Valentine’s Pop Tarts That Even a 5 Year Old Can Make

pop tarts, how to make pop tarts, heart shaped pop tarts, valentines dessert ideaI heart Valentine’s as a mom.  Making memories with my little one is one of my favorite mommy responsibilities.  And I use every holiday season to do just that.  For Valentine’s, we pick out mommy and me matching outfits, we decorate, we host Galentine’s parties, and bake fun treats together.  And every year, I like to mix it up and do something a little different.  This year, our Valentine’s inspired baking session involved heart-shaped, homemade pop tarts.  And they were so easy to make that even my 5 year old could make it!

Here are the 5 easy steps so you can try this at home too:

  1.  Prepare the dough (while your oven is preheating at 350 degrees).  We saved time and cheated by buying a frozen pie crust dough.  It had 2 rolls which made us 7 pop tarts.  Tada, that was easy!  Just pop it in the microwave for 40 seconds, unroll and carve your favorite shape or use a cookie cutter like the heart one we used.  Click here to buy a cutter like ours.  It’s great not only for these pop tarts but also heart-shaped sandwiches, pancakes, and cookies too! 
  2. Make the filling and swipe it on one side.  Fillings can be pretty much anything you want.  We used a mix of nutella and rasberry jam but any jam, any chocolate filling, a mix of nutella and peanut butter, or brown sugar + cinnamon and flour would be great! Mix in a bowl and spread it on evenly leaving the perimeter clear for sealing. 
  3. Place a plain cover on top and fork the edges around a cm in height.  This will seal the two sides together.  Because some of our covers cracked and had filling seap through, my daughter thought up the brilliant idea to add extra dough to the top in the formation of a face.  We had so much fun making and adding silly faces if you can’t tell!
  4. Whisk an egg to create a quick egg wash to paint over the cover and allow sprinkles to stick on top.  We added clear/white sugar crystals but you could add any Valentine’s colored sprinkles on top. 
  5. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. If you plan to ice the pastries, cool them completely before doing so. Store pastries in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.  Share with a Valentine and enjoy!!  Pictured below is the Valentine’s pop tart we created last year in the traditional rectangular shape with a heart cutout of the top! valentine's day treats, valentine's party ideas, valentines food, valentines pop tarts, pop tart recipe, homemade pop tart

 

How to Get Instagramable photos

Capturing coveted Instagramable photos has shot to a new level of importance.  It’s no longer enough to just snap a quick shot for your own memory.   Secretly, you want to take a shot worthy of showing off through social media!  Whether it’s that cool new find, place or happening, or heck, simply our outfit of the day nowadays, you snap and share!  Here are my 3 top tips for getting that Instagramable photo and guess what….it all has to do with the styling!  So don’t worry about this getting too technical with photography tips.  There are plenty of other articles on general photography how – tos.  These are easy-to-apply styling and fashion tips to take your photography to the next viral level.

Find photogenic backdrops that compliment your outfit.  Consider your backdrop ‘cuz your cluttered room isn’t cutting it.   I usually favor a real simple white or plain colored wall to make my OOTD shot really pop. mommy ad me matching outfit, minime, fashionable mom, fab mom But I also really love a stunning graffiti wall,

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a cityscape,fab moms, cherry blossom photo, sakura, cherry blossom festival

and a beautiful nature scene.
DSC_8510What I also seek out is modern art.  As soon as I saw this stunningly lit artwork pop up in my feed, I was inspired to take J there in her favorite outfit of all time – her Elsa costume.

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As if she read my mind, the minute she saw the art piece, she knew exactly how to pose with it.  Transforming herself into Elsa, and pretending the room was her ice castle, she immediately went to work with her wand.  Preparing the perfect outfit with this shot in mind created the wow factor I was looking for.

Similarly, the below shot was staged with an enormous star (from the FrankStella collection) to echo the sparkly star-like swirls on her dress.

5.30-002

And the Gagosian Gallery called my name with this awww-inspiring bow.  I just had to take J there dressed in her favorite Janie and Jack bow sweater and Amour Bows headband.  I like big bows and I cannot lie….5.16

Sometimes all it takes is a little research, outfit planning and prop preparation.  Before heading to your next cool destination, research it, check out the hashtags.  Perhaps you’ll re-think that outfit which you now know clashes with the background, or maybe you’ll be inspired to create a special outfit customized for the destination or want to bring a prop to pose with.  Check out what others have photographed through location geo -tags and destination hashtags.  And you’re bound to find additional motivation to get the shot right!

I hope some of my photos inspire you to take a moment to reflect on elevating your next shot.  For my personal inspiration, I like to follow the following IG feeds!

  • fomofeed (for the coolest, local NYC backdrops and art)
  • artfullyawear (you think I like to match art? wait til you see THIS!)
  • dressedtomatch (when life imitates art)  Tag them in your matching art photo and you’ll get featured like we did!

Have a great day and happy photographing!  Comment below with your favorite Instagram feeds that you like to follow for inspiration!

 

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