If you have a child who loves all things reading, this FREE Valentine Bookmark Printable will be the perfect card for them to share with classmates this year!
If you've been around for more than two seconds over here, you'll know Kyle is obsessed with books and reading. When most other kids were playing with toys over Christmas break, Kyle had observed that he had 109 books in his bedroom, and was determined to read all of them before he returned back to school in January.
With Valentine's right around the corner, I thought it would be so fun and perfect to make a free Valentine bookmark printable to share with all of you, and for Kyle to handout at school. Now admittedly, Kyle found some Minecraft Valentine's that he's really jazzed to give his friends, but he has several teachers this school year, and he's 100% giving these bookmark Valentine's to them at their classroom party.
Free Valentine Bookmark Printable:
This Valentine bookmark printable is pretty simple to make and cut out. There are two different color formats, a pink and purple template, and a red and blue template. To make these you'll simply print them out on card stock, and then using scissors or a paper cutter, cut along the thick black line to cut them out.
You can then leave the bookmarks as is, or you can do a hole punch at the top and add a ribbon. for a fun extra touch. You could also laminate them for extra durability.
To download these free Valentine's Day Bookmark Cards, please click the large download link below.
Best All in One Wireless Printer:
I bought the Epsom EcoTank Printer back in February 2020 and it's by far been one of the best purchases I've made. While the initial cost might be high, I can say that I've used this a ton and have not had to purchase new ink yet! The ink that the printer comes with is enough ink to print 4,000 colored pages and 7,500 black and white images. It is seriously the best feeling to not have to worry about running out of ink and being able to use your printer whenever you need it!
This free Valentine's Day Coloring Pages PDF is the perfect activity to print with kids at home! Enjoy coloring pages, word searches, color by number, and more!
With Valentine's Day a month away, I figured it was perfect timing to launch my Valentine's Day coloring pages PDF. This is the sixth installment of coloring pages I've produced over the last year, and I love that I challenge myself to learn new skills with each set that I put out. This month I'm excited to share a new color by number picture, and a Valentine's word search!
Valentines Day Coloring Pages PDF:
This pack of coloring pages consists of six different pictures that you can print right from the comfort of your home computer. This set includes four Valentine's Day themed pictures, one heart shaped color by number coloring sheet, and a Valentine's Day word search. I think my very favorite picture of all though would have to be the unicorn! It's the most detailed picture I've done so far, and I had so much fun putting that one together (even though I had to completely redo it twice!)
How to Print Valentine's Day Coloring Pages PDF:
To print these coloring pages simply scroll down to the bottom of this post where you'll see a large link to click. It will take you to a google drive where you can click the down arrow in the top right corner to download these to your computer. From there you can print the PDF as you normally would!
Best All in One Wireless Printer:
I bought the Epsom EcoTank Printer back in February 2020 and it's by far been one of the best purchases I've made. While the initial cost might be high, I can say that I've used this a ton and have not had to purchase new ink yet! The ink that the printer comes with is enough ink to print 4,000 colored pages and 7,500 black and white images. It is seriously the best feeling to not have to worry about running out of ink and being able to use your printer whenever you need it!
Homemade chocolate covered strawberries are super easy to make, way cheaper than purchasing at the store, and make the perfect treat for Valentine's Day!
Chocolate covered strawberries are the highlight treat during the month of February. While purchasing them and having them delivered to your home is easy and convenient, I much prefer making homemade chocolate covered strawberries. When you make them on your own you can control the cost, you know how fresh the strawberries were before you dipped them, and you get to customize them to your own preferences.
Homemade Chocolate Covered Strawberries:
Making homemade chocolate covered strawberries is super easy! All you need to do is microwave your chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring in between. Then you simply dip your strawberries, shake off the excess chocolate, and then let them harden on some wax paper. From there you can decorate with different drizzles, sprinkles, cookie crumbs, nuts, etc...
How to Store Chocolate Covered Strawberries:
Chocolate covered strawberries are best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This will help preserve the strawberries the longest and prevent them from getting mushy before you get around to finishing them all.
Cheap Chocolate Covered Strawberries Under $20:
I was able to get everything I need to make these strawberries for under $20 and one trip to the grocery store. After purchasing everything I needed, my total cam to exactly $19 before tax, and I'm able to make way more strawberries than I would get if I paid someone else $20 to make them.
