6 Guinness World Records That Will Inspire You to Think Big on Valentine's Day!

Photos and world record information provided by Bender Helper Impact on behalf of Guinness World Records.  No compensation was received for sharing these fun facts with my readers.

Now that Valentine's Day has arrived, do you feel like you settled for giving the same old box of candy and flowers because you just weren't feeling inspired?  Well, here are some fun Guinness World Records that may spark some ideas for some grand romantic gestures for many Valentine's Days to come.

1. Largest Chocolate Truffle - The largest chocolate truffle weighted 1,768 lb 11 oz and was achieved by Mirco Della Vecchia, Andrea Andrighetti, Rimini Fiera, Fabbri 1905, Icam and Martellato (all Italy) at the Sigep Fair in Rimini, Italy on January 21, 2012.

2. Largest Box Of Chocolate - The largest box of chocolates is a Thorntons Moments box weighing 3,725 lbs. It was produced by Thorntons and Russell Beck Studios, and weighed in Bethnal Green, London, UK, on 2 April 2, 2008.The box was 16 ft 6 in long, 11 ft 2 in wide and 3 ft 3 1/2 in deep.

3. Largest Collection Of Teddy Bears - Jackie Miley (USA) had 7,106 different teddy bears, as of March 11, 2011, which she has been collecting since 2002. When Jackie began the collection in 2002, she had no idea things would turn out as they have. When the collection grew, she thought she would like to collect as many teddy bears as Hill City’s population (780) for a goal. Since then her collection has grown to such an extent that she now has them in a little house of their own called Teddy Bear Town. It is located across the street from her apartment.

4. Largest Underwater Wedding - The largest underwater wedding was achieved by 303 divers who attended the marriage ceremony between Ewa Staronska and Pawel Burkowski (both Poland) during an event organised by Orka Group Ltd (Poland) at the Koparki Diving Base, Jaworzno, Poland, on August 27, 2011.

5. Longest Marriage - Herbert Fisher (USA, b. 10 June 1905) and Zelmyra Fisher (USA, b. 10 December 1907) were married on May 13, 1924 in North Carolina, USA. They had been married 86 years, 9 months, and 16 days as of February 27, 2011. Herbert Fisher sadly died on Sunday February 27, 2011. The couple had 5 children.

6. Longest Kiss - The longest kiss lasted 58 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds and was achieved by Ekkachai Tiranarat and Laksana Tiranarat (both Thailand) at an event organized by Ripley's Believe It or Not! Pattaya, in Pattaya, Thailand, on February 12-14 2013. Nine couples entered the annual competition, including a married couple in their 70s. However, it was previous record holders Ekkachai Tiranarat and Laksana Tiranarat who came out on top, scooping a cash prize and two diamond rings as well as another Guinness World records title.

What world record would you want to try to break?  For more ideas, visit www.guinnessworldrecords.com.

Ad: How to Have a Fun & Easy 2-Step Dipping Valentine's Day Family Meal . . . Double-Dipping Required! #LuvTyson

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This #LuvTyson Chicken Tenders shop has been compensated as part of a Valentine's Day social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.  All opinions expressed are my own.

My husband and I have a date night about once a year and it rarely falls on Valentine's Day.  That is the one day of the year when most of the adults whom we trust to watch our children have their own big plans.  If this happens to you as well, why not make the most of it by have a fun Valentine's Day family meal?  (Romantic candlelight dinners are overrated.)  Since I only do "easy" when it comes to meals, let me show you how simple it would be to create a special kid-friendly dinner for Valentine's Day!  First, you'll need a food that all your children love.  In our case, this would be chicken tenders.

You may think that chicken tenders are just an everyday food, but it transforms into something fun when you introduce the concept of 2-step dipping . . .

"2-Step Dipping" is when you dip your chicken tender into a sweet or tangy sauce and then dip it a second time into something crunchy and savory!

Our Valentine's Day family meal had 6 components . . . 

