Kissing Ball

Anti-Valentines Day

What you’ll need ~

• Felt in the colors of your choice (we used neon green and pink)
• Embroidery floss in white and contrasting colors of choice (we used hot pink and orange)
• Stuffing, i.e. polyester fiberfill
• Scissors
• Needle
• Two buttons
• Template for voodoo doll (I have provided a free downloadable template, but you can cut the shapes out freehand, too)
• Freezer paper and permanent marker

How to make it ~

Makes one pincushion approx. 5″ tall.
If you’re going to use our downloadable template, go ahead and print it out. Next, I took a piece of freezer paper and traced my shapes onto the paper side (not the shiny side) with a marker.
Cut the shapes out of the freezer paper. For each pincushion you’re making, you’ll need two of the body shapes and one heart.
To easily cut them out of the felt, place your freezer paper stencil shiny side down on the appropriate felt color, turn an iron on low heat and iron the paper for a few seconds. The freezer paper stencil should be sticking to the felt, so you can cut out the shape with sharp scissors, peel off the paper stencil and repeat as necessary.
Once you cut out the heart, cut it in half in a zig-zag pattern to look like two broken pieces.
Start by sewing on the eyes. Choose two buttons (different sizes and colors look great) and sew them on to the front body piece with a contrasting color of embroidery floss (separated into a section of 3 strands. If you try to do this at the end of the floss, you’ll wind up with a tangled mess. Just gently pull apart at the middle, and you’ll have two sections!).
Next, work on your decorative stitching. Sew your two heart halves on with white embroidery floss. Add stitching for the mouth and elsewhere on the body in another color – whatever you like the looks of. I did a cross stitch on his leg, a random stitch on his arm, etc. Be creative!
Once you’re happy with the way Valentine looks, it’s time to stuff him and transform him into a pincushion! I used little clumps of polyester fiberfill but use whatever you have or like best.
Switching back to the white embroidery floss, stitch his back half to his front half with a blanket stitch. (For instructions on a blanket stitch, click here.) As I was sewing both halves together, I would continue to add stuffing to get a nice even look rather than lumps.

Neapolitan Heart Cookies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 2 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour

• 2 ½ tablespoons Dutch Process cocoa powder

• Pink food coloring

• 1 large egg

• 1 tablespoon water

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until well combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract and salt. With the mixer speed on low, gradually add the flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. It will be loose and crumbly in texture. Knead the dough with your hands until it comes together, 1 to 2 minutes. Divide the dough into equal thirds. I like to use a food scale to do this so that it takes the guesswork out of it.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap over a cutting board. Place one third of the dough on top of the plastic. Sprinkle cocoa powder over the dough.

Knead until the cocoa powder has been fully incorporated into the dough

Place a new, clean piece of plastic wrap over the cutting board and place another third of dough on top. Put a few drops of food coloring onto the dough. Knead until the coloring is fully incorporated into the dough. Add more coloring if needed to get the shade of pink that you want. Gather into a ball and set aside. You will now have pink, brown and white dough.

Place the remaining ball of dough (the white one) between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a square shape, about 3/8-inch thick

Using a ruler and a sharp knife, slice each square into ¾-inch wide strips. Carefully slide the plastic wrap and dough off of the board and onto a cookie sheet. Set aside. Repeat with chocolate dough and pink dough, stacking them onto the cookie sheet as well.  Place cookie sheet in refrigerator for approximately 20 minutes until dough has chilled slightly.

Whisk together the egg and water. Cover a large work surface with plastic wrap. Carefully lift a strip of chocolate dough up off the cookie sheet and onto the plastic wrap. Brush side of the strip with egg wash

Place one pink strip next to the chocolate strip and gently press together. Brush side of pink strip with egg wash. Place one vanilla strip next to the pink strip. Repeat, forming a larger and larger sheet of striped dough, using the egg wash as a “glue” to hold the strips together. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on top of the striped dough. Using the rolling pin, gently roll the pin across the top of the dough, both horizontally and vertically. Don’t press too hard; you just want to even out the levels of the strips and ensure that they are adhering to each other. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat.

Using a 2 ½-inch heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out cookies from the striped sheet of dough.

Gently transfer the hearts to the cookie sheet

Bake until done, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack

Make Your Own Crayons

Valentines Day Garland

Valentines Day Wood Wall Art

V-Day Scratch Cards

What’s better than receiving a note that tells you just how special you are? One with a hidden message that is revealed after you scratch away the surface.

You’ll need:
* Red card
* Gold pen
* Clear contact paper
* Scissors
* Gold paint
* Dishwashing liquid
* Paint brush
*Envelope

Step one: Draw a love heart on your red card and write a message to someone you like inside the heart. Repeat if required.
Step two: Cut out your hearts and cover them with clear contact paper. Cut off the excess contact paper from around the edges of the heart.
Step three: Mix one part dishwashing liquid to two parts gold paint. Paint over the inside of your heart using light strokes. Allow to dry and reapply a second coat, if required to cover your message.
Step four: When your heart is completely dry, place in an envelope. The person you love will be able to scratch off the gold paint using a coin or fingernail to reveal the message underneath.

Stuffed Felt Letters & Characters

Valentines Day Insperation