Make Something for Mom!
Mom's are pretty special, huh. They are all unique in their own way, and they play so many roles in our lives it's hard to keep track.
I live relatively close to my mom (2.5hrs away) but my mother-in-law, who's just like a mom to me, is at about a 4,800 mile drive away. Oh yes, Alaska. At the end of the road in Homer.
Either close or far, SEND HER SOMETHING!
I have a cute DIY/craft for you to shower your mom or mother figure with love and warmth.
When I think of moms I think of encouraging words, tea, flowers, and cookies. So why not all the above?
You can easily make this a fun activity to do with your siblings or kids, and create memories of making something beautiful and multifaceted for mom or grandma.
What we have are tea bag shaped cookies, with inspirational Yogi Tea quotes, that she can dip into her tea (or coffee!), all tucked into a cute tea box that you can print out and assemble!
CLICK HERE FOR THE BOX TEMPLATE
Print out the tea box/cookie container (tea tags included) on the sturdiest paper you can. If printing on a deskjet printer, you can run basically anything and it'll print. Laser printers are a bit more picky. The sturdier, the better. You can send it to your local office supply store and ask to have it printed on a 110lb card stock.
To start off, let's go with the cookies shall we?
Make your 3 ingredient, chocolate dipped, shortbread cookies!
- 1½ cups salted butter, softened
- 1 cup confectioners sugar (icing sugar or powdered sugar)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- *If using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt. I also threw in a bit of vanilla
- 6 oz dark/semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.
- Blend butter until smooth in a large bowl using an electric mixer (I used my good old guns to get this work done! Good arm workout) set at medium speed. Slowly blend in the icing sugar (yes, slowly). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and combine thoroughly. Add flour and mix at low speed until well blended. Put in fridge for about 15-20min so that it's easier to roll.
- Roll out the dough on parchment paper so that it's about ¼ of an inch in thickness. Cut them into your tea bag shapes and with the blunt end of a skewer poke a hole on the top of the tea bag shape. To fit in the box, they should be max 2.5 x 2''. Place the parchment paper on your cookie sheet.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until just done (slightly golden in color). Do not let it get brown. Place cookie sheet on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
- While they're baking/cooling, get your dipping chocolate ready! (Try to refrain from eating all of it) Now you CAN melt it with your microwave (30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds, stir, etc. until fully melted), BUT I prefer to do a double boiler. Instructions HERE
- Remove cookies from pan and DIP AWAY. To go the extra mile, clean out your sprinkle cabinet! Lay on parchment or wire rack to let the chocolate harden. TADA!
There will definitely be extra cookie dough left over, so if you happen to sneak a few (or several) I won't tell anyone if you don't ;)
NOW ONTO THE BOX
CUT FOLD GLUE
I've included some step by step instructions to help you assemble the box on the template. And the tea tags are also in there so be aware of where you're cutting. They're kind of tucked in all over the place.
The bottom might get a little tricky to fold, but just think of it as the top of a cereal box. Then on the inside flaps, you might want to add glue to the borders of it instead of just in the circle. (My bad)
To add the tea tags, make a loop knot and pull it through the hole in the cookie, then glue the tag on with a little dot of glue. Little bit does the job.
Once everything is assembled, line the box with parchment paper to avoid those oil stains and place a sliver of the paper in between the cookies to avoid any sticking or melting of the chocolate bases.
Add your own special touch to this gift with flowers, cards or even something more creative. Something that only you can give her.
Let's show mom how loved she is.