Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets Blog

Here’s a St. Patrick’s Day treat you can really sink your teeth into! We’ve taken classic Oreo cookies and dipped them in milk, dark and white Belgian chocolate to create a one-of-a-kind treat for St. Patrick’s Day!  A golden box holds 9 of our chocolate dipped Oreos that are sprinkled with  green shamrock confetti and sprinkles. We then add various hand-made royal icing decorations such as shamrocks and leprechauns.  Each delicious cookie is nestled in the square gift box to create our St. Pats Chocolate Dipped Oreos Gift Box.

We offer a wide range of St. Patrick’s Day Gifts & Baskets to celebrate this Irish holiday!  Our gifts start at just $21 so be sure to check them out!

You may not find his gold, but you can catch a Leprechaun’s charm with these fun crafts for kids.

How about try a Paper Bag Leprechaun Puppet!

Supplies:

• Lunch sized paper bag
• Scissors
• Glue
• Green, white, black, orange, and yellow construction paper
• 2 Googly eyes
• Crayons

Cut out construction paper for the hat, face and beard. (You can also use white paper and color with crayons).  Make sure to make the upper and lower parts of the face separate so you can make your puppet talk!  Template can be printed at freekidcrafts.com.

Here are other fantastic Leprechaun crafts to try:

Toilet paper Roll Leprechaun

Leprechaun Trap

Pot of Gold Craft

St. Patrick’s Day Coloring Pages

If you’re looking for a little St. Patrick’s Day fun this year, here are some great shamrock craft ideas that will have you feeling lucky!

My Favorite is the Pom Pom Shamrock.

Supplies Needed:

3 large green pom poms
scrap of green felt
scissors
white craft glue or hot glue
6″ piece of gold ribbon

Instructions:

1. Glue all three pom poms together to form a shamrock.

2. Cut out a stem from a piece of green felt.

3. Glue to the back of your shamrock.Tie a piece of gold ribbon into a bow and glue to the front of your shamrock.

4. Optional: You can glue a magnet, pin back or a hanger made from ribbon to the back of your shamrock craft.

Other fun Saint Patrick’s Day Crafts:

Printable St. Patty Day Coloring/Activity Pages

Felt Shamrock Leprachaun Hats

Shamrock Egg Carton Craft

Shamrock Wreath Crafts

A homemade gift is a great way to let someone know you are thinking of them. My favorite homemade gift is a jar mix – from cookies to soups – the possibilities are endless! Jar Mixes make great gifts for teachers, your child’s bus driver, the postal worker who delivers your mail . . . anyone!

The most common jar to use is a canning jar (also called a Mason jar). Before filling your jars, wash them thoroughly and make sure they are completely dry before adding ingredients. Each jar will be filled with only the dry ingredients. Using a small funnel or a rolled up piece of paper can help with getting the layers to lay just right (don’t tip the jar while filling). To pack down your layers, a great item to use is a tart tamper. Other things that may work is a small ladle, a spoon, mallet or spatula.

You may want to decorate your jar before filling. If the jar is filled to the top so that the contents don’t move much, then decorating afterward is fine too. One of most important parts of your jar is the Mixing/Baking instructions. You can attach this with a ribbon to your lid or glue it to the jar itself. You can have fun with this too! Use stamps or stencils to create a one-of-a-kind label. You can also use your computer to personalize your instruction labels and print them on sticker paper.

Here is one recipe to get you started!

Decadent Brownie Jar Mix Instructions

Jar Ingredients:

* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1-1/2 cups sugar
* 1/3 cup HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
* 1 cup REESE’S Peanut Butter Chips or HERSHEY’S Premier White Chips
* 1/2 cup HERSHEY’S Mini Chips Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Filling the Jar:
First stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Layer the ingredients in a 1-quart glass canister or jar in the following order (from bottom to top): sugar, cocoa, flour mixture, peanut butter chips and small chocolate chips. Tap jar gently on the counter to settle each layer before adding the next one.

Instructions to attach to jar:

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Grease and flour an 8×8x2-inch baking pan.
3. Combine 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted and cooled butter and 2 slightly beaten eggs in a large bowl.
4. Gently stir in jar contents.
5. Spread in prepared pan.
6. Bake for 35 minutes.
7. Cool in pan. Cut into bars.

