Valentine’s Day Conversation Heart Cupcakes

These Valentine’s day cupcakes are so delicious and fun to make. They are the perfect cupcake for Valentine’s day! I love the taste of the almond flavor mixed with the vanilla flavor. These two flavors go great together. Add some red food coloring to make your Valentine’s day cupcake even more festive. For the final touch, add frosting, some pink or red sprinkles and top with a conversation heart.

Almond vanilla cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup of sour cream

Directions:

-In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
-Using a hand blender, blend the room temperature butter and sugar until fluffy.
-Add in the eggs, one egg at a time, while beating.
-Add the vanilla and almond extract and stir. If you want to add color, like I did for Valentine’s day, you can add 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of your choice of food coloring now.
-Mix in the flour and sour cream into the batter alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Be careful not to over-mix or you’ll end up with hard batter.
-Place liners in a cupcake pan. Fill liners until 1/2 way or 3/4 way full.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes.

Let them cool and decorate with frosting and sprinkles!

Your Valentine will love these cupcakes. Enjoy!

Valentine’s day LOVE tiles- A Fun Tutorial

These scrabble love tiles are a great DIY Valentine’s day project. It’s also a great way to upcycle those “extra” scrabble tiles. These tiles can be used for anything. You can make one as a pendant for a necklace, attach one to a scrapbook or attach one to a Valentine’s day card for a little pop!

You can use any small photo for these tiles. For my love tiles, I used some old thumbprints of photos. You know, the kind that you get from Target, Walmart or Costco when you order photos. They fit perfectly on the scrabble tiles!

For this project,  you will need:

-Scrabble tiles
-thumbprint photos
-modpodge
-acrylic sealer (optional)
-scissors or square paper cutter
-decorative stickers or paper
-nail file

Since the thumbprint photos didn’t completely cover the scrabble tile, I used a sticker as the base. Luckily, I had a square hole puncher that was almost the same size as the scrabble tile. I used this to punch out the sticker to fit perfectly over the tile. But if you don’t have a square hold puncher, scissors and a steady hand work just as well. I placed the sticker on the scrabble tile first. Then I used modpodge to glue the picture on top.Then I used a nail file to file the sides down since the sticker went a little over.

I made some tiles without photos. Basically, I did the same procedure minus the photo (and the modpodge for sticking the photo on the tile). When I was happy with the finished product, I brushed on modpodge over the whole tile after I had placed the sticker and/or photo on it.

I placed the tiles on wax paper for easier removal after drying. I let the tiles dry for about 20 minutes, then I sprayed acrylic sealer to give it a glossy finish. This is optional. Sometimes, the modpodge is good enough, especially if you don’t prefer a glossy finish.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on Valentine’s day love tiles. I hope it inspires you to make them. Better yet, I hope it inspires you to create your own work of art or handmade treasure for your loved ones.

Today I am grateful for things handmade with love.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

“When I saw you I fell in love and you smiled because you knew.”
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

How to make a Valentine’s day coupon book

It’s almost Valentine’s Day! Here is a fun and quick handmade project that you can make for your loved one. A Valentine’s day coupon book is a fun way to show your love.

For this project, you will need:

-Hard cardstock paper for the front and back cover
-Construction or scrapbook paper for the coupons
-Valentines day stickers
-Paper cutter or X-acto knife
-Rubber cement or padding compound

First, cut the hard cardstock and the scrapbook paper so that they are all exactly the same size. The hard cardstock will be the front and back cover of the coupon book. The scrapbook paper will be the coupons for your book. Decorate the front of your coupon book with the Valentine’s day stickers.

You can also use the Valentine’s day stickers on the coupons. This coupon book is for Josh’s big sister. I wrote “This coupon is good for:” and had Josh write the rest based on activities that they already enjoy together.

I used rubber cement to bind one side of the book. You can also use padding compound. Spread a generous amount of rubber cement to bind one side of the book together.

Let dry overnight using a clip to hold it together.

The finished product! A homemade Valentine’s day coupon book for Josh to give to his big sister on Valentine’s day!

Sabrina is going to love this Valentines day gift from her brother! Wishing you a Valentine’s day filled with Love.

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
― William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well

Today I am grateful for Valentine’s days filled with love.