• Chicken tenders plus 3 sweet/tangy dips and 3 crunchy/savory dips
• Cheese and crackers with heart-shaped pepperonis (cut with kitchen shears)
• Valentine's Day themed plates and napkins
• Chocolate roses
• A red drink (ours was 70% lemon-lime soda & 30% pomegranate cranberry juice)
• Valentine's Day cookies

I found everything I needed at Walmart, including the disposable dipping cups with lids, Valentine's Day stickers (for just $1), 12" paper doilies, chocolate roses ($1 each), everything we needed for dipping, the ingredients for our red drink and our own special dipping sauce, Valentine's Day Peanut M&Ms for our cookies, and of course the Tyson Original Batter Dipped Chicken Breast Tenders.

Be sure to look for a coupon in your February 9th Sunday morning paper for Tyson Batter Dipped Tenders!

There were several things to prepare, but most of them were quite easy.  Our 7 year old daughter was able to help with some of the prep work, such as placing the Valentine's Day stickers on the dipping cups, filling the dipping cups with some of the sauces, and placing the lids on the cups.  We had some stickers leftover, so we wrapped the chocolate roses in a Valentine's Day napkins and secured them with napkin rings we made with the stickers and wide curling ribbon.

For the 2-step dipping, we used two sauces that we have enjoyed dipping other things into in the past.  Then we made a 3rd dipping sauce of our own.  We also crushed 3 of our favorite savory snacks.  What we ended up using for dips were . . .

• Wise Onion Rings (crushed)
• Barbecue corn chips (crushed)
• Cashews (crushed)
• Honey
• Cocktail Sauce
• Soy Honey Lime Sauce (Recipe below)

RECIPE:  Soy Honey Lime Dipping Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup low sodium soy sauce

2 to 3 Tbsp honey

1 tsp lime juice

Step 1.  Pour soy sauce into a small mixing bowl.

Step 2.  Add lime juice, blending it into the soy sauce.

Step 3.  Add honey one tablespoon at a time, stirring to completely dissolve the honey in the soy sauce before adding the next spoonful.  (Taste the sauce before you add more honey.)

I have to say that our children had a blast with the 2-step dipping!  Since they each had their own set of dips, they could experiment with various combinations.  Some of the favorites were the cocktail sauce or the honey with the crushed barbecue corn chips.  Our Soy Honey Lime Sauce tasted great with the chicken tenders, but the solid dipping ingredients did not adhere to it as easily as they did to the honey and cocktail sauce.

Now I want to know what ingredients you would use for your 2-step dipping family meal!

Sandwich Cutters Make Great Cookie Cutters!

Since my days are usually quite busy, I actually had to schedule in time to bake cookies for Valentine's Day.  Monday was a snow day, so I thought it would be the perfect time to make sugar cookies for the children to decorate.  I blocked off the time between 3:00pm and 5:00pm to bake these cookies, so that they would be cool enough to decorate either before or after dinner.

Come 3 o'clock, I started to get everything ready.  I had the refrigerated cookie dough, 2 cans of frosting, pink and white sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, and 3 anxious children.  The only thing I could not find were the cookie cutters.  My cousin had given me a huge tub of cookie cutters that covered every occasion.  I remember giving the tub to my husband to store away for me since I did not have room in the kitchen cabinets, but I could not recall where he ended up putting them.  By now, the time was ticking away.

Then I saw my heart and bear-shaped sandwich cutters sitting in the drying rack and thought to myself, "Why not?"  The heart sandwich cutter turned out to work great!  From now on, I'm just going to buy sandwich cutters since they are the perfect size for sandwiches and cookies.  Why spend the extra money on cookie cutters, when sandwich cutters can do both jobs?

No, I didn't have time to try out the teddy bear sandwich cutter, but definitely will next time.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

"Safe Haven" . . . Your Next Date Night Movie Opens on February 14th

I recently shared with you the Safe Haven trailer, a romantic thriller that opens on Valentine's Day.  That seemed so far away at the time, but now it is just around the corner.  If you have not yet settled your date night plans, how about dinner at your favorite restaurant followed by the movie Safe Haven?  You can never go wrong with a casual, low-key evening.  Plus who can resist Josh Duhamel's smile?


More about the film . . . 

Safe Haven starring Josh Duhamel, Julianne Hough, David Lyons & Cobie Smulders.

