The idea certainly started with the box – I could not find a large, beautiful, heart-shaped box anywhere. My daughter, Alexis, who packages all her baked goods and homemade candies, told me that she, too, could not locate oversize heart-shaped boxes for Valentine’s Day presents of sweets.
We searched the Internet and went to every candy store. It actually took a trip to Turin, Italy, before suitable boxes were found, but they were so expensive and fragile that I left them there reluctantly.
I guess I should tell you why I needed heart-shaped boxes. Valentine’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. It’s romantic, cute and pink, and everything associated with it evokes love and passion and all things pretty and lacy for me. It always has, and as a child, I would labor over elaborate doily cards with silly messages (“Be mine” or “Kisses”), which I would then send or deliver to all the boys I cared about.
Even as I grew older, the homemade always took precedence over the store bought. The cookies and candies and hand-knit scarves, and even the argyle socks I made one year, all needed appropriate boxes and wrappings and trimmings and ribbons.
The giant sweets box was actually a figment of my imagination until I saw a store-bought version that Alexis gave to our friend Kevin Sharkey one year. It was so large that it had to be hand-delivered and carried to him on a dolly. He loved it and what he found inside (chocolates) and I decided then and there to figure out how to make a large, flat, heart-shaped box.
The many unusual, patterned paper baking and candy cups were discovered later, and the colors and trimmings were chosen to go with the contents. And the contents were selected from all of my favorite bakeries, confectioners and chocolatiers. When traveling, I visit every recommended candy store, choosing chocolates and candies that I know will make the best assortment for each of several boxes for my special men.
I included candied and sugared fruits, chocolates and truffles of every imaginable kind (dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate), tuiles, jelly beans, shortbreads and macaroons.
I had a phenomenal array of beautifully colored and flavored sugar candies from an exquisite, historic store in Turin called Stratta, which has been in business since 1836. The traditional hard candies are bright and small, made with herbs and ingredients such as “liquiviola” (violet and licorice), “rosolio” (rose), “lavanda” (lavender), “cumino” (cumin), “cannella” (cinnamon) and “liquirosa” (rose and red wine). Anyone who receives a box filled with these special items will love it!
When it comes to chocolate, we all know how popular this confection is and how complex the flavors can be – chocolate with toffee, with cream, with mint, with coconut, even sprinkled with sea salt crystals. A box filled with assorted flavors and sizes and shapes is not only wonderful to look at, but a fine, tasty treat as well.
Candy box how-to
Archival mat board is white on one side and colored on the other. It’s available in many hues; you’ll find it in sheets at art-supply stores. We assembled our boxes white-side out, but you can do the reverse. Visit marthastewart.com/living for the heart templates and details on how to decorate the finished boxes.
1. Using a pencil, ruler and utility knife, cut four 1-inch-wide strips of archival mat board the length of the board. Download and print templates for base and lid from our Web site, enlarging as indicated in the instructions. Cut out template shapes from archival mat board.
2. Place base, bottom down, on a flat surface. Working in small sections and starting at heart’s inner point, affix a mat board strip perpendicular to base (forming one side of the heart-shaped box) with strong, fast-drying craft glue. Hold in place as sections dry, about 20 seconds. Continue until you reach bottom point.
Rest base on its side, and trim strip excess; work carefully so ends will match up neatly. Repeat to attach second strip. Repeat to add sides to lid.
3. If you wish to add scallop-edged overlays for the box’s top and bottom, use a pencil to trace the lid onto 100-percent-cotton Bristol board. Draw a second heart around outline, 1/2-inch larger all around. With scallop scissors, cut along second heart. Erase pencil marks. Repeat, tracing lid again, for second overlay.
Spread a thin layer of white craft glue over top of lid. Center lid over overlay; press in place. Repeat for base.
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