Makes 16 Bars

So we’ve all seen the chubby-cheeked baby wielding a bow with heart-tipped arrows, but where did the legend of Cupid begin?

Here’s a little mythology lesson for your Valentine’s Day!

In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of  love and beauty.  He is the son of goddess Venus (goddess of love) and god Mercury (messenger god), thus making Cupid the messenger of love!

The story is, Cupid’s mother Venus became jealous of a princess named Psyche.  Psyche was so beloved by her subjects that they forgot to worship Venus, so Venus ordered Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with the vilest thing in the world. When Cupid saw Psyche, however, he was so overwhelmed by her beauty that he fell in love with her himself.

Cupid began paying visits to Psyche, but he would never reveal himself. But Psyche, with some urging by her sisters, tried to see her lover. She tricked Cupid who became so irate that he left her. Psyche wandered the earth, searching for Cupid. Finally, the god Zeus united her with Cupid and gave them permission to marry. They lived happily ever after, giving birth to a daughter whose name was Voluptas, or Hedone (meaning pleasure). The history of romance has begun!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

So most of us know what happens during Valentine’s Day in the United States – sending cards, Valentine chocolates and candlelit dinners.  But what does the rest of the world do during Valentine’s Day?  Below are just a few examples of festivities going on around the world.

Wales – A long-held tradition of giving Welsh Love spoons to ones lover still occurs on Valentine’s Day. The wooden spoons are intricately  carved with symbols representing a wide range of emotions intended to convey the givers feelings. Some of the symbol meanings are: Heart – Love, Horseshoe – Good Luck, Celtic Knot – Eternal Love, Twisted Stem – Two Lives Become One and
Birds – Love Birds or Let’s Go Away Together.

Japan – The traditional gift given on Valentine’s Day in Japan is chocolate, but great care is taken to make sure that the correct type of chocolate is given because there are two types – one suitable for friends and one for lovers.  Giri choco or obligatory chocolate is given by women to their male friends, co-workers and superiors. Honmei choco is chocolate given to the man that a girl is truly interested in or serious about.

Brazil - Brazil does not celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 14th of February. Brazilians celebrate the Dia dos Namorados (Day of the Enamored) on June 12th.  The day is is celebrated in colorful style with festivals and dancing. It is also on this day that couples exchange gifts or give flowers and cards to one another.

Mexico – The most prevalent Valentine’s Day tradition in Mexico is to exchange gifts in a secret way. The men of Mexico have another special way of showing their affection to the one they love. In the evening, they show up at the home of their girlfriend with a mariachi band or trio of singers who serenade the girl with 2 or 3 romantic songs while standing beneath her window.

10 Ways To Say I Love You

In common languages of the world!

Arabic – Ana behibak (to male)
Arabic – Ana behibek (to female)
Chinese Cantonese – Ngo oiy ney a
Chinese Mandarin – Wo ai ni
French – Je t’aime, Je t’adore
German – Ich liebe dich
Italian – Ti amo
Japanese – Aishiteru or Anata ga daisuki desu
Russian – Ya tebya liubliu
Spanish – Te quiero / Te amo

Are you looking for some fun party game ideas for Valentine’s Day this year?  Here are some great games for kids of all ages that are perfect for a classroom party, Valentine Birthday, or any Valentine’s Day get-together.

Steal My Heart Game -Here’s a game that really takes some hand-eye coordination!  Simply purchase a couple large bags of Valentine candy conversation hearts and some chopsticks. Place the candy in a large bowl at the center of a table. Have the kids take a spot around the table then give each child a set of chopsticks.  The goal is to ’steal’ as many hearts from the big bowl of candy as possible. You can either give them individual small bowls to store their stolen hearts or tell them to make a pile right in front of them. Make sure to tell them they can only use the chopsticks – NO HANDS!  Set a timer for 3 minutes and the child with the most hearts in their bowl or in front of them when time runs out wins a Valentine prize!

Valentine Memory Game – Purchase one or two bags of candy conversation hearts. Prepare for the game by pouring the candies out and going through them to find pairs of hearts that are identical (same color and same saying). When you are ready to play the game, lay all the pairs of hearts face down on the table. Explain tot he kids that the goal is to find pairs of hearts that have the same saying and color (you might want to show them an example). Go around the circle having each child taking a turn by flipping over two hearts. If they get a pair, they get to take another turn until they miss. When they miss, the hearts get flipped back over (face down). The child with the most pairs when all of the hearts are matched wins the game and a Valentine themed gift.

