Valentine’s Day Gifts For Her

Valentine’s Day is only two weeks away! Whether you need a gift for a sister, mom, best girlfriend or you want to get something for yourself (self love people!), I’ve compiled a list of the best Valentine’s Gifts for her, all between $25 and $100. Shoes, bags, fluffy jackets, fun details and the best perfumes and face mask – it’s all listed and linked below with plenty of time left to order.

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LPD (Little Pink Dress)

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When you find a dress you love, and the problem is you don’t have an upcoming event, you buy it anyway. You put it in your closet and dream of somewhere to wear it and hope it comes true. Or, you have a tea party in your home and wear it. I am a fantastic problem solver.

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If you are wondering what the gold is on the floor, it’s confetti. My shoes are blingy and so are my floors. It’s how I roll on holidays. My daughter and I had a Valentine’s tea party and spared no decorative expense.

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Check out the back of the dress detail. Love the criss cross straps.

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This dress is perfect for a bridal or baby shower, date night, girls night out, bachelorette party, or again (just to reiterate) a party in your home on a whim. Below I paired with black shoes and even red. Just match the cutest pair of red shoes you can find with a pretty little red bag and you have an adorable and unique color combination.

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I might add this dress is under $50.

Pink Dress // Blingy Shoes // Necklace (similar) // Earrings (similar)

Black Shoes // Red Shoes

Candy Heart Cookies

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If you are in the baking mood and want to get in touch with your artistic side, these cookies are both fun and challenging to create. While the actual mixing and roll out portion is super easy, the decorating is more of a mindful practice. My cookies are in no way perfect, but I enjoy the process and love making them my own.

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I know we all have a basic sugar cookie recipe, but this one is my favorite because of several reasons – it is super simple, you have baked cookies in no time at all, and they taste the best with the kind of soft texture I require of a sugar cookie. No crunchy cookies in my house.

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I like to use a mix of almond and vanilla extract in the dough. I love the flavor of vanilla and can’t be without it in a sweet confection. I use almond because the icing has almond as well, and they compliment each other. If you like a certain flavor, by all means use it instead. These cookies can be your blank canvas to experiment on.

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The best part of this dough is it does not have to chill. You can make and bake with no time in between – which is great for people such as myself who cannot wait to eat a cookie once they’ve started the process. I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that requires DAYS between making and baking and its basically torture (if it weren’t for the cookie dough I sneak in the mean time).

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So whether you want to eat a great sugar cookie, to test out your cookie icing skills, or need a gift for someone sweet, this cookie recipe is something fun to try.

Roll Out Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon almond flavoring
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
  • 2 1/2 + a little more all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Cream together butter and confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl. Add egg and flavorings, blending well. With a sifter on top of your large bowl, sift in flour, baking powder and salt, then mix until ingredients are just incorporated. You will know when the dough is ready by touching it – the dough shouldn’t really stick to your fingers. If dough is too sticky, add more flour. Let dough sit for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut with heart shaped cutters (any size works – I used small and medium). Place on silpat lined cookie sheets and bake for 7-8 minutes, being careful not to let brown. I take them out when they look completely dry, but have no browning whatsoever.

Icing:

  • one bag confectioners’ sugar (2 pounds)
  • 5 tablespoons meringue powder (available at Michaels)
  • 2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup warm water (+ more if necessary)

Stir extracts into water. Using a whisk attachment on a stand mixer, slowly mix confectioners’s sugar and meringue powder. Add water and extracts slowly, with mixer on low. Once incorporated, whisk on medium-high for about 2-4 minutes, or until thick, fluffy and glossy. Icing should form a soft peak.

Separate icing evenly into four bowls (or into 5 if you want to do another color). Add pink food color to one, purple to another, green to another and yellow to the fourth. Since I used small amounts of frosting, only a little coloring was needed – so start with just a tiny bit, adding more until you get the color you want.

Here is an amazing trick for getting colors into piping bags. For each color icing, I place about 3 tablespoons into piping bag and pipe an outline around each cookie. Then you fill the outline with about 2 teaspoons matching icing and smooth to edge with an offset spatula. If your icing seems to thick, you can add a touch of water (works best with a spray bottle until you get proper flooding consistency). The flood icing stops at the outline, and dries smooth and flat. Place cookies by a fan to dry if you want them extra glossy. Let cookies dry for about 2 hours before piping any lettering.

To pipe lettering, dye leftover pink or leftover white frosting red. Use trick for piping bag above, and use #2 wilton tip to write phrases on cookies. Take your time and don’t get frustrated! It takes patience and practice. By the last cookie, I’m sure you will feel like a pro.

Depending on cookie cutter sizes used, this recipe makes about 2 to 2 1/2 dozen. Can be doubled.

food coloring // Wilton tips // icing bags // heart cookie cutters // Silpat // off-set spatula

 

 

Delicate Details for Valentine’s Day

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Dainty gold jewelry is great for so many reasons. It looks beautiful, layers well, adds a little shine to any outfit, and is perfect for everyday. It also works for women of all ages and makes a memorable, cherishable gift – Valentine’s Day is around the corner!

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You can find little gold (or rose gold or silver) pieces anywhere from Forever 21 to Etsy to Nordstrom because it is trending. And the glory is, there are beautiful options for any budget. I have linked my favorite necklace and a few earrings I recently picked up for less than $6 each. I’ve also gathered a selection for all the ladies on your gifting list.

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Flower ear pins from Forever 21. Perfectly petite, sparkly and feminine.

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Star pin earrings from Forever 21 – they are ear cuffs at a totally wearable length. Not the total crawler, but edgy and taking advantage of the current trend.

heart necklace // rose gold heart necklace // you can never go wrong with Tiffany’s necklace

cutest heart earrings // Ted Baker heart earrings // Pandora heart earrings

want bracelet list Wanderlust Bracelet // Ted Baker bracelet // Rebecca Minkoff bracelet // Follow Your Arrow Bangle

Arrow Ring

In case you missed it, see my favorite ring + where to buy link. If the man in your life needs a hint, send him to this post!