Valentine’s Day Crafts and Recipes

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Show your love for family and friends with easy homemade gifts to make for Valentine’s Day. Upcycled mosaic collages are a great way to recycle paper into something creative and beautiful (and teach about colors and sorting!). Chocolate Pudding Hot Chocolate Mix and Spiced Tea Mix are welcome presents to enjoy on cooler evenings — and preparing them can help kids practice early math skills through careful measuring.

Upcycled Mosaic Collages

You will need …

• Magazines, catalogs, or any colorful paper you no longer use
• Scissors
• Glue
• Pen or pencil
• Plain paper (any color) to use as a base for your collage

1. Draw lines down and across the magazine or catalog pages to form a grid.

2. Cut along the lines to create colored squares.

3. Sort the squares into colors. (If a square has two or more colors, just pick the one that is the most dominant.)

4. On the plain paper, draw several hearts.

5. Glue squares on hearts to create different-colored “mosaic” hearts.

Teachable Moments! Check out Valentine’s Day heart projects inspired by contemporary artist Jim Dine, try your hand at a rainbow mosaic, or learn more about the ancient art of mosaics with What is a Mosaic? Early Roman Mosaics for Kids

Chocolate Pudding Hot Chocolate Mix

• 4 cups nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 ½ cups sugar (or 1:1 non-sugar sweetener, such as Swerve)
• 1 cup nondairy coffee creamer
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 1 package instant chocolate fudge pudding (with sugar or sugar-free)
• Optional: 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Spiced Tea Mix (aka Russian or Friendship Tea)

• 2 cups instant orange drink mix (or sugar-free equivalent)
• 1 cup instant unflavored tea
  1 cup sugar (or 1:1 non-sugar sweetener, such as Swerve)
• 6 tablespoons lemonade mix (or sugar-free equivalent)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves

For both recipes, you will need mason jars or other airtight containers for storing and gifting.

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with a spoon.

2. Spoon into an airtight container.

3. Make a tag with serving instructions and attach to the jar.

For Chocolate Pudding Hot Chocolate Mix: To serve, add 4 tablespoons mix to ¾ cup boiling water and stir.

For Spiced Tea: To serve, add 2 tablespoons mix to ¾ cup boiling water and stir.