Happy Valentine's Day
Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you.
I love all holidays and every year I try to come up with something really special to give to my daughter, my grandchildren, and my closest of friends on St. Valentine’s Day. This year, I decided to give them heart-shaped boxes filled with gifts each one loves. I provide the decorative box how-to in the January/February 2020 issue of our magazine, “Living.” I also showed my gift boxes this week on the “Today Show,” along with how to make several sweet treats for your nearest and dearest. If you missed the segment, just click anywhere on this highlighted link.
There’s still time to make something special for your Valentine - and please visit marthastewart.com for many other clever and delicious holiday ideas. Enjoy these photos.
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- Here I am on the set of the “Today Show” just before my segment with host, Carson Daly, began – did you catch it?
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- Carson and I talked about several easy-to-make sweet treats for Valentine’s Day. I started off with my No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Bars.
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- These can be done before the kids get home from school. Just stir together the ingredients – peanut butter, butter, and confectioner’s sugar, and then pour it an eight-inch square pan – the same one used for making brownies, let it cool and then embellish with dollops of peanut butter.
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- What makes it really special are the dollops of peanut butter shaped like little hearts. Using a skewer, just drag it through until a heart is formed. Everyone will love these.
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- Next, we made Easy Chocolate-Caramel Truffles. The ingredients include condensed milk, butter, heavy cream, unsweetened chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and colorful sprinkles, which are available at Michaels and baking shops. All these recipes are on my web site at marthastewart.com.
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- The finished truffles are sitting on my Ceramic Heart 2-Tier Server from Macy’s. Use it for a buffet or gathering with its charming pink ceramic heart-shaped tiers and gold-tone accents.
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- We’re using sprinkles in white, red and pink – perfect for Valentine’s Day. After making the chocolate truffles, roll them in the sprinkles – one color each, or mix them up. Everyone loves chocolate on Valentine’s Day!
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- I also shared my idea for a special Valentine’s Hot Cocoa – embellish it with homemade heart-shaped marshmallows in the cups.
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- We used my Oversized Heart Motif Mugs also from my collection at Macy’s. Each mug holds 21-ounces – so perfect for a warm cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter’s day. Here in the Northeast, today is expected to be one of the coldest of the season.
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- If you don’t have time to make your own marshmallows, you can use the jumbo, regular, and mini store-bought varieties. Just cut a marshmallow in half to make two circles, snip the tops and pinch the bottoms, then set them afloat in the mug.
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- Here I am telling Carson how I like to make my hot cocoa – with milk.
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- We decorated the table with my Macy’s Martha Stewart Collection English Garden Asymmetrical Ranunculus Artificial Wreath. My artificial flowers feature lifelike greenery and softly shaded faux flowers.
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- And my artificial ranunculus garland, also from Macy’s. The garland is six-feet long and can be used to adorn a mantel, the table, or a doorway.
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- Also on the table – these whimsical Made with Love Valentine’s Day Cocottes. Sold in sets of four, each one holds up to 11-ounces.
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- Surprise loved ones by filling them with candies or using them to serve individual entrées or desserts. And each one has a matching lid.
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- Finally, I showed my Valentine’s Day gifts for my daughter, her children, and my dear friend. In the issue of “Living,” we provide the entire how-to instructions for making these wonderful paper boxes with bows. They’re so easy to make and so pretty. Plus, you can make these bows for any gift box during the year.
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- I made each one a little different. Jude’s is a light pink box with a dark outlined bow.
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- This one is for Truman. Just download and print the templates from my web site, trace them onto colored card stock or paper, paint the edges and assemble. It’s that easy.
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- For Alexis, who loves fruits, I filled the box with dried fruits from Nuts.com.
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- For my granddaughter, Jude, a box filled with beautiful hair accessories. Jude has very long hair and wears all kinds of hair clips and ties. I gave Truman a box of Liverpool soccer paraphernalia. And for our friend Kevin Sharkey, a box of delicious licorice.
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- And if you don’t already have one, get a subscription to my magazine, “Living,” which always has lots of terrific recipes, ideas and inspirations for making one’s life better every single day. Have a great Valentine’s Day.
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