart shaped cookie cutter, so they stacked together in tiny adorable cracker sammies.  i seriously wished i was a techie spy mom and had a tiny camera hiding in his lunch to catch his reaction when he opened the little tin up that had these inside.  did i just say that all out loud?

i made them with quinoa flour this time, which works well, but usually go with wheat for these ones.   the taste of the quinoa kinda takes over the subtler sesame, but if you are super ultra mega gluten free and looking for a cracker situation...these are your girls!

aiight...here's the spekz:

1 cup whole wheat flour (you can sub quinoa flour or all purpose)
1/2 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
teaspoon salt
2 tbsp canola oil (yes you can sub whatchya have!)
1/2 cup water
toasted sesame seeds, for sprinkling

preheat oven to 375

combine flour, cheese, and salt in the bowl of your food processor and pulse until well blended. add the oil and pulse again.  now add the water. blend well.

turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and make a ball with it.  flour your rolling pin (if you don't have one, use a wine bottle. you will feel really cool and resourceful if you do this.  when you are finished with this step, pop her up to make sure she's still good! mm.:) and roll the dough out till it's about 1/8 inch thick.  sprinkle with sesame seeds and roll again to embed them into the dough a bit. 

you can cut into squares with a knife or pizza cutter or use cookie cutters and cut out crackers. place on an ungreased baking sheet and prick each cracker with a fork.  bake about 20 minutes or until golden.  be sure to check on them if you do little shapes because they will cook faster then bigger ones.

if your dough sticks to your counter tops for some reason, just use a spatula and scoop them right up.

now spend entirely waaaay too much time placing them on a baking sheet as if anyone was going to see it (umm, except for you guys, of course. ehem.)

use the slot on the side of your cheese grater to get uniform thickness on your ridiculously adorable cheese hearts. i know guys, try to contain yourselves!  you probz don't really use this part of your grater so much...this might be kind of exciting for you. it was for me. go big or go home!

now enjoy! seriously, you can form fit (pun intended) this to any holiday or occasion with the shape you make these into.  bon appetite! 

alright, who doesn't want to trick their kids into eating "good for you" candy and thinking they are just as spoiled as can be?  alright, calm down moms in the back!  you can put your waving arms down now.  don't make me pull over the car!  

i made these orange juice lego gummies yesterday to bring in for Loi's valentines day party at school.  see, i used the lego molds after this to make chocolates for his valentines he's going to pass out today...post to follow... so, i figured they would tie into his "we click together" theme he (i) had going on.  i had found the molds online last year and went cray cray with them for the lego birthday party he had last year.  hmm, also...post to follow...  

anyhoo, the recipe i used yesterday for these is suuuper easy, fast and you probz have everything you need in your kitchen right now.   ingredients...orange juice and gelatin.  i used grass fed gelatin, but normal gelatin packets are easily found at any grocery store.  now, the recipe is from a super cute book from 1964 called Sugar Free Toddlers.  i only used this one, because, as i said, i had all the ingredients here.  had i not been sick as a dog all week, i would have gone to buy lemons and used the second recipe i will list down yonder.  they are my fave.  my son loved these oj ones...so, in a pinch, here yar:

prep time: 2 mins
cook time: 5 mins

ingredients

3 cups fruit juice 
5 packets unflavored gelatin powder

in a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of juice with the gelatin powder.  bring 1 cup of juice to a boil, then stir in the gelatin mixed juice. add remaining cup of juice and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.  pour into molds or into an 8 x 8 pan and chill until set.  if you use a pan, you can cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.

this one is the jam guys.  try this recipe.  kinda addictive.  did you know there is tons of protein in gelatin? who knew.  


one word of advice: pick a simple mold! these legos were hard to pop out perfectly. the dots at the top were giving me a run for my money (seriously, what does that even mean? c'mon quotes! make more sense sometimes!).  pick a solid form that'll pop out easy.

pink lemonade protein gummy candy
prep time: 5 minutes

total time: 5 minutes


ingredients

• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp lemon juice (not from concentrate)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 full dropper of berry stevia drops
• 1-2 drops lemon or orange doTerra essential oil or extract (optional)
• 1-2 drops natural food coloring (optional)
• 1/4 cup grass-fed gelatin

instructions

1. in a small saucepan over low heat, whisk together honey, lemon juice, stevia drops, lemon extract and food coloring(optional).
2. add in gelatin and continue to whisk constantly until smooth and there are no lumps.
3. transfer into a liquid measuring cup to easily pour into your molds.
4. place in fridge or freezer to let gelatin set for a a while before removing from molds.

