Hodge-podge of Valentine Ideas

Got the idea for this one while checkin out Bakerella's blog. Granted her things look a million times better than what I did, but who cares, right?! Anyway, she makes these truffle-y balls filled with cake. Yummzo. Check out her mini cupcake cake balls! Take a boxed cake mix (red velvet looks best), bake according to package directions, cool, then crumble to oblivion. Mix in one can of cream cheese frosting.

Roll into balls (1inch or so). Keep a towel handy to wipe your hands off periodically, as this is messy. Pop 'em into the freezer for 15 mins. Melt ya some chocolate (or candy melts) and dip these bad boys in there. I melted some red candy melts and drizzled them over the top. Voila, fancy looking Valentine treats.

No, I didn't kill anyone are you listening sheet-rock jerk-face?! This is what my hands looked like after rolling the cake balls...YIPES!
Ooooo! Almost forgot! Spraying a bit of Pam on my hands helped immensely. I only thought of that about halfway through rolling.

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I made personalized Valentine greetings out of candy melts .I used the same technique I used to make the fireflies. First, I printed the class roster using the mirror image printing options.

I slid the page underneath a sheet of waxed paper and piped over the letters in red, (these aren't the actual pictures of that part as the pics didn't turn out...still waiting on my new camera)then drew a rectangle around it in white candy melt and filled it in....making a little edible Valentine card.

I wrapped the ones for their teachers in cellophane and tied it with some tulle I had.

The specks in it are heart shaped sprinkles...didn't photograph well.

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Remember the edible playdough?! Well, I'm still giving that out too. I found these little plastic boxes at Hobby Lobby for $1.99. Fits a perfect portion in each!

Edible Playdough

After several batches of experimenting, I've come up with a winner...well, close enough. It's mildly cherry flavored and just a tad sweet. It's not so yummy that little people will want to devour the whole glob of it (which was what I was going for).

I had several recipes that I had found online that just didn't sound right, so I tried them. Blegh! Nasty. Basically all those recipes did was add Kool Aid to regular home made playdough. Ummm, salt much?! Those batches I'm keeping though. My kids will still play with it. It's just scented playdough.

My Dad couldn't remember the exact recipe but remembered some components so I started there.

I used:

1/2 Cup flour

1/2 Cup powdered milk

3 tsp. cream of tartar

1 cup water

1 T oil

1 pkg. Cherry flavored Kool Aid

**I took a picture of the ingredients but it didn't turn out. The Dude shattered the lens on our camera this weekend. I am still able to use it (kinda), at least until my new camera arrives.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large saute pan, add wet ingredients. Heat and stir over medium heat.

Don't freak out over the consistency. It will solidify as you cook. But keep stirring!

After it comes together and has formed a ball, remove from heat and allow to cool. I set mine on waxed paper until it was cool enough to touch, then I gently kneaded it a few times.You need to store this in airtight container (or ziplock bags). I popped mine in the fridge due to the powdered milk content. Anyone have any thoughts on that part??

I'm still deciding how I want to package this for the kids at school. I have a few options and will post after I decide! Enjoy.