How To Make A Heart Bookmark

or a whole bunch of them! After all, Valentine’s Day is coming.

These are simple enough that any child old enough to use scissors and a glue stick can make them. First, print out the pdf file on some white cover or card stock. (I used 60# acid-free cover.) You will have a sheet that looks like this:

I have provided multiples so that you can mix and match. There are even some blank  hearts so you can write your own message if you wish.

Cut out a large heart and a small heart. (If you are using one of the patterned hearts you may also need to cut a plain one in the same size to use as a guide.) Attach the small heart to the large one with some glue (or double sided tape) on the top .25 inch/.6 cm.

The area to glue is shown above, and should be from the pencil line (about the widest point) to the top of the small heart. Make sure you let the glue dry thoroughly before you try the new bookmark out on a book!

If you are feeling more ambitious, there are a number of websites with instructions for origami heart bookmarks. I tried two:

Instructions for the one on the lower left –mine is made with 4″/10 cm red foil origami paper– can be found here, and below is a video of folding the print heart –mine is made from a 2 1/4″/5.7 cm square cut from a page out of a discarded dictionary.

 

You may want to watch the video even if you only plan on making the first origami bookmark, as the demonstration of folding the top of the heart is clearer than the pictures in the first set of instructions.

If, on the other hand, you are not particularly ambitious, you can always try these:

The upper bookmark is simply a heart shape cut from the corner of a used envelope. (I got the idea here.) You could glue coloured paper or one of my hearts onto it, or decorate it with felt pens or coloured pencils. The lower bookmark is a diagonally cut-off corner of an envelope (1.25″/3.2 cm on the closed edges) with one of my little hearts glued onto it.

And now for something completely different …

If you would rather not make bookmarks and have a craving for something sweet for Valentine’s Day, I invented these recently: Cardamom Sweethearts. I was inspired by my grandmother’s Railway Cakes (leftover pie dough shaped like this

and filled with butter, sugar, and cinnamon) and Palmiers (picture from here).

Cardamom Sweethearts

Preheat oven to 425F/220C.

Ingredients:

Leftover or freshly made pie dough (you could use store-bought pre-made dough)

Creamed butter or butter/margarine mix

Cardamom sugar (1 part ground cardamom to 4 parts sugar)

Roll pastry out to 1/8 inch/.3 cm thick and about 6.25 inches/16 cm wide. (Yes, I own a kitchen ruler and yes, I trimmed the dough.) Coat generously with creamed butter. Sprinkle generously with cardamom sugar. Press sugar mix into butter as much as possible.

Roll edges almost to the middle, then cut and shape.

Place on a lined baking sheet, then bake on the middle rack in the pre-heated oven for 12 to 14 minutes until faintly brown on top.

Remove from pan immediately and cool upside down on a rack.

These may be eaten while still warm, though there is a risk of burning your mouth on very hot sugar if you don’t wait long enough. They will keep for several days in a cool, dry place – if they last that long.

Notes:

I use cardamom sugar because I am allergic to cinnamon. If you prefer cinnamon (or just can’t find or don’t like cardamom), the proportions should be 1 part cinnamon to 8 parts sugar.

My leftover pastry rolled out to about 12″/30.5 cm long. I mixed up 1 TBSP ground cardamom with 4 TBSP sugar, and made about 3 TBSP of butter/margarine mixture. I used about 3/4 of each on my pastry rectangle. It sounds like a lot but that’s why they are so good! (Leftover butter and cardamom sugar are excellent on toast.)

I cut 16 pieces from my roll (test piece –the most burnt one– eaten before photo of baked ones taken), and they were baked for 14 minutes. The upper ones –cut at close to .5″/1.25 cm– were starting to burn at the 14 minute baking time, while the thicker pieces were just done.

You could also try this shape with your favourite cinnamon roll recipe for Valentine’s Day brunch.

When I make these again, I will try to make more elongated shapes so that they are more like classic valentine hearts after baking.

I have no idea why my grandmother called her little pie dough pinwheels Railway Cakes.

 

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