Chocolate covered strawberries will last in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. They're best definitely best within the first two days, but day three definitely won't kill you. You just want to make sure they're gone before the fruit gets mushy and bad on the inside.
Best Chocolate for Chocolate Covered Strawberries:
You could use a super expensive, high quality dark chocolate if you really wanted to. I on the other hand refer to use almond bark almost exclusively when I'm making anything that involves melting and dipping chocolate. Almond Bark is available in the baking isle of most grocery stores, is very inexpensive for over a pound of chocolate, and oddly enough, contains zero almonds.
Almond Bark is made of Sugar, Oil, Cocoa, Soy Lecithin, Artificial Flavor, and Milk. Is it the highest quality chocolate? No. Will it give you cancer? Maybe (joking kind of). Is it cheap, melts well, tastes great, and works for any an all dipping chocolate situations, 100% yes.
How To Decorate Chocolate Covered Strawberries:
Step One: Melt your chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments stirring in between each session.
Step Two: Dip your strawberries into the chocolate getting as close to the stem as possible, without actually getting the stem/leaves into the chocolate.
Step Three: Lay the chocolate covered strawberries onto some wax paper and allow the chocolate to harden.
Step Four: Taking your Wilton Cookie Icing, make a back and forth drizzle design on each of the berries. For these, I did a drizzle with both the white and the pink icings.
Step Five: Add a few sprinkles to the strawberries if desired.
Step Six: Place the berries on a plate in the fridge to harden completely, about 1 hour.
Yield: 12
Author: Paige Flamm
Homemade Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Homemade chocolate covered strawberries are super easy to make, way cheaper than purchasing at the store, and make the perfect treat for Valentine's Day!
Prep time: 15 MinInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 15 M
Ingredients
Strawberries
Almond Bark
Sprinkles
Cookie Icing
Instructions
Melt your chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments stirring in between each session.
Dip your strawberries into the chocolate getting as close to the stem as possible, without actually getting the stem/leaves into the chocolate.
Lay the chocolate covered strawberries onto some wax paper and allow the chocolate to harden.
Taking your Wilton Cookie Icing, make a back and forth drizzle design on each of the berries. For these, I did a drizzle with both the white and the pink icings.
Add a few sprinkles to the strawberries if desired.
Place the berries on a plate in the fridge to harden completely, about 1 hour.
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Christmas neighbor gifts are such a fun way to celebrate the holiday with those in your close community. Here are 30 easy recipes to share with your neighborhood!
Christmas neighbor gifts are not something that I grew up doing but it seems to be a huge cultural thing to do here in Utah, and in Idaho where Derek is from. Maybe people did it in NY where I grew up, but it wasn't a huge focus or part of holiday celebrations for our family. Over the years I've come to really love this tradition. If you're in the market for some Christmas neighbor gifts ideas this holiday season, here are 30 recipes that I think would go over really well!
We make these cookies every year and they're so tasty and easy to make! There is no chilling of the dough, so they take less time than other cookies, and taste great both frosted or not!
This is my favorite treat to make during the holiday season! It starts with saltine crackers, pour homemade caramel on top, spread melted chocolate over that, a dash of holiday sprinkles and you're good to go! This is what I did for gifts last year and got rave reviews!
These sugar cookies have been my go-to recipe for the last several years. They turn out great every time, and are perfect to stack on a plate for neighbors when frosted with royal icing.
I made this for neighbor gifts when we lived in Georgia and it got rave reviews! It's simply a canned pear sauce essentially, or maybe more like a jam, but if you eat it by the spoonful I'll never tell.
I got in a bad habit of making this bread and eating it single handedly this year, but it's so good literally everyone loves it. It's a banana bread consistency, and has cinnamon sugar through the middle and on top. It's perfect to share with friends for Christmas!
These cookies turn out perfect every time and have been my chocolate chip recipe of choice for about seven years now! There is something perfectly classic about chocolate chip cookies, and anyone would love to have a batch during the holidays!
These chocolate chip cookies are slightly chewier, more like what you would get from the bakery section at the grocery store, but they're also half dipped in chocolate and sprinkled in sea salt, and that my friends is a delicious combination.
