Valentines That Glitter: Heart Votives + Gumdrops

To finish off this glittery Valentines theme, create your own favors with a heart of pink or gold. Send guests home with a few appliquéd votives and tealights in a muslin bag, or make your own gumdrops wrapped in a glassine bag for little ones. Either way these favors are sure to warm their hearts...

Want to see more of this party?  Click here: valentine cards \\ pink grapefruit martinis \\ sweet treats \\ on display

 photos © sherry heck
styling and design collaboration: CAKE. + Cakewalk Baking

Vinyl Hearts Tutorial

Supplies
Silhouette machine
Silhouette vinyl
Muslin bags
Glass votives holders (we used ikea)
Glittering glue
Sponge applicator
Fine glitter

Directions
We used vinyl stencils created with a Silhouette machine to make the heart pattern on these simple votives and muslin bag (Note: if you don't have a Silhouette, you can use a heart punch and glittered sticker paper for a quick and easy substitute on the votives). When finding shapes to use with the Silhouette, try to look for dingbat fonts. For this heart we used this font. For detailed instructions on how to use your Silhouette to cut out vinyl, check out this great tutorial.

Cut out 3-1” hearts for the votives and 1- 4” heart for the muslin bag. Since you will be using the outside of the pattern, you can skip the transfer tape step. Attach the vinyl directly to the glass votives and muslin bag. For the muslin bag, insert a piece of aluminum foil so the glue will not soak through. Using a sponge applicator, liberally apply glittering glue to the entire heart. Sprinkle with glitter until completely covered. Let dry for approximately 1 hour and then carefully remove the vinyl stencil and discard. Gently tap off any loose glitter.  Let dry for 24 hours before packaging.

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Gumdrops

Ingredients 
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup water
1 box powdered fruit pectin (1.75 oz)
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp citric acid
¼ tsp natural citrus oil
a few drops of gel food coloring

Supplies
Pan spray Candy molds
Sugar for coating
Disco dust (if desired)

Directions 
Prepare your molds (you can use chocolate or hard candy molds) by liberally coating them with pan spray. Mix the sugar & corn syrup together in a medium saucepan. Mix water, pectin & baking soda together in another saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil and cook for approximately 8 mintues, until the foam from the baking soda mixture has died down. Pour the baking soda mixture into the sugars and stir constantly for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the citric acid, citrus oil, and food coloring. Working quickly, fill your molds with the hot liquid. If you wait too long, the mixture will begin to gel and is difficult to pour. (Alternatively, you can pour the mixture into a 8” square cake pan and cut out shapes). Let your gum drop set up in the molds for several hours. When they are firm, coat them in sugar (with a pinch of Disco Dust for sparkle if desired). Enjoy!

recipe adapted by Cakewalk Baking from Sew Can Do.