"An affirming and suspenseful story about a young woman’s struggle to love again, Safe Haven is based on the novel from Nicholas Sparks, the best-selling author behind the hit films The Notebook and Dear John. When a mysterious young woman arrives in a small North Carolina town, her reluctance to join the tight knit community raises questions about her past. Slowly, she begins putting down roots, and gains the courage to start a relationship with Alex, a widowed store owner with two young children. But dark secrets intrude on her new life with such terror that she is forced to rediscover the meaning of sacrifice and rely on the power of love in this deeply moving romantic thriller."

For more information on SAFE HAVEN . . .

Like Safe Haven on Facebook
Follow @SafeHavenMovie on Twitter #SafeHaven
Watch the trailer & clips on YouTube
Find Safe Haven on Instagram & Pinterest too!


Thank you to Relativity Media for providing the prize pack for this contest and for sending me one as well as a thank you for taking the time to participate in this campaign.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

"Safe Haven" . . . This Romantic Thriller Opens in Theaters on Valentine's Day 2013

Do your Valentine's date night plans include dinner and a movie?  What better type of movie to see on Valentine's Day than a romantic, but suspenseful film?  Take a look at the Safe Haven trailer to see if you agree!  This movie will be coming to theaters on February 14th!

This film is based on the highly-rated novel Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks, the author of The Notebook.


More about this film . . .

Starring Josh Duhamel, Julianne Hough, David Lyons, Cobie Smulders
Directed By Lasse Hallström
Written By Dana Stevens, Gage Lansky
Produced By Ryan Kavanaugh, Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Nicholas Sparks, Tucker Tooley

For more information on SAFE HAVEN . . .

Like Safe Haven on Facebook
Follow @SafeHavenMovie on Twitter #SafeHaven
Watch the trailer & clips on YouTube
Find Safe Haven on Instagram & Pinterest too!

Watch for a giveaway coming next week for 3G2S readers!  The prize will be a $25 Visa gift card to help fund your date night plus a copy of the novel Safe Haven.


I received a promotional item as a thank you for taking the time to share this film with my readers.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Easy Recipe: Hugs & Kisses Mini Pies

I made these little pies over the holidays after being inspired by Jenny's Kiss Pies on the Picky Palate blog.  The few things I had changed about the recipe are that mine use both Hershey's Hugs and Hershey's Kisses, I used a different brand of refrigerated pie crust, and I tried to raise the seams on top of my mini pies to make them resemble stars . . . not sure if I succeeded there though.  Regardless, they seemed to be a big hit at Christmas dinner, so I thought they might be suitable for a Valentine's Day dessert as well because of the hugs and kisses theme.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Recipe:  Hugs & Kisses Mini Pies

INGREDIENTS:

1 package of two refrigerated pie crusts

12 Hershey's Kisses (unwrapped)

12 Hershey's Hugs (unwrapped)

1 egg

1 Tbsp water
granulated white sugar

powdered sugar
nonstick cooking spray

Step 1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2.  Unroll one room temperature pie crust on a large piece of wax paper.  Cut out a dozen 3" circles using a cookie cutter, glass, or an egg poacher like I did.  You will need to combine and roll out the scraps of dough to make the last 2 or 3 circles.

Step 3.  Place a single Hershey's Hugs or Hershey's Kisses in the center of each circle.  Then wrap two sides of the dough up and around the candy, pinching the two edges together.  Repeat this with the remaining two sides.  Then seal in the candy by pinching all the seams together.  Place the formed mini pie on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil sprayed lightly with cooking spray.

Step 4.  Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the second refrigerated pie crust.

Step 5.  Separate the egg white from the yolk.  Discard the yolk and whisk together the egg white with a tablespoon of water.

Step 6.  Lightly brush the top of each mini pie with the egg wash.

Step 7.  Lightly sprinkle granulated white sugar on each mini pie.

Step 8.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the crust has browned to your taste.  Once they start to brown, you should watch them carefully because they go from a little brown to very brown quite quickly.

Step 9.  After the mini pies are completely cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.  I used a mini spoon-size strainer, but you can use a sifter also.