Notes:

store in an airtight container, will stay firm at room temperature. if there's any left after a few days (nom nom), refrigerate for up to two weeks.

i know, some of you can't get down with stevia...but the flavored stevia drops (Sweetleaf Sweet Drops) they are making are seriously awesome. not a fan of the valencia orange, but all the others i've tried are totes the jam.  we have a soda stream and make "soda" all the time with bubbly water and a few drops of the falva'flave droplets.  i feel like i'm doing an infomercial here...but i do use these in recipes some times, so here's a link and the flavors they carry....  http://www.sweetleaf.com/products/sweet-drops-products

Coconut • Watermelon • Cola • Lemon Drop • Valencia Orange • Berry 
Chocolate Raspberry • English Toffee • Vanilla Crème • Hazelnut • Peppermint • Root Beer
Grape • Apricot Nectar • Chocolate • Cinnamon

so, i found these little bottles at the dollar store and had three hundred and fifty two ideas on what i could do with them.  this is the first of many...i love these.  i also heart my martha stewart heart puncher.  oh craft tools....happy valentines day craft tools!  i love you forevz!

anyhoozles, as you might already know, i also heart using recycled materials when i am crafting. creating tasteful ways to reuse things is a passion of mine.  this was a fun way to do that.  i went through magazines and tore out pages that had pink or red pictures on them.  i was careful to check on the backs of these pages and only use them if there was back and white print on the back.  i also used a page of sheet music and a couple pages i tore out of an old novel i found at the recycling depot (which i also heart).  yes....i am keeping a tally of how many "hearts" i am racking up here.  

now use your heart punch and go wild (at heart) on your collection of pages.  gather all of your hearts up and give them a good mix up.  now evenly distribute into the little glass jars.  

if you are savvy with a pair of jewelry pliers and a length of chain, string the chain around the mouth of the jar and fasten with an O ring and clasp on top.  if not, you can use twine, a strip of leather or whatever your pretty little HEART desires.  had to slip it in just one last time. (t.w.s.s.)  these are such a sweet gift for your ladies!! that's who i gave them to, as well as my son's teacher, my mother in law, and a few friends that are far away. i love love.

today is international Random Acts of Kindness Day!! yay! just kidding...everyday is random acts of kindness day silly head!  in the spirit of valentines day month (like that? just made that up. i think),  i am now triple dog daring you to perform a random act of kindness today.  

this sweet tin was dropped off to me at home by my friend Weezie.  when i opened the lid, i almost cried.  the sweetest most fragrant woft of wild roses filled my nose and tear ducts or something...yeah..that was it..sniff sniff.  anyway, it was all her fault! so thoughtful.  the details! the heart shaped rock? c'mon!  almost got a cavity from the sweetness.  

now it's your turn!!  take a picture of a random act of kindness and post it to my Martha Starfish fb page!!  

oh, here's another picture.  i came back to my car one morning to a beautiful rose tucked into the wiper blade of my mini, Winne Cooper.  it drove me crazy not knowing who did it, but i loved the mystery of it all.  go team awesome!

make your own tootsie rolls at home using this easy recipe!  there's no cooking or baking required and it's made using simple pantry staples.  go on...try it out.  up..up...up...

i never liked them when i was a child.  gave them away or traded them when i'd get them in my bag of halloween loot.  but when i ran across this recipe a couple years ago, i thought i'd try it out.  in love.  you seriously will not believe how much (better) they taste like the real dealio. cray cray.

10 day countdown ladies and gentlemen...idea of the day...no, more than that...i double dog dare you to leave someone a love note today!  it can be your beebinz, a friend, coworker, barista, your kids.  c'mon, humor me.  i left this on our bathroom mirror so he'd see it while brushing his toofies.

if you haven't noticed, i have started an unofficial two week countdown to the happy lovely yummy heart day.  i have been trying to do one or more posts a day since i started this blog, but missed yesterday's and wheeeewie did I hear about it...from my mom.  she just called to see if i was okay "because i hadn't posted for a few days".   loosely translated, "a few days" is equal to but never greater than one.  one day.  so, in honour of my loving mother who might just love this blog more than me now (kidding mom), i am just gunna give'r today!  love you mom.

back to my crafting obsession....dreamcatcher hearts.  i love how these came out!!  i had the idea to do dreamcatchers in all of them but experimented with all kinds of ways to use the yarn on these and love them all.  you can thread one of these with ribbon to dress up a wrapped gift, you can hang them in a window for festive vibes, hang for a cute surprise  in your lovers car from their rear view mirror, or you can do what my lil guy did and fling them across the room like cupids ninja star hearts.  yeah, i was feeling the welts, i mean love. 

i wanted to make something different for valentines day so i started collecting little trinkets and tidbits that made me think of "the Beebz".  that's what i call my man.  he's a musician, so naturally i thought of him when i found the little toy xylophone, broken, on the street one day and a vintage metal gramophone pencil sharpener.   there is a page from an old dictionary with burnt edges, a rose he gave me one night that i dried, a tiny glass bottle that i put the first lock of hair i snipped off our sons head, skeleton keys, a piece of tattered wood my lil guy and i found on the beach, some die and rummy game tiles with his lucky numbers, and so on...

i  made I, Love, and You signs and had a friend drive around with me to a few of our favourite spots and took pictures of me holding them.   after i got these developed and had a small heap of treasures i began playing with placement.  i used a glue gun and got busy.  now it's your turn.