Valentine treats

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers. ~Claude Monet

Just as Monet's inspiration for painting is flowers, my inspiration for baking is... well... as much as I'd love a great inspiration, I'm not really sure. For me gardening and baking are one in the same, a very peaceful and creative process where the end result bring a sense of satisfaction to the creator and a smile to the recipient.

I look forward every year to baking these "Love Cookies" for Valentine's Day treats, just as I enjoy planting bulbs every spring. This recipe is my favorite for sugar cookies, no extra flour needed when rolling them out so they taste wonderful, and the cookie keeps it's shape when baking.

I don't remember when I started making these cookies, I just remember it was mid-way thru my 6yr engagement with Mike that I was low on funds one Valentine's Day due to having to purchase extra books for college that month. So my Mom suggested baking something for him instead of giving a store bought gift; and of course she added the age-old motto of the best way to man's heart is thru his stomach. I found this cookie idea in one of her Women's Day magazines and the rest is history.

Now it's even better that each year my boys get to help with the creations!

I was also excited to search for unique valentine's for the boys to hand out, you know, while they're still young and I can pick out something cute I like and they're okay with it :) Before I know it I'm sure there will be Spiderman and Transformer themes abound, but until then I'm all for the cutesy stuff!

Make your own sundae valentines with life-like stickers...totally my boys at this age, super fun and super cute! Had to get them!

And making the teacher gifts were super easy, more personal than a pre-wrapped gift! (Google Search is full of great ideas from other crafty Mom's like this one I borrowed!)

Now that Valentine's Day is covered it's on to prepping for Gavin's Mickey Mouse party!