Pin The Arrow on Cupid – Who can help Cupid get ready to shoot his arrow of love? Buy a large piece of poster board then draw a picture of cupid holding a bow on the poster board. (Online clipart sites are a great visual guide.) Hang the poster board on the wall being sure to have the location at hand height for the kids. Give each child an arrow made out of construction paper. Put double sided sticky tape or a adhesive glue dot on the back of the arrows. To play, blindfold each child, give them a spin around and have them try to pin the arrow on Cupid’s bow. The child that gets closest to the intended location wins.

How about hosting a Valentine’s Day Party this year? If you’re getting a group together for Valentine’s Day, here are a couple fun game ideas to keep things interesting!

Lovers Lifesaver Relay Game – Before the party, buy a roll of lifesaver candies (red and white for Valentine’s Day). To start,  evenly split the party guests into groups of 3 or more players. Have the players for each group line up in a straight line then give each of the players a toothpick that they hold in their mouth (no HANDS allowed). Give the first person in each group’s line a lifesaver candy which they hang on the toothpick in their mouth. Once you yell start, the first player in line passes the lifesaver from their toothpick to the toothpick of the next player in line (without using their hands). They pass it to the next and so on until the last person in line has the lifesaver on their toothpick. The first team to get the lifesaver to the end of their relay line wins the game! NOTE: During the game if the lifesaver falls to the ground or someone uses their hands, the team must start all over at the beginning with the lifesaver on the first player’s toothpick.

Valentine Suck & Blow Card Game – A great game for a bunch of single people! This hilarious game requires 8 or more players and is best pif you have an even number of people and equal number of men and women so that people can sit boy-girl-boy-girl. Have the party goers sit in a tight circle very close to one another because they will be passing cards with NO HANDS. Give a card from a standard or heart-shaped deck of playing cards to one of the people in the group. The goal is to pass the card to the next person in line without dropping it. The first person holds the card to their mouth by sucking on it like a vacuum, they pass it to the person on the right by placing the card on their mouth so that neighbor will need to suck on the card to hold it while the first person blows (releasing the suction) to let go of the card. Don’t drop the card or you’ll be kissing the person sitting next to you! This game is sure to get lots of laugh!

If you have some cooking skills, a candlelit dinner is a great surprise and one that your sweetheart is sure to appreciate. For a memorable night, make something that you know your significant other really likes. You can even create a theme around the type of food they like.  If it’s seafood they love, you could add accents to the table with beach themed candles, real seashells and maybe some ocean sound CD’s playing in the background.  Other theme ideas could be:

- Mexican Food – Accent with rich orange, yellow, red and green colors.  Terra Cotta pots could hold fresh flowers.  Use Chili Peppers to accent your dinner table.

- Asian Food – Cherry Blossom Accents add a romantic touch to your dinner.

- Italian Food – Grape vines set a mood for your Italian dinner.  Wine and Cheese are also a great choice.  Play authentic Italian music in the background.

If you’re not the best cook, you could always order take-out and sill serve it on your table for 2.

For dessert anything heart-shaped will do!  How about a heart-shaped cheese cake? Our two pound cheese cake says “Happy Valentine’s Day on top and is garnished with a Red Marzipan Rose. The Chocolate fudge and Raspberry Swirl cheesecake features a chocolate cookie crust, while the NY style has a classic graham cracker crust.

It’s a well known fact that chocolate is a very popular gift for Valentine’s Day!  But that doesn’t mean you have to go with the same boring selection of Chocolates. We carry a great selection of unique and tasty chocolate gifts!

How about a trio of Valentine Chocolate Caramel Apples? Crisp petite Granny Smith apples are hand-dipped in rich, golden caramel then dipped in Belgian Chocolate and finished with festive icing decorations and candy sprinkles for a delectable one-of-a-kind treat!  Just $34 for over a pound of deliciousness!

Another fun and luscious idea is a tin of Belgian Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookies. For $32 you get 16 delicious Oreo® sandwich cookies enrobed in rich Dark, Milk or White Belgian chocolate, then coated with Valentine themed decorations.  They look amazing and taste even better!

So if you’re looking for a unique and chocolately gift this Valentine’s Day, you’re sure to find the perfect choice at Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets.