We ordered heart-shaped tags for the petals, oval-shaped tags for the leaves with his message on them, and small circle labels with heart charms and his school picture. To make each flower, we punched a hole at the bottom of the heart petals, then folded each one in half.

Next, we slid the hearts onto the sucker sticks, and then the ovals. We finished each one off by placing the circle label onto the sucker.

We made over thirty of them, and it took a little over an hour. He is very excited to hand these out in a few weeks, and I cant want to hear about how happy all his little friends will be when they receive them!

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How to make your Valentine treats:
The Carson Kids are on After Eights, little square mints covered in chocolate and slipped into a dark brown paper sleeve. Use label shape 01 in Tiny Charms style; I selected the hearts border in pink.

The young lady is on Reese’s peanut butter cup miniatures, with shape 28 label in Cara style, spice color. Put the label on the top as in this photo, and they will stick out a little bit, very cute!! Or put the label on the bottom if you don’t want them to stick out.

The little boy and the smiling baby are on Hershey’s Nuggets with a shape 02 label. I used the Hershey’s silver nuggets for the smiling baby, and the Hershey’s gold extra dark for the little boy. For the label style, I selected “Custom” and uploaded a photo.The photos have just a plain background on the sides, and the childrens’ faces are in the middle of the label.

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Double Thumbprint Cookies
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten at Food Network

• 3 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-2 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut or chopped nuts
Jam or Fruit Butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined and then add the vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together. If the mixture remains crumbly, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.


Roll the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in either the coconut or the chopped nuts. Place two of the balls next to one another, with one side touching, on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger, and then taper the bottom of the two balls into a point to form a heart. Repeat this process with the remaining balls of dough.

Drop 1/2 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown. Transfer cookies to a plate or wire rack, and cool completely before packaging.

To package my cookies, I chose small 3” x 3” x 2” gift boxes and lined them with tissue paper. I personalized my gift box with labels in the style Candystripes, and tied them closed with ribbon.

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Supplies:
• MOL labels, of your favorite styles and shapes with valentine words. I used Bible verses, but lines from poems (“Red is the Rose”, “Shall I compare Thee…”, “Roses are Red…”) or classic valentine sayings (“Be Mine”, “Valentine’s Greetings”, “U R Gr8T!” etc.) work just as well.
• Scrap-booking paper to match the color of the labels. I found a few sheets in different patterns that appealed to me.
• A nice cardstock of a solid background that matches the labels. (Mine is red here)
• Decorative tissue paper (optional)
• Envelope paper & template or envelopes (optional)
• Scissors, glue, ruler.


I knew that I wanted to make a uniquely shaped valentine card so I decided to make my own custom envelopes to match. After carefully studying the USPS guidelines on acceptable envelope sizes I made my envelopes 6 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall (or 6 inches tall and 3.5 inches wide depending on how you orient the valentine). To this end I drew up my own envelope template, which you can download here.

To make my Valentine cards, I first cut the red cardstock to the size that I wished the final valentines to be (just a tad under 6″x3.5″ for them to easily slide into the envelopes I made). I cut the patterned scrap-booking paper into smaller, rectangular shapes.

Next I applied an MOL label to a piece of kraft paper (the same paper I used to make my envelopes) and cut around the label- leaving a kraft paper border. I arranged each element to my liking and glued them to the red cardstock. To create a unique layered look, I wrapped each finished valentine in a fun tissue paper and secured it with an oval label.

As a very simple gift to be sent along with my valentines I made a small bookmark, flat enclosure card with a text label. I chose a meaningful quote and attached the text label to a piece of patterned scrap-booking paper. Very simple, very pretty.

To make the envelopes simply download my template to use as your guide. Fold in the long flaps first (the 6″ ones). They will overlap in the middle. Secure the overlap together with glue. Then fold in the shorter flaps (the ones on the end). Glue one (be careful you don’t glue both!!) end closed and set aside to dry. Once the envelope glue is dry, place your finished Valentine card and the small enclosure card inside and either glue the other end shut or even easier, use a heart-shaped label as an envelope seal.

Of course this is only one way of assembling these things and there are countless other ways as well as other fun materials you can use to craft your valentines, such as ribbon, twine, doilies and glitter. So enjoy your February and have fun crafting!

