What says Valentines Day better then Sweethearts? These candy conversation hearts have been a Valentines Day tradition since the Civil War. The sayings change, the box changes, but the tradition remains the same. I have my own history with these little candies.
I love Valentines Day because I see it as a chance to get creative. I love coming up with different ways to surprise my guy. Even when I was young with my High School boyfriends or yearly crushes, I always tried to get creative on Valentines Day. But since being with my husband my gifts have gotten very elaborate. But almost every year sweethearts have been a part of whatever elaborate Valentines Day present I planned for my husband. Past Valentines Days have had included scavenger hunts, clues to why I love him, or just a none stop day of treats. This year I decided to give him his favorite thing, sugar cookies, but incorporated the Sweethearts in a unique way.
Making the box: This was the first step to this years Valentines Day present because I could do it in advance. The Sweethearts Box has had many looks over the years. The most recent box looks like this...
But that is not the way I think of Sweethearts. Plus I wanted that cellophane piece that the old boxes were known for, the one that allows you a peak at what is inside. So I used this box:
To actually make the box I took a shirt box, and using ratios and a ruler I drew the famous box of our childhood onto the front of the shirt box in pencil. I then colored it in. My mistake was using Crayola markers. These markers bled a little on the waxy box surface and left some messy lines. In hind-site I would have gotten permanent markers in the colors I needed. Both Bic and Sharpie now have a lot of colors available when it comes to permanent markers. To create the Sweethearts lettering to imitate the actual box, I used my old scrapbook technique... I printed out the logo, blew it up to size on my copier and then traced it. Then once I had drawn all the details on the front, I cut out the center heart. To cover the heart for the cookies I used a cellophane candy bag (or goodie bag) which I cut open and glued to the box.
But the details of the box didn't end at the front. I wanted the entire box to feel authentic. So I drew the top label and the bottom label.
I added the side panel with the company information, in this case calling it the Barbely Confectionary Company and the Nutrition facts, which you can see these cookies have 100% of Total Love, Sweetness and Total Commitment and 0 Calories. Pretty sure the FDA would not approve of that one.
I added the scanner number and the ingredients. The scanner number includes some important dates and the ingredients include Love, Hugs, Kisses, Happiness, Marriage, Friendship, Romance....
Then the back of the box. I couldn't remember what the back of the single heart box looked like, so for this I had to yield to the current box.
Note: Draw all your flaps on the top box. The flaps on the bottom box will be tucked underneath. When crazy glueing your box together you have to work quickly.
Another Note: If I had to do it over again I would have glued the plastic goodie bags or saran wrap around the entire interior of the box. The grease from the cookies bled through the box.
Now all thats left is to make the cookies... to be continued in my next post.
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