Love Unboxed: Crafting, Cooking, and Celebrating Love!
TINA KHATRI
Often those in power believe they know best, but sometimes they’re wrong. Standing firm with righteousness and courage sets a person apart. One such person was Saint Valentine, who stood for love. As we celebrate his special day this weekend, let’s learn to be brave and embrace the most beautiful force in the world: Love.
This Valentine’s weekend, let’s spread love through creativity and fun! Try baking sweet jam-filled heart cookies, crafting a beautiful string art heart, or enjoying the laughter from a fun story with unexpected surprises—these activities will fill your heart with joy, laughter, and love!
Jam-Filled Heart Cookies
Ingredients:
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 (10 ounce) jar strawberry jam
• ¼ cup powdered sugar, or as needed
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla extract.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to the butter mixture.
4. Roll dough between parchment paper, refrigerate for 10 minutes. Cut out 24 heart-shaped cookies, and cut smaller hearts in half of them for the jam window.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are golden.
6. Cool, then spread jam on cookies without heart cut-outs and sandwich with the others. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
Connecting Every String of Love
Materials:
• Wooden board (8x8 inches)
• Nails
• Hammer
• String (red, pink, or any color)
• Pencil
• Scissors
Steps:
1. Draw a heart shape in the center of the board with a pencil.
2. Mark spots along the heart’s edge for nails.
3. Hammer nails into the spots, leaving them about ½ inch sticking up.
4. Tie string to a nail at the top.
5. Wrap the string around the nails along the edges of the heart.
6. Crisscross the string between nails to create a web-like pattern.
7. Add more layers of string for depth.
8. Finish by tying off the string and trimming any excess.
The Valentine’s Day Mishap
On Valentine’s Day, [1. name of character] decided to give their friend [2. friend’s name] a big box of [3. noun]. But when they opened it, they found a [4. adjective describing unexpected item] [5. noun] instead! “This isn’t what I meant to give you!” said [6. name of character], feeling [7. adjective describing their emotion].
[8. Friend’s name] looked at the [9. item] and started laughing. “Well, this is certainly a [10. adjective describing the situation] Valentine’s Day surprise!”
They both [11. verb describing laughter] so loudly that [12. noun describing an action] could be heard from across the street! They decided to celebrate by eating [13. favorite food] and [14. verb describing an activity] together. While they were eating, [15. name of character] accidentally spilled [16. liquid noun] all over their [17. noun, something they’re wearing], making everything even more [18. adjective describing the mess]!
But despite the [19. noun describing a problem], they both agreed that it was the most [20. adjective describing how they feel] Valentine’s Day ever! In the end, [21. name of character] learned that sometimes, Valentine’s Day surprises don’t go as planned—but they can still be [22. adjective describing the result]!
Suggested Answers
1. Sophie
2. Jake
3. Chocolates
4. Squishy
5. Toothbrush
6. Sophie
7. Embarrassed
8. Jake
9. Toothbrush
10. Funny
11. Giggled
12. Dogs barking
13. Pizza
14. Dancing
15. Sophie
16. Soda
17. Shirt
18. Messy
19. Spilled soda
20. Fun
21. Sophie
22. Unforgettable
TINA KHATRI
Often those in power believe they know best, but sometimes they’re wrong. Standing firm with righteousness and courage sets a person apart. One such person was Saint Valentine, who stood for love. As we celebrate his special day this weekend, let’s learn to be brave and embrace the most beautiful force in the world: Love.
This Valentine’s weekend, let’s spread love through creativity and fun! Try baking sweet jam-filled heart cookies, crafting a beautiful string art heart, or enjoying the laughter from a fun story with unexpected surprises—these activities will fill your heart with joy, laughter, and love!
Jam-Filled Heart Cookies
Ingredients:
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 (10 ounce) jar strawberry jam
• ¼ cup powdered sugar, or as needed
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla extract.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to the butter mixture.
4. Roll dough between parchment paper, refrigerate for 10 minutes. Cut out 24 heart-shaped cookies, and cut smaller hearts in half of them for the jam window.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are golden.
6. Cool, then spread jam on cookies without heart cut-outs and sandwich with the others. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
Connecting Every String of Love
Materials:
• Wooden board (8x8 inches)
• Nails
• Hammer
• String (red, pink, or any color)
• Pencil
• Scissors
Steps:
1. Draw a heart shape in the center of the board with a pencil.
2. Mark spots along the heart’s edge for nails.
3. Hammer nails into the spots, leaving them about ½ inch sticking up.
4. Tie string to a nail at the top.
5. Wrap the string around the nails along the edges of the heart.
6. Crisscross the string between nails to create a web-like pattern.
7. Add more layers of string for depth.
8. Finish by tying off the string and trimming any excess.
The Valentine’s Day Mishap
On Valentine’s Day, [1. name of character] decided to give their friend [2. friend’s name] a big box of [3. noun]. But when they opened it, they found a [4. adjective describing unexpected item] [5. noun] instead! “This isn’t what I meant to give you!” said [6. name of character], feeling [7. adjective describing their emotion].
[8. Friend’s name] looked at the [9. item] and started laughing. “Well, this is certainly a [10. adjective describing the situation] Valentine’s Day surprise!”
They both [11. verb describing laughter] so loudly that [12. noun describing an action] could be heard from across the street! They decided to celebrate by eating [13. favorite food] and [14. verb describing an activity] together. While they were eating, [15. name of character] accidentally spilled [16. liquid noun] all over their [17. noun, something they’re wearing], making everything even more [18. adjective describing the mess]!
But despite the [19. noun describing a problem], they both agreed that it was the most [20. adjective describing how they feel] Valentine’s Day ever! In the end, [21. name of character] learned that sometimes, Valentine’s Day surprises don’t go as planned—but they can still be [22. adjective describing the result]!
Suggested Answers
1. Sophie
2. Jake
3. Chocolates
4. Squishy
5. Toothbrush
6. Sophie
7. Embarrassed
8. Jake
9. Toothbrush
10. Funny
11. Giggled
12. Dogs barking
13. Pizza
14. Dancing
15. Sophie
16. Soda
17. Shirt
18. Messy
19. Spilled soda
20. Fun
21. Sophie
22. Unforgettable
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