This banana bread is hands down the best recipe ever. It's perfectly moist, made with sour cream in the batter, and turns out great every time. I've never had a flop. If you have some ripe bananas on your counter, whip up this bread and share it with a friend!
I haven't made these in ages, but brought them to a friend when they were hurt several years back. It might have been the brain injury talking but they seemed to really love these cookies. Although I'm partial to any chocolate peanut butter combo.
Cookie culture is a real thing here in Utah. These Swig cookies are amazing and my personal favorite sugar cookie out of all the local cookie shops! This copycat recipe is super easy to follow and will make perfect treats for your neighbors if you happen to not live near one of these shops.. although I feel like they're creeping up nationally now too.
While yes these are originally a Halloween recipe, you could easily roll the edges in Christmas sprinkles to make it more seasonally appropriate! These come together with a can of frosting and boxed cake mix, so they're super easy to make!
These are another easy and delicious recipe! They take almost no time to make at all and are the perfect peanut butter and chocolate combo... make them for a neighbor or yourself...
Derek is a huge caramel popcorn lover. We've been making this recipe since we first got married and it turns out perfect every time! This would be perfect to make in a big batch and then divide among cellophane bags to give to neighbors.
I used to make these all the time, but haven't done so in years! You simply crush up a bag of oreos, mix in a block of cream cheese, roll into balls, and dip in chocolate! So incredibly easy to make and taste incredible!
I found this recipe in a church magazine at my mother-in-laws house a several years ago and took a picture of the recipe to try them when we got back to North Carolina. They were super delicious and are all the fun flavors of the holiday season in one delicious cookie.
I don't know when else you would eat snickerdoodles outside of Chrsitmas time... This is another great recipe to make in bulk and then wrap up in small bags for neighbors since they stack really well together!
I'm a huge fan of basically all the three ingredient fudge recipes on the internet. This one is a perfect variation with Reese's pressed into the top, and mixed into the middle as well. You could easily make this, cut it up, and place into Christmas tins, and you've got a super easy and amazing treat!
This Chex mis is perfect for the holiday season with tons of yummy goodies all drizzled in white chocolate. This is another big batch recipe that you can divide up easily for multiple families at once!
These maybe might be more of a summer cookie, but they're so good you need them in your life right now, promise. The combination of mini marshmallows and chocolate chips are out of this world!
I first made these brownies back in 2013, and they have been my go-to since. They're perfectly soft and fudgey, with that brownie crackle on the top. They also cut up perfectly into squares when cooled, so you could easily gift them on a festive paper plate for Christmas.
These are such an easy and classic cookie to make. You could easily double or triple the recipe into one massive batch and divide them up into multiple plates for several families. These cookies come together in about 20 minutes with little effort.
This chocolate bark is another great recipe! Simply spread melted chocolate on a wax paper lined baking sheet, press in some dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and slivered almonds for a great and easy treat!
These cookies are a chocolate and peanut butter rush! You could make them a bit more Christmassy if you can find some red and green Reese's Pieces (just googled, they don't exist), but these are still a great cookie option.
If you're feeling a little sugar overload and want to gift something a little healthier that could be used for an actual meal, make a batch of this super easy granola! It only uses six ingredients, and could easily be packaged in a cute mason jar from the dollar store.
This is another amazing big batch recipe that you could easily make in just a few minutes. I love the combination of the salty popcorn and the sweetness from the white chocolate... it's to die for.
These cookies are incredibly soft, chewy, sweet, and just all around perfect. Kick them up a notch with Christmas flair by adding in some Holiday colored sprinkles and you'll be good to go!
These cookies scream Christmas in my opinion. I love the combination of the white chocolate and cranberry and they are made with the same base as my chocolate chip cookie recipe. Easy, delicious, and full of holiday flavor.
What are some of your favorite Christmas Neighbor Gifts? I'd love to hear in the comments below!
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With a couple weeks left until Christmas, these kids stocking stuffers will be a great way to finish off your shopping this holiday season.
Over the weekend I finished purchasing the kid's stocking stuffers for this year. We're trying to keep it really simple, filled with just a few practical things I know they're going to get use from. I think in years passed I've just gone over board with the stockings and not matter how good my intentions start, it always ends up being things that don't get used and thrown out. This year I feel really strongly that I've purchased things that will get used and be loved.
