I don't even have kids yet, and I can already understand how it might be kind of a nightmare to have to come up with 30 adorable Valentine's Day treats that nobody else in the class has... That's why I like the idea of "halfway homemade." I'm working with Rich's on their Bakery Because campaign because I love the idea of taking some of the pressure off ourselves when it comes to gifting. You can gift freshly-baked (by someone else) treats packaged up as perfect little Valentines - or even as little "just because" treats! You can pick something up from your the bakery while grocery shopping, combine it with a few cute items you might already have, and voila! Read on for my own little Valentine tutorial and a fun contest!
In the interest of keepin' it real with you guys, this post was sponsored by Rich's for their Bakery Because campaign. I was paid for my participation, but all project ideas and content and are entirely unbiased and entirely my own. 
Andrei and I aren’t too big on Valentine’s Day celebration or gifting. We usually just do a card and something small and sentimental. This is our first married V Day, so I wanted to do something cutesy but still not over the top. We love to surprise each other with little things here and there, so I wanted to do something I could hide all over the house and car... He’s pretty much nuts about brownies, so I picked up a box of petite* brownie bites from the Kroger bakery. They’re soft, chewy, and take about three bites apiece – perfect for a midafternoon snack.
*I’m pretty sure they just call them petite so that we don’t feel as bad downing half a box…
1. I used a tiny dab of peanut butter to affix a conversation heart to the front of one brownie bite to give it a cute little holiday touch.
2. After folding out an individual cake pop (not truffle) box that I picked up at Michael’s, I slid two brownie bites in the box back-to-back with the top of the brownie facing the window so that you can see the little heart.
You guys know I love to go a little over the top with packaging, but I did keep these relatively simple since they were for Andrei and not my girlfriends or a classroom full of kiddos…
3. I stamped and embossed manila shipping tags with a cute little sentiment and swapped out the string that comes with the tags for some pretty grey striped baker’s twine.
4. I affixed the tags to the boxes by tape the twine with some pretty floral washi tape. The washi tape served another purpose, too: since it’s a cake pop box, there’s a hole in the top for the stick, which we obviously don’t need for this project. The tape covered the hole right up!
Contest!
Three of you will win $25 each! Ready for the details? Share this blog post on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest with the hashtag #bakerybecause and then in the comments on this post, share a story about somebody special in your life who makes every day a little better. Why are they close to your heart? Share your warm fuzzies, people! If you win and decide to use your $25 to make a bakery gift for your somebody special, let me know so that I can share it with my readers!
On February 15, I'll pick my three favorite stories, and Rich's will send you each $25.
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