Here's one of my favourite Valentine projects because it involves one of my favourite "food groups" - chocolate! I started designing these mini chocolate bar wrappers a number of years ago for my daughters to give as a Valentine treat to their friends at school. This year I have designed one for you and I've added a really neat way to package these little sweet treats using our cookie box with round scallop window.

You can download the art to my mini chocolate wrapper here. This download is for personal use only. No commerical use please.

To use the mini chocolate wrappers you will want to print my art on your colour ink jet or laser printer using regular white text paper. There are 12 wrappers on a page and you will want to cut each of the wrappers out using a paper cutter if you have one or with scissors.

I purchase mini Hersey's chocolate bars in bulk at the bulk food stores.

1. There is a space on the wrapper to personalize who they are from. Tip: Write on the wrappers before you attach them to the candy bars.

2. You will need two pieces of two sided tape for each wrapper. Attach the two sided tape to the wrapper as shown ... one piece on each end.

3. Leave the original Hersey's wrapper on the chocolate bar. Our wrapper will be placed on top of the original wrapper. Work out your placement of the wrapper on the chocolate bar with the label positioned as shown. Fold the wrapper in place.

4. Using the two sided tape attach one end of the wrapper to the chocolate bar and

5. then attach the second end making sure that the wrapper is tightly set in place.

To package a handful of these mini chocolate bars I used the cookie box with round scalloped window, bakery twine and some colourful sizzle. I placed 8 candy bars in each cookie box and used the sizzle to position the candy bars so they could be seen through the window. The bakery twine was tied around the cookie box and finished with a simple bow.

Because you added a name on the chocolate bar wrapper ... it will be easy to know who the gift box is from! I think that these would make great party or wedding favors too.

And now I'd like to announce our lucky winner of the roll of diamond wrap ... Nadia (of Nadia's Beautiful Mess).

Congratulations Nadia!!

Nadia is expecting a baby girl soon and wrote that she would like the pink diamond wrap to use on a couple of projects that she is planning for the baby's nursery.

Thanks everyone for taking part in our first blog giveaway. I loved hearing your comments ... so many creative ideas. I'll be doing more giveaways and free downloads so please keep checking back or sign up to receive our blog posts by email so you don't miss out!

I was so excited when I saw the new paper straws arrive in the Toronto store the other week. I have been pinning pictures of paper straws from weddings, parties and sweet tables, so I know that I am not the only one who loves them.

One of the great things about paper straws is that it is very easy to personalize them. So with that in mind, I designed a page of pink and red flags as a free download. The colours in the flags match my pink and red vintage label downloads and would be perfect for a Valentine themed party.

download art here

As always, this download is for personal use only. No commercial use is permitted.

The flags can be used on paper straws and treat sticks ... here you can see that I added them to cakepops and displayed them on our wooden market serving trays!

Here's a quick overview on how to attach these flags to straws and treat sticks.

Print the download on heavy weight paper on your colour printer.

1. Cut the flags out and fold each flag in half.

2. Add two sided tape to the back of 1/2 of the flag as shown.

3. Peel the backing off the tape. Position the flag on the straw or treat stick and press the flag together starting at the ends and working towards the (fold) straw/stick.

Personalized paper straws and treat sticks ... a simple and creative way to make your next event "your own".  I hope that you try this out! Let me know if you use my flags - I'd love to see them in use!