Well... the hearts are gone...

The hearts have officially left the building.. 

but we have pictures 

to prove that they were here..

They showed up on presents...

for nieces..

In junior mint boxes.. 

possibly bought by oneself for oneself.. 

and not for sharing...

On garlands...

across fruit platters.. 

And sprinkled on whipped cream..

for dipping.. 

Now that the hearts are gone..

we will be searching for four-leaf clovers

and leprechaun foot prints.. 

hooray!  

Happy Valentine's!

Spend the day in love!

(image from findstuff22 on photobucket)

A little cherry and chocolate cookies...

I was excited when I saw 

what looked like and easy recipe

in the latest martha stewart magazine.. 

a perfect cookie recipe for Valentine's cookies..

(thank god I tried it before the day of!)

Cherry-chunk cookies.. 

yummm!

Anyhoo.. 

for some reason the cookies 

came out extremely flat.. 

and burnt.. 

part because my oven just

started running extremely hot lately.. 

(please don't break oven!!)

but apparently other people were 

having problems with the recipe too, 

so I don't feel so bad.. 

Anyways,

I went to my old faithful cookie recipe

from this fun little baking book 

that has a deceiving cover.. 

looks like something you would never use.. 

but I love it!

and I just added the cherries and chocolate

and perfection.. 

A perfect Valentine's cookie.. 

except for the part where I bought

cherry flavored cranberries accidentally instead of cherries.. 

(that's what shopping while sick and with a toddler will do to you!)

Recipe for never-fail fluffy cookies.. 

from Nestle..

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter (softened)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

375 degrees 

(or 350 if your oven is crazy!)

and 9 to 11 mins.. 

ta-da

Happy Baking!

Valentine Garland...

I was so thrilled to find another

great free printable at Graphics Fairy.. 

Some vintage Valentine's

perfect for a DIY Valentine Garland.. 

done in under ten mins flat!

Just print this..

Cut..

Glue.. 

Glitter..

Assemble.. 

and Hang!

Ta-da!

xoxo

Valentine Art....

I have been loving the 

currently famous Subway Art.. 

Although, 

there were super cute ones for Christmas

I just felt that my house was already too 

holiday cluttery.. 

But I don't have much Valentine

decor..

So I will be printing out one of these.. 

for sure!

This one is from

eighteen25.. 

so fun and cute!

And this one.. 

from it is what it is.. 

where she showed so many uses!

xoxo

Here come the hearts...

I always get a jump-start on the next holiday

as soon as the the last one has finished.. 

It makes me a little burnt out on 

the holiday by the end.. 

but it's soooo hard not too... 

there is just so much fun stuff to do 

and to plan for.. 

Plus, 

when you start the holiday late.. 

all the good stuff at the stores are gone.. 

Especially out of the target dollar bins.. 

which are my one-true-loves!

So on to Valentine's Day!

My plan for this year is to make.. 

conversation heart pops

from bakerella..

I'm so excited.. 

I have the heart molds, 

the pen to write on chocolate.. 

I'm almost ready!

(image from bakerella)