Yes, this is my second baked goods post in a row; I’m not sure how to interpret that. This post could have gone on for pages, but I reigned it in to 10 of the sweetest confections to make on February 14th. In no particular order, here are my 10 favorite Valentines cookie treats!

{1} Conversation heart cookies had to make the list, but what took these beauties from Martha Stewart over the top were the sewn pouches.

{2} I love that these dot cookies from The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle are not red, white, and pink.

{3} Twice the love with these double-decker heart cookies from Bake at 350.

{4} I love the classic cookie and milk combo for sure, but the arrow straw? A genius confection and presentation by Cookies and Cups. (PS…if you want to try this, you can get these precious farmstand milk bottles at Shop Sweet Lulu.)

{5} You don’t need a special pan to make these heart-shaped whoopie pies by Annie’s Eats. Just trace a heart template onto wax paper and use a pastry bag pipe the dough within the pencil lines. So smart!

{6} This Hayley person is one talented chick! I love her color choices and the tone-on-tone “I Love You” cookies. Very chic. By Hayley Cakes and Cookies.

{7} Lovely cookie-lollipop combo by Martha Stewart.

{8} Love this stack of heart cookies by Patti Paige Baked Ideas.

{9} Need Valentine cookies for your manly man? These woodland ones from Whipped Bake Shop on Etsy are yours with the click of your mouse.

{10} Hugs and kisses or edible tic-tac-toe? These x and o cookies from Woman’s Day can go either way.

Eat your heart out, lovebirds (sorry, I just had to say it)!

My birthday is a week from today (no gifts please) and all I want this year is to bake a cake with my son Oliver. He loves to “help” in the kitchen and he’s recently been obsessed with the Birthday Cake episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (if you have a toddler and don’t know this PBS show, you must check it out). And then, of course, there’s the consuming of the cake.

Here’s a little wishful thinking…

Oh, if only a 2-year-old had the dexterity for a needlepoint cake! (If only I had that dexterity!)

Basically I wouldn’t be able to let the kid touch this gorgeous confection. By Kara’s Party Ideas.

This is closer to what I’m going to get…and what I’ll be totally thrilled with. We’ll see if Oliver has inherited his father’s color-palette-assembly talents. From Sprinkle Bakes.

Is every craft blogger in the Northeast blogging about snow crafts today? It’s so dang cold outside that it’s all I can think about!

My favorite part of this snowman craft is the plastic drink bottle cloche. So clever! You can find instructions at Crafts n Coffee.

Check out these adorable polar bears over at Parents.com. You can watch a how-to video here.

These flakes are cut from poster board, so they should be sturdy enough to last for a while. Definitely a project for an adult because of all the cutting, but how cool would they be floating in the playroom? Craft by Dana Made It.

The one thing that turns me off from making my own snowglobes is the baby oil element. I always make a mess, and the smell is not my fave. I love the simplicity and elegance of these liquid-less snowglobes by Sweet Something Design.

The one room I wish I had in my Brooklyn apartment is a playroom (I can say this because I already have a craft room). I would love to trick out a space with so much creative play, Oliver and Sommer’s brains would hurt from excess imagination.

Harry is one lucky kid with a mom that would would put this hardware store together for him for Christmas. By Kate’s Creative Space, Harry’s Hardware Gas & Auto covers all the pieces a hardware store needs. Seriously, just go to her blog to check out the details of this adorable tableau.

The potential with this DIY dollhouse from the Land of Nod blog, Honest to Nod, is huge. I love everything going on here from the colorful clouds, to the train-track walkway, to the bright wallpaper choices. Just darling.

My friend Jocelyn Worrall made this cardboard kitchen for Parents magazine a few years ago, and it’s still one of my faves. The oven dials are made from Play-doh lids. Enough said. Use cardboard boxes that you have, but if you want help finding free ones, click here.

These are genius, free printables from Kitschy Digitals that would go perfectly in the cardboard kitchen.

See what I mean? Now I’m really ready for my…I mean their…playroom.

If there were a step-by-step guide to teaching patience at the toddler level, I’d buy the DVD, the book, the book-on-tape, and subscribe to the Twitter feed, Facebook updates, and Instagram posts. But, no matter how hard we try, dinners out, and sometimes even dinners in, require a delicate time balance between the pre-food entertaintment, food arrival, waiting for food to cool down, and then the digestion/wait-for-the-check black hole. Potential solution? Placemat entertaintment.

I have this awesome set of paper placemats called Let’s Make Some Great Placemat Art. It’s imaginiative and open-ended, but still too advanced for my 2.5 year old.

I love this hand-drawn/digital take on placemat messages, but we are still in the letter recognition phase, rather than the letter creation one. Note to self: save for age 5. Or my next dinner party. Via Habitat Kid.

Alas, sometimes the right solution is the easiest one. Just toss down some brown paper and cups of crayons and let the madness take its course. I’ll do anything to avoid the dinnertime Mickey Mouse Clubhouse videos on You Tube. Photo via Country Living.