Kyle has been wearing the same bowties for several years now, so I thought I'd add some variety into his options by adding a new pack of bowties to his life. These were only $8 on Amazon, and come with five bowties, so they're an awesome value!
My friend Karem has been sewing face masks around the clock the last several months. I've had my eye on a few for a while and snagged a Star Wars one for Kyle, a flower printed on for Kinsley, and a poppy printed one for myself. They're made with beautiful fabrics and I can't wait for them to arrive.
These were another awesome Amazon find! This 24 pack came in a set for only $7! There are two of each bow making them perfect for pigtails, and it will help to boost Kinsley's stash because I can't keep track of bows for the life of me and am always losing them!
I've heard rave reviews about Pluffle for a couple of years now and have not tried it with my kids. It's supposed to be a foam like version of kinetic sand, it never dries out, and provides lots of sensory fun! We got a 2pk for under $12, and I'll pop 1 in each of the kid's stockings.
My friend Wendy is homeschooling her kids this year, and her 9 and 11-year-old are taking an entrepreneur class. Her kids designed these vinyl stickers on their own, and Wendy opened an Etsy shop for them to sell! I knew I totally had to support their endeavor via stocking stuffers this year. I'm sure these will end up on water bottles and iPads the second they get them, and it's going to make me so happy seeing these stickers from our friends around our home! We've had a sample on our iPad for several weeks now and it's held up great and looks brand new still!
What are you doing for Kids Stocking Stuffers this year? I'd love to know in the comments below!
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This Gingerbread Pancakes Recipe is the perfect easy breakfast to celebrate the holiday season with its subtle hints of molasses and cinnamon.
Breakfast is hands down my favorite meal of the day (hello carbs!), and I love taking the opportunity to make breakfast special for whatever holiday or season we're celebrating. This Gingerbread Pancakes Recipe was one of the very first recipes I shared over on this blog nine years ago, and it's still a seasonal favorite today! If you're in the market for Gingerbread Pancakes, these ones are super simple and delicious!
Gingerbread Pancakes Recipe:
This Gingerbread Pancakes Recipe is super simple to make with mostly pantry staples! You'll need common ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then you have your wet ingredients: an egg, brown sugar, oil, milk, and molasses. Most ingredients you probably already have on hand!
Turn Them Into Festive Christmas Pancakes:
If you want to make these pancakes a little more festive, you can certainly dress them up for the holiday season! For these pancakes I made some homemade whipped cream (1 cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract, whipped with electric mixer until whipped cream consistency!), and then topped with some red, green and white holiday sprinkles! This would make for a super easy breakfast on Christmas morning that your kids will love!
How to Properly Cook A Pancake:
I firmly believe there is a right and wrong way to do everything, and I'm very particular in how I cook my pancakes. I set my pancake griddle to 350º. After it's heated up I rub butter onto the surface. Than I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter and pour it onto the griddle. This ensures the pancakes are all the same size.
After the pancakes have cooked for a couple minutes they'll start to get bubbly on top. At this point you can flip your pancake, and then wait another minute or two before removing it from the heat. I would rather a pancake sit on the heat a little longer, then a little shorter. No one likes pancakes that are mushy in the middle, at least I don't.
Make These Gingerbread Pancakes Vegan:
The recipe I used below is not vegan. If you're looking to make these into vegan gingerbread pancakes you can do so by replacing the egg with one flax egg. Simply mix one tablespoon of ground flaxseed with three tablespoons of water, and let it sit for 15 minutes. You can then use this mixture to replace the egg in this recipe. While I used cows milk for this recipe, you could also replace that with any dairy free milk that you like.
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 5 MinTotal time: 10 Min
This Gingerbread Pancakes Recipe is the perfect easy breakfast to celebrate the holiday season with its subtle hints of molasses and cinnamon.
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 egg
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon molasses
Instructions
In one bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cloves.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, oil, milk, and molasses.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir well until completely combined and you can't see any dry mixture.
Preheat your griddle to 350º or medium high heat, and grease with butter.
Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Let cook for 1-2 minutes until it starts to bubble on the top. Then carefully flip over, and cook for another 1-2 minutes until the inside is cooked all the way through.
Serve hot with powdered sugar, whipped cream, Christmas sprinkles, or syrup! (Or all of the above, I'll never tell!)
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