For a large party, I doubled this recipe to create 48 mini pies.  Because of the raised seams, these browned more quickly on top than Jenny's original Kiss Pies.  Like I said, they were a huge hit.  They are very tasty and I do think people feel less guilty to indulge in a miniature pie than to take part in full-size servings of pies, cakes, and cookies.


All ingredients for this recipe were purchased with our own funds and no compensation was received for sharing this recipe with our readers.

Free Printables: Valentine's Day Word Searches (3 Difficulty Levels)

Valentine's day is only one week away.  I really meant to share these Valentine's Day word searches a couple of weeks ago, but I was sick for almost a whole week and am just getting caught up.

Like all the other word search puzzles I share, these have 3 levels of difficulty . . . one for grade school-aged children, one for Pre-K through 1st grade, and one for preschoolers where the first letter of each word has been highlighted.  All puzzles have an answer key that you can either print or just save to your computer for reference.  As always, these puzzles are free to print.

TO PRINT:  Make sure your computer's printer is on and ready to go.  Click on the desired image to enlarge.  Then right-click on the image and select print.

Grade School Level

Preschool to 1st Grade Level

Look for more puzzles to come.  The next one will most likely have the theme of Springtime.  If you are looking for a specific theme, feel free to request one by leaving a comment or using my contact form.  If it is one I think my readers would enjoy, I would be happy to create word searches in that theme and share them on 3G2S.

Click here for more Word Searches

Ruby Tuesday: A Handmade Valentine

Look at what our 7 year old son made for my husband and myself in honor of Valentine's Day!  This was an art class project.  He is so proud of this hand crafted card and rightly so.  I think he did an excellent job.  This is definitely one that will go in my keepsake box.

If you'd like to see more Ruby Tuesday photos, go visit Mary at Work of the Poet!

Creating With Colors: How to Make an Easy Hanging Mailbox

For the last two years, every time Valentine's Day grows near, I always think to myself, "Wouldn't it be fun if we made mailboxes for the kids, not just for Valentine's Day, but to exchange letters and drawings all year round?"  Well, this year we finally did it!  I had to simplify my idea to make the craft suitable for preschoolers, as well as our 7 year old.  So, I gave up on the idea of creating a mailbox with a slot and a lid.  What we ended up doing was much easier, mess-free, and worked out very well functionally.


Today's Project:  Easy Hanging Mailbox

Ask your child to create a happy receptacle to receive mail from other members of the family that can be hung a on a wall, a door knob, a wooden peg, or the back of a chair.


Supplies Needed:

1)  An expandable hanging file pocket (made of vinyl or sturdy paper)
2)  Coordinating ribbon (3/8" to 7/8" wide)
3)  Alphabet stickers
4)  Themed or decorative stickers
5)  Scissors

Step 1.  Determine which side of your hanging file pocket should be the front and which should be the back.


Step 2.  Based on where you intend to hang your mailbox, determine how long you need your ribbon to be, then add 5 to 6 inches onto that length.


Step 3.  Cut the appropriate length of ribbon and tie each end onto the metal hangers that protrude from the sides of the file.  Do this on the two attached to the backside of your mailbox only.  Double knot your ribbon, leaving a tail of 1-1/2 to 2 inches.

Tip #1:  For a nice finishing touch, cut the ends of your ribbon either at a slant or in a dovetail.

(Click any image to enlarge)

Step 4.  Have your child spell out his or her name on the front of the mailbox at the center using the alphabet stickers.  (Younger children may need assistance with this.)

Tip #2:  To make the mailbox seem more official, we opted to add the child's last initial as well.

Step 5.  Then ask your child to decorate the front of the mailbox with themed or decorative stickers, using as many or as little stickers as he or she would like.

Tip #3:  Suggest to your child to leave some blank space around his or her name to make it easier to read.


Here are the results of our project . . .

Since we had 3 mailboxes to display, we opted to hang ours on the back of our Angeles Baseline Chairs, which sit around our square table.  It worked out really well for us because the mailboxes take up no extra space at all.  So far I am the only one who has written letters to put in these fun new mailboxes, so I am going to have to try harder to encourage the children to write or draw pictures for each other.  I think this will be a great tool to increase interest in both reading and writing for all three children.