DIY Valentines Gifts =)

Hiya to whoever is reading this,

As valentines day is nearly here, the shops have started BOMBARDING everyone with pink covered candy and heart shaped stuff that is waaaaaaaay too expensive for any normal person. Most people forget that with days like valentines day, it isn’t about spending money and going completely overboard, it’s just about showing the people who matter, that you love them. Whether that’s by making them breakfast in bed, or a homemade card, you’ve shown you care and that itself is so much more important than bagfuls of candy and sweets that you can get for a much cheaper price, on any day of the year!

Anyway, these are some cute gift ideas that could be adapted for birthdays, etc. and are most importantly easy to make. plz note, these aren’t my pictures so sorry, but i have tried most of these before (or seen them work) so they all will work.

1) Candy Bear Jar

(i couldn’t find a picture but it definitely works =)

If you’re running out of time, and candy seems to be the only option, this little bear jar is a really cute way of jazzing it up a bit. First, get a small teddy bear (this is the slightly evil part!) and cut off it’s head, arms and legs =0. (i’m so sorry to any little kids reading this! lol) Then get a mason jar (or any other jar) and glue the teddy bear’s head to the lid. Then attach the arms and legs to the jar bit of the jar, like the jar is the body of the bear (i just realised how much i used the word jar in that sentence lol!) Super glue, a glue gun, or any other adhesive should work for this. Then fill the jar with your candy of choice (or DIY peppermint creams, see the next idea!), screw the teddy’s head back onto the jar and decorate with a bow-tie ribbon or a little tag!

2) Peppermint/ Vanilla Cream Hearts

First, sift 225 grams of icing sugar into a bowl and mix with one egg white (be careful not to get any yolk into the mixture). Mix the egg white and icing sugar with some peppermint (or vanilla) essence, this is the time to add any food colouring, blue, green, red or pink works well. If the dough is a bit sticky, add more icing sugar. Then lightly cover a clean, dry surface with icing sugar and roll out the dough into a sausage shape. Put the dough in the fridge for a minimum of 30 mins, and do something wild, fun and crazy (like checking instagram, twitter, etc). After the dough has been in the fridge for a bit, it should be a bit more manageable, then roll it out (on the icing sugar dusted surface) but still keep it quite thick. Then use a cutter of your choice to cut shapes out of the dough, i suggest heart shapes (you can get heart-cutters from pretty much any supermarket in February!). If you wanted to go a bit further, you could dip half of each sweet into melted chocolate, but that is totally optional.

3) Gingerbread heart

My dad and i always make this for my mum and they are based on the German Lebkuchen (I have this recipe in one of my first posts which is linked here, so check that link out for the recipe) Once you’ve rolled the gingerbread dough out, cut out a massive heart shape which is probably easier to free-hand cut with a knife REMEMBER TO CUT OUT A LITTLE HOLE NEAR THE TOP SO YOU CAN TREAD STRING THROUGH IT TO HANG IT UP! (please note that as it is bigger, it may change the time needed for it to bake). Once it is out of the oven and is fairly cool, use coloured icing of your choice to decorate the cookie, a simple outline with the person’s name in the middle is always cute, but if you have the patience to ice a full on message (i don’t!) then good on you! Some people also coat it with melted chocolate but be warned on the melting front!

4) Memory Scrapbook

This is pretty self-explanatory, but it is one of the most touching gifts you can give someone. Gather together any photos, tickets, theatre programs, etc. and arrange them inside a little notebook, scrapbook or folder/filefax with captions. If you don’t have pictures from a particular event then typing up a little summary works just as well. I also think that writing a little letter to the person about why you love them and sticking it on the first/last page is really cute too!

5) Memory/Love Jar

This is a really cute way of showing someone you care, and it can be adapted for friends, family, or just anyone you want to make feel a little bit special! Cut little strips of coloured or patterned paper and write little messages to the person and roll up photos/tickets to put in. It also is quite cute to add summaries of fun memories of that person with the date. Curling the paper works well and you could use sharpies, ribbons, paint or spray paint to decorate the jar. Jars like this are perfect to go through with the person and have a laugh over all your shared memories, or it can be the perfect pick-me-up when the person is feeling sad.

I hope these inspired you and if you try these then feel free to comment a pic!

Feel free to like, comment and subscribe! And if you survived to here then you are a total legend!

Luv

GeorgieGrl

xxx