lollipop, lollipop

for the kids' valentine parties at school, we wanted to do something a little special. we normally love to make these hard candy lollipops for christmas, but i was no where near the kitchen or crafting at that "baby-growing" time of my life. so for v-day, we put a little spin on our usual lollipops. we decided to make pencil pops. we found these great heart molds and pencil pop tops {i put the links below in the recipe}. we tried 3 different flavors: strawberry, watermelon, and lemonade. we normally love strawberry flavored things, but it ended up being our least favorite flavor. after we made the pencil pops, we got out my new valentine stamp set from stampin' up. J & G had tons of fun making their own homemade valentines. we spent a good portion of our day on this project. J wrote his name on all of his valentines, and G did about 10 and then got "way too exhausted" to do any more. J helped her finish. it was so much fun to watch them get so excited about this. i LOVE valentine's day. i have ever since i was a little girl b/c it means my birthday is close by. all my parties as a girl revolved around hearts...and i loved it. i still get giddy inside around this time of year!

Old Fashioned Lollipops

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup light corn syrup

¾ cup water

1 tsp candy oils

¼ tsp Liquid Food Coloring

Candy Thermometer

lightly spray heart sheet mold {i used 3 molds to make 15 suckers} with cooking spray and insert pencil pops into your molds. in large saucepan, mix together sugar, corn syrup and water. stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. bring mixture to a boil without stirring. this syrup gets very hot. hook a candy thermometer on the edge of the saucepan to measure the temperature. children must watch the next steps from afar! when syrup temperature reaches 260°F, add the coloring. DO NOT STIR; boiling will incorporate the coloring into the syrup. remove from heat at 300°. watch closely from 260° to 300°, the temperature will rise quickly. remove from heat. when boiling has stopped, stir in flavoring. then CAREFULLY pour the mixture into a heat proof ceramic pitcher or glass batter bowl. this makes it easy to pour into the molds. It also allows you to be able to slightly reheat the mixture in the microwave if it cools too quickly. immediately pour syrup into the molds. after lollipops have cooled they may be removed from the molds. stick pencil in pencil pop.

here is a cute sample card my stampin' up demonstrator, teri, made with the valentine kit i got...too cute! for all my ohio friends you can have all this cute stuff too b/c i'm having a party on march 26th...so you'll have to come see all the other great stamps and sets you can't live without!!! {he, he}