Spread the love with these homemade Valentine's Day treats & genius DIY craft ideas!

From cupid floats to DIY heart boxes, author & lifestyle expert Maria Provenzano shares budget-friendly Valentine’s Day ideas to spread love to the special folks in your life. California Live’s Danielle Nottingham learns money-saving tips for baking and crafting at home. Check out Maria’s ideas!

• Envelope garland
• Conversation heart boxes
• Popcorn balls
• Fruit crostini
• Sugar cookies heart cake
• Cupid floats

Envelope garland:

I have seen garland like this online and in stores that costs around $30-$40! It’s just made out of felt, which is about 40 cents for a sheet, and you only need 4-5 sheets to make this garland.

Use scissors to cut the felt into a rectangle and cut another piece of the felt into a triangle to use hot glue to add it on top of the rectangle to make it look like an envelope. Add a felt heart onto the tip of the triangle with hot glue. To make it a banner, line up the felt envelopes and flip them over. Add a thin line of hot glue into the top of the rectangle and place a ribbon or twine onto the glue. Allow it to dry completely and then hang to display.

Conversation heart boxes:

Plain heart boxes can be found at a craft store or online. Use spray paint to color the boxes the desired colors to look like the candy hearts. Spray paint wood letters red, then glue onto the heart boxes. Fill with gift items.

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Popcorn balls:

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 10 ounces marshmallows
• 12 heaping cups of popcorn (aka 3 quarts)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Sea salt; optional
• Chocolate; optional
• Sprinkles; optional

Directions

1. In a large heavy pot, melt the butter over medium to low heat.
2. Stir in the brown sugar and marshmallows.
3. Stir until the mixture is almost completely melted.
4. Turn off the heat.
5. Stir in the vanilla.
6. Stir in the popcorn and mix until well coated.
7. Allow the mixture to cool enough so that it can be handled.
   • *Note: make sure to coat your hands with butter or cooking spray when you are shaping them.
8. Scoop out the desired size of the popcorn ball and use your hands to shape the mixture into a ball.
9. Place the popcorn balls on a baking sheet lined with wax paper to cool.
10. Before they cool, sprinkle the tops of the popcorn balls with a small sprinkle of sea salt.
    • *Note: if you want to add a chocolate drizzle, simply melt some chocolate and drizzle it over the top of the popcorn balls before you add the sprinkles and salt.

Fruit Crostini:

Cut a baguette into 1 inch slices and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil on both sides and place under a broiler until lightly golden on one side, then flip over and toast the other side. Put 1/2 cup of ricotta into a food processor with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, about 1 teaspoon, and process until the ricotta is whipped and light. Cut berries into small pieces. Spread a little bit of ricotta onto each piece of toasted bread, add on the berries, and drizzle with balsamic or honey, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Add some fresh basil by breaking the leaves with your fingers.

Sugar cookies heart cake:

Roll out sugar cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and use a knife to cut it into a heart shape and cut a heart shape within the heart to have the middle open. It helps to create a template first and use the template again so that you have two large heart shapes of the same size. Bake the cookie dough according to instructions. Once the cookies have cooled, place one of them onto a serving tray. Make up a batch of buttercream and place the icing into a piping bag. Squeeze the frosting into large dollops around the top of the heart. Place the second heart on top of the frosted heart. Add more dollops of frosting and then decorate with fruit, chocolates, candy, etc.

Cupid floats:

Ingredients

• 2-3 scoops vanilla ice cream
• 2-4 tablespoons homemade berry syrup
• 1/2-1 cup carbonated water
• Berry syrup
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 pound berries (blackberry and raspberry work best)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

• Berry syrup
  • Add the sugar and water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar has dissolved, stirring frequently.
  • Stir in the berries and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently and using a wooden spoon to gently press the berries to release their juice.
  • Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the mixture into a small bowl. Stir in the lemon juice.
  • Let the mixture cool before adding it into the drinks.

• Add a few scoops of vanilla ice cream to a tall glass.
• Pour the fruit syrup over the ice cream.
• Pour the carbonated water over the syrup and give it a gentle mix with a spoon.