Homemade Truffles....and Chocolate Covered Strawberries!!!

 Little Miss Abby and I spent the day together on Saturday making some delicious chocolates.

 We decided to make REAL truffles for the first time ever and we think they came out pretty lovely.

 We even made the boxes we packaged them in!  Love my Silhouette!

 The recipe we used can be found at Chocoley and it is also where I buy all my supplies.  Their chocolate is so easy to work with and they have great sales and offers regularly.  Plus they have free online classes and tons of recipes for wonderful candies.  We made one batch of the basic truffle recipe and divided it into four bowls so we could have four different flavors.  The truffles with the white chocolate stripe are flavored with peppermint oil,  The truffles with pink sprinkles are raspberry, and then we also made both lemon and hot chili truffles (yellow and red sprinkles!)  Important note: you must use special flavored oils made for chocolate.  Regular candy flavors will cause the chocolate to seize up and ruin your truffles.  the same goes for coloring chocolate---special coloring oils only!

So how did we like the recipe?

Not only did we enjoy making these truffles but we also learned a few tricks along the way.  First of all, the recipe stated that the truffle mixture had to set up in the fridge for 3 hours or in the freezer for 1 1/2 hour to firm up before you could shape it into small balls.  Way too long.  We choose the freezer method and it was sooo hard we had to leave the bowls on the counter for about 1/2 an hour to soften so we could scoop it out.  Another thing, each flavoring oil has different intensity so be careful not to add too much.  The mint and the chili were very strong!  But the lemon and raspberry were much less intense.  Go figure...... 

 Here is Abby putting finishing touches on her boxes.

 We had leftover chocolate so we dipped some strawberries.  Waste not, want not!

 Abby did all the decorating!

I'd say this was a pretty wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

Diana

Quick Valentines

Need some last minute Valentines that print up quick?  These are good for boys or girls and even have a bit of chocolate to please every little kid.  I copied this idea from Under A Cherry Tree but simplified it into a print and cut project.  You have to check hers out for a WOW moment.  You could make these with any robot clip art.  I used the pdf file that is included in the file I purchase from her store so I wouldn't have to do layers.  I then used the print and cut feature on my silhouette but you could just print them out with your printer and hand cut them out.  Either way they are super cute and quick.  Diana

Pop Rock Chocolate Pops!

I love chocolate....chocolate and nuts, chocolate and raspberry, chocolate and mint......but chocolate and pop rocks!  Who knew.While at an super fancy restaurant in Holland this month, we had a delicious dessert with little chocolate nuggets as decoration.  Imagine my surprise when I popped them into my mouth and they started dancing on my tongue!  They were chocolate covered pop rocks.  YUM.  Got to have more.  So when I got home I found you could order them online but more importantly, I found a utube video telling me how to make chocolate lollipops full of pop rocks. 

These guys even tell you how to temper chocolate in the microwave.  Took all the mystery out of working with chocolate!  You have to try this!  Diana

Valentine Treats

Today at church I received such cute little tokens of friendship! Don't you love Valentine's Day? My mom made these cute little bags full of delicious candies.

And look how lavish this tiny bow is. Adorable!

Mary gave out these lovely packages with a vintage looking valentine on the front.

Inside were paper white bulbs and on the back of the label was the forcing instructions. And look, they already are sprouting.....a promise that spring IS COMING...... How thoughtful. Diana

Valentine's Day

Lucky for me, I have a math theory final today which means instead of studying, I've been crafting! My friend Brandy linked to a fortune cookie recipe on her blog. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. The kids had a great time coming up with silly fortunes. Today, they go out in the mail for family and will be packaged up for teachers.

The only adaptation I made was I used a biscuit cutter to form 3" circles of batter instead of 5" circles. I used the biscuit cutter like a pancake form to get perfect circles every time (after a batch of frustratingly uneven circles made by hand).

Little Abby made some valentine bookmarks for her cousins. They are images printed on photo paper, cut to 6"x2". She folded them in half and then attached a magnet to each side to keep them in place. Cute! Her teachers and friends will love them.

~Jennifer

Hot Chocolate On A Stick

Tomorrow, at church, a few of my friends are going to get a little treat! Hot Chocolate on a stick. Or in some cases, on a spoon. I saw these on Cookies and Cups. She has a great tutorial so I won't go into any detail on the "how to". This chocolate is so rich! Fondue chocolate, powdered sugar and cocoa powder.....yum! Then I dipped them in white chocolate and different sprinkles.....double yum!

Instead of plastic spoons, I did a few with silver teaspoons. I used silver jimmies to match.

The mold I used is an ice tray in the shape of hearts. It is flexible silicone so the chocolates pop right out.

Green spoon needs green sanding sugar.

On this one I used a sucker stick instead of a spoon.

Stuck in a goody bag with an instruction tag tied on makes these easy to pass out to friends. I saved a few for me too! Diana

Valentine's Banner

Here is another design from GG Design Embroidery. The banner craze I have been seeing on the blogs for months has really appealed to me. So here is another one! This one is a gift but I think I will make myself one too!

Look how delicate the stitches are. And the button hole is great for threading a ribbon through.

Seriously, these stitches are great! I also got to use my new pinking shears to cut out the hearts. Diana

Valentine Suckers

I saw something similar to these on another blog. Thought they would be perfect for the kids at church!! Inside the window are red and white swirled suckers. Diana

More Valentines

I put together some handouts for church on Valentine's Day next week. These are pretty little plastic hearts filled with pink, white and red M&Ms. They are then wrapped in netting and tied with a ribbon and tag.

This is an idea I saw on another website. I made these Chocolate Survival Kits for .....I can't tell cuz they might see this site and it would ruin the surprise!!

These are plastic divided hobby containers. I decorated the tops with sweet paper, ribbon and hearts.

Inside I filled them with an assortment of chocolate. I wouldn't mind getting one of these! Diana

Monkey Business Valentine

Here is the next treasure chest valentine. Again for a little boy, so no pink and no hearts. The monkey is a die from cuttlekids and the palm tree is from Paperdolls. I loved the paper!!! Check out the monkeys around the sides.

I filled the box with candy from an amish bulk store just a short drive from my house. (LOVE OHIO)

Diana

Valentine Treat Lunchbox

I am still working on valentines. This one is for a 1 year old boy. Didn't want to go too pretty cuz you know how little boys are! I got this tiny lunch box a while back but it had santas all over it. I spray painted it white and then covered most of it in the green paper. Removed the plastic handle and replaced it with this jute rope. Bears are from Doodlecharms and the large heart, words and letter A are from Lyrical Letters. Everything is inked to rough it up a bit.

The red ribbon finished off the edge. Now all that's left is to fill it with goodies.

Diana