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Here’s what you’ll need:
• Waxed paper
• Crayon Shavings (made with a crayon sharpener or scissors)
• Protective cloth
• Iron
• Ironing board
• Sharpie
• Scissors
• Thread or embroidery floss
• A heart template, like this one

Cover your ironing board with an old, ratty towel or sheet. I used a large piece of muslin.

Tear off two pieces of waxed paper, about 15” long. Set one piece of the waxed paper on your covered ironing board, and then carefully pour your crayon shavings unto the center of the waxed paper. Cover with the second sheet of waxed paper, and then cover the top with another protective cloth.

With your iron set to medium, melt the crayon pieces between the two sheets of waxed paper, and spread the melted crayon around as evenly as you can, trying not to let any of it drip out the edges. Check your progress frequently.

Once the crayon is evenly spread, trace hearts all over the waxed paper with your heart template and a sharpie. The melted wax from the crayons will become more and more brittle as it hardens, so try to cut your heart shapes out as soon as possible with a pair of scissors.

Once your hearts are cut out, poke a hole through the top portion of your hearts with a needle, and string your embroidery floss through. Do this several times with as many hearts as you’d like to create a garland.

Once your garlands are made, fold them up, accordion-style, and place them in a gift box. I used 2 ½” x 2 ½” x 1 1/8” favor boxes that I personalized with labels in the style Luxe.

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Now it’s time to fill the grid with players names. Write down everyone’s name on a small piece of paper, fold, and place into a hat. Draw names randomly from the hat and beginning with the square 0-0 write in the names until the grid is full. At the end of each quarter the person whose name occupies the square that matches the last numbers of the score will win a prize. For instance if the score is 27-21 the person whose name is in the square for 7-1 wins!

I chose a couple of one dollar scratch tickets for prizes and a ten dollar ticket for the grand prize. They fit nicely in glassine envelopes, and the labels I made matched the team colors. I know I am going to have so much fun playing this game, and I hope you do to! Enjoy!

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Ingredients
makes one large bowl

• 6 Large Carrots
• One Bag of Kale
• 6 Large Yellow Squash
• 2 bags of Radishes
• Olive Oil Spray
• Onion Powder
• Salt

First, prepare a baking sheet with a layer of paper towels (still attached if possible, for an easy lift later). If you own a mandoline, these work quite well for slicing the vegetables fast. Slice the carrots and squash about ¼ of an inch thick, and the radishes slightly less (made easy with a mandoline, if you don’t have one, don’t sweat the difference). Place each coin on the layer of paper towels. I layered the paper towel on top of each other as I went- you’ll find you need quite a bit of space. I found the largest carrots I’ve ever seen at my local Asian food market; if you have one near you, I’d take a look! The coins of the carrots were the size of jar lids; fabulous for this purpose. Radishes are tricky because they typically come quite small, however, I insist on them because the flavor is my favorite (give them a try!). Allow the vegetable coins to sit out for a few hours and even better if done so overnight. This part of the process dries the veggies out, and makes for a crispier munch rather than a squishy one.

Once dried, preheat your oven to 325F (the baking process took about two hours for me, working with two cookie sheets at a time, I suggest doing the same). Lift the paper towel layers off of the cookie sheet, line with parchment paper, and spray a light layer of olive oil onto it. You can get really creative with adding spices to the pre-oiled cookie sheet. I have seen people use garlic powder, garlic salt, cumin, curry, and turmeric, just to name a few. I stuck with onion powder and salt, because the flavor is generally agreeable.

Begin arranging your veggie coins (for uncomplicated baking, keep like with like, and they can be touching, but are best if not overlapping). Spray another light layer of olive oil, season them again, and pop into the oven! You will be looking for the edges of the veggies to brown and crisp slightly, for my oven this happened within the first 10 minutes (radishes first, squash second, and carrots last). It seems like a cookie sheet juggling act initially, but I found it worked fine to just take the single chips that were done, out first. After the veggies have crispy edges, turn the oven down to 225F, return the chips to the cookie sheets, and continue cooking for at least a half hour. The veggies will become hardened and crispy when done.

