Surprise your hubby!

Looking through iPhoto again, I found these pictures of the little treats I sent with my hubs' lunch on Valentine's Day this year. I highly recommend this for your kids or spouse. It wasn't that hard and he felt pretty special - and he is!!

I was trying to think of cute little things I could do for him everyday for the 14 days before V-Day (I got the idea from the Mahaney's Blog, Girl Talk) but so many of my ideas involved candy and other sweets and I didn't want to be a stumbling block on his road to eating healthfully.

So I pulled out my food dehydrator (I have a Nesco and it's just great - worth every penny) and sliced some apples. Then I cut the slices into heart shapes before placing them on the dehydrator trays. I just placed the other bits (left over from cutting out the hearts) alongside the hearts and took them out sooner (smaller pieces dry faster) and have been using them for baked goods where they don't have to look pretty.

I placed several dried apple hearts in a plastic baggie meant for homemade candy or favors (you can find them in the candy/baking isle at Michael's Arts and Crafts) and I tied up the baggies with ribbon, placing each one inside a tiny paper bag I made using Martha Stewart's instructions and template. The exact patterns are no longer available, but these are almost the same. The whole project took awhile, but these are the types of little projects you can work on a bit at a time over a week or so and then dole them out to your loved ones throughout the month or season to show them you love and think about them while they're away at work or school. Looking back it was well worth the effort!