Valentine’s Day is coming up and if you want give your sweeties (or friends) some sweets, go beyond the heart-shaped box and get creative with items you already have around the house. Add their favorite candy and cute sayings, and you’ll have cute, upcycled Valentine’s Day gifts that they’ll appreciate.
Upcycled candy jars
The first project reuses empty jars from the kitchen. Save your peanut butter, jelly, or pickle jars and wash them out very well. If the food scent remains, try shaking up some white vinegar in the jar to neutralize the odor. The easiest way I’ve found to remove sticky labels is to wet a cloth or paper towel with white vinegar, wrap it around the label and let it sit for 15 minutes or more. The label and adhesive should peel off pretty easily and whatever doesn’t come off can be rubbed off with the cloth. If the adhesive is particularly strong, you may need to repeat the treatment.
All that’s left to do is decorate and add candy. If you’re feeling particularly creative, cut out letters from a magazine to make a ransom-style saying. This took longer than expected, but would be a good job for kids. I stuck my letters on Glad Press’n Seal wrap while I was cutting them out so I could keep everything together. You can also print out cute sayings and decorations to attach to the jar. Make up a personalized saying or use one that coordinates with the candy inside, like these (or Google for others):
York My Favorite: York Peppermint Patties
Love You to Pieces: Reese’s Pieces
We’re Mint to Be: gum or mints
Happy Valentine’s Day, Toots: Tootsie Rolls
You’re a Catch: Swedish Fish
Lots of Reese’s Why I Love/Like You: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Hugs and Kisses: Hershey’s Hugs and Kisses
You’re a star in my galaxy: Milky Ways
You stole my heart: conversation hearts
Upcycled candy rolls
If you don’t want to use jars or want to make several smaller gifts, save your empty toilet paper rolls. This craft is even easier than the jars because you don’t need to wash or remove labels. Just wrap the toilet paper roll with tissue paper or newspaper and decorate with your preferred saying or hearts. To close, twist and tie one end with string, add candy, and tie the other end. I would recommend using wrapped candy for this since toilet paper rolls aren’t food-grade cardboard or resealable.
Looking for non-candy homemade gift ideas? Better Homes and Gardens has more than 30 handmade Valentine’s gifts with instructions.
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