I haven’t forgotten about the kale! Kale is extremely delicate, so I save it for last. When your other veggies are finished, throw bunches of kale on the cookies sheets, spray with oil (lightly, always), season, and pop ‘em in. Kale takes 20 minutes or so at this temperature to crisp. Be sure to allow the chips to cool completely before dressing with your packaging. Present your pretty parcels the day of, and if you plan to store them, do so in an airtight manner for a few days. Every recipe I found differed in direction, based on the ovens and veggie size; I advise you to watch closely. Also, the extra crispy chips are my favorite anyway!

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Sweetheart Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Cheese and Chocolate
Makes 18-21 cupcakes

• Cake batter (If using a store bought mix, follow the directions on the box to make your batter. I used this recipe for Lemon Buttermilk cake batter)
• Red food coloring
• Vanilla or other white or pink frosting (I used buttercream frosting)
• Red and pink sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or as instructed on the box). Line 2 muffin tins with about 20 cupcake liners.

Prepare your cake batter per your chosen recipe’s instructions. Fill each cupcake liner about 1/3 full with white batter. Then set aside. Add a few drops of red food coloring to the remaining batter (I added in about 3 drops to make a light pink color). Pour 1/3 of the pink batter into a pastry or ziploc bag and set aside.

Add more red food coloring drops to the remainder of the pink batter until you get a nice dark pink or red color. Pour the red batter into another pastry or ziploc bag.

Cut the tip of the red bag batter off and stick the open tip into the middle of each cup of white batter. Squeeze a few tablespoons of the red batter into each cup. Repeat this process with the pink batter- cut the tip of the bag off and stick the tip into the middle of the red batter, squeezing in a few tablespoons of batter into each cup.

Bake cupcakes for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to cooling racks and let cool completely.

Next make your frosting. If you want to make your own frosting, use your favorite recipe for vanilla or buttercream frosting. If you’re like me and lost steam after making all the cupcakes, you can use a store bought jar of frosting. Add in a few drops of red food coloring to make your frosting pretty n’ pink. Frost each cupcake and top with red and pink sprinkles.

For an added touch, I created my own Valentine toppers using heart-shaped hang tags from My Own Labels. I used the whole punched in each heart tag (usually reserved for tying onto a gift or favor) to tie a tiny pink bow for a little extra flair. Instead of attaching my little hearts to toothpicks, I poked them directly into each cupcake. I loved the way they turned out! They look festively pink and my friends were surprised to find the pink layers of cake inside when they took their first bite!

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We are a group of 12 moms from Nashville, TN who have been hiking together for over 12 years. We all came together because of our children (30 between us) and have stayed together long after our kids have grown and gone. The youngest of our group finally turned 50!

We hike together all over the country. This year we spent about a week in Utah. The day pictured was one that we had planned for a long time. We had hired a guide to take us into the canyons. Unfortunately we woke to hard rain and lots of doubts about how our day would go. We decided to go for it and had one of our best days ever hiking. And we’ve had a lot of great hiking!!

I had the coasters made to use as gift tags for my Mountain Momma Granola to give to all of them this year for Christmas. I punched a hole in them to be able to tie them up with a ribbon, but I will be sure to let them all know that they are to be used as coasters. I have been using myownlabels.com for many years. I can always count on you to “class up” whatever my homemade gifts are.

Thanks to Kristin and the rest of the Mountain Mommas for sharing their story!

Have a great idea you’d like to share? Email us at blog@myownlabels.com with your story and photos or simply upload them to our new My Own Ideas flickr group for a chance to be featured on the My Own Ideas blog!

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If you’d like to make your own heart-shaped bookmarks, you’ll need:

• A heart template, like this one (I used the smallest size)
• Festive Cardstock
• Scissors
• A utility knife
• Heart-shaped labels from My Own Labels
• Embroidery Floss for the tassel (optional)

To begin, trace your heart-shaped template onto the cardstock, and cut your shapes out carefully with a pair of scissors. Repeat this process for however many bookmarks you’d like to make.

Take your personalized heart-shaped label and stick it to the center of your heart cut-out. The heart-shaped labels I used are in the style Spring, but My Own Labels offers several different heart-shaped styles for you to choose from.

Once your labels are attached to your heart-shaped cutouts, trace carefully along the “V” of the inner heart with your utility knife. Once this process is complete, your bookmarks are ready to use and give away as gifts!

Optional step: make a tassel and attach it to your bookmark for extra flair.

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