Happy Valentine's Day ♥

Hey love birds, it's that time of year again to grab your honey buns, squeeze 'em tight, and stuff 'em with sweets.

This year I made Cj a Box O' Chocolate Cupcakes from my Hello! Cupcake book. It was fun and came out great!

I baked 24 chocolate mini cupcakes (I wound up using 18) and filled each with vanilla frosting. Since I couldn't find brown mini-liners, I just sprayed the pan and did without them. After they completely cooled, I iced half of the cupcakes with chocolate icing. Then, I rolled the sides with sprinkles and decorated them with Valentine candies (I couldn't find Valentine-themed candy corn as the book has for flower petals, so I substituted by chopping up Starburst FaveReds).

With the remaining half, I melted dark chocolate frosting in the microwave (10-15 seconds) and dipped the tops of the cupcakes to give them a smooth coating. For the actual "chocolates", I cut jumbo marshmallows in half lengthwise for the rectangular candies and width wise for the round candies. I reheated my dark chocolate icing (it hardens rather quickly), dipped the marshmallow halves in to fully coat them, and transferred them onto wax paper for ten minutes in the fridge. When these were set, I put them atop of the dark chocolate dipped cupcakes and piped swirls/zig-zags with vanilla and chocolate icing. For the finishing touch, I put them in an actual heart-shaped box (I bought a box of chocolates and removed the insert) and filled in the empty spaces with Valentine M&Ms.

In addition to these carb-filled sweets, I made Cj a heart-filled sweet book of cards with inspiration from Pinterest: 52 Reasons I Love You.

I bought a new deck of cards and since I wanted to achieve a vintage look, I had to rough them up a little bit. With the help of sandpaper, I gave them a dated texture. Next, I printed these free labels that were the perfect size and I smacked them to sticky dot paper that I purchased from Michael's (this is awesome; it will turn any paper goods into a sticker!). Then, I wrote out my 52 reasons, cut them out, and then stuck them on each card.

To give the cards an even more vintage look, I rubbed a Tim Holtz Distressed Ink Pad all over the back and front of each card. I swear by these ink pads for vinterizing (yeah, I said it, vinterizing) crafts. I used the joker card to make the cover (done with scrapbook paper, stamps, and an embosser) and put picture of us (with a sepia effect) on the inside.

My dad clamped the deck and drilled two holes completely through the deck as I nervously anticipated the destruction of my project. I was going to individually hole punch each card twice - 108 punches to be exact - and he convinced me otherwise. I was happy he did; it took a few minutes and went along with the "used" look. Lastly, I hooked the cards together with red binders rings (Office Depot). This is a great gift for any occasion of the year and I'm really happy with the way it came out!

So there you have it; easy and fun crafts I made for my babe with mucho love. I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day, and remember, you don't have to have a honey to spread some l♥ve!