Okay, better late than never, right?
Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching and it’s crunch time! Here’s an easy and cute DIY for those classic classroom valentines!
Confession: I love frosted animal cookies. Always have. Always will. There’s just something so nostalgic about the pink and white frosting, colorful sprinkles, and perfect crunch!
I knew I wanted to use frosted animal cookies as the inspiration for H’s valentines this year. And I wanted a valentine that had a fun activity and also a sweet treat! That’s how I came up with these cuties!
I ended up with a “make your own circus animal” kit—a little felt play kit with animal cookie shaped pieces—and homemade animal cookies! (Homemade, because if I can make things more complicated, it’s a guarantee that I will) I think they turned out so adorable!
These little kits were so easy to throw together! You can find the full tutorial with downloadable links below.
Supplies Needed:
- “Life’s a Party” downloadable tags
- Animal cookie stencils
- Animal cookie frosting stencils
- Cardstock paper
- Stiffened felt sheets in “cookie” color (I used a light tan)
- Regular felt sheets in white and pink
- Mini pom poms
- Clear treat bags
- Stapler
- Frosted animal cookies (individual bags, or homemade! See the recipe I used at the end of the post)
- Scissors
Other supplies that are helpful, but not necessary
- Cricut or other cutting machine
- Printer
FELT ANIMAL COOKIES
Using the provided guides, cut the animal “cookie” parts out of the stiffened tan felt, and the animal “frosting” parts out of pink and white felt. I made the animal cookies as a set: 1 cookie piece, 1 white frosting piece, 1 pink frosting piece, and pom poms for sprinkles. For each valentine, I included 2 different animal sets.
Put all the pieces in a plastic treat bag.
THE ACTUAL FROSTED ANIMAL COOKIES
You could definitely buy individual bags of frosted animal cookies. It would be much easier, and much quicker.
Something like this would be perfect.
Or, like me, you could have the bright idea to MAKE THEM YOURSELF! Because it will be so cute to make them together with your daughter. And you can use plant-based dye so you can feel better about eating so many cookies.
***DISCLAIMER: I am not a baker by any definition of the word.***
Let me just tell you how that went…
These photos are 100% staged. It was utter chaos. I made these with my daughter, my sister, and my niece. Basically, it was 2 moms trying to let the under-two-year-old’s “help,” while whisking the finished cookies out of the way as fast as possible. We were all covered in flour and sprinkles and white chocolate.
Was I insane to try to bake cut-out cookies with 2 toddlers? Yes.
Did these cookies actually taste like frosted animal cookies? No. (But they were, like, sooooooo good)
Did they end up looking like frosted animal cookies? …Kinda.
Did my natural pink food dye end up fading to the lighhhhhhtest shade of pink? Yes.
BUT would do it again? Absolutely! They were DELICIOUS, we had fun, and they’re still super cute for H’s class valentines!
If, after that tirade, you still want to make your own cookies, here is the cookie recipe I used.
ASSEMBLY
Print out the “Life’s a Party” tags and cut them out. Fold them in half.
Sandwich your cookie and felt bags inside the tag and staple them closed.
And there you have it! The sweetest frosted animal cookie valentines!
I hope you love them! If you make these, I’d love to see them! Make sure you tag me!
