Valentine Love-mellows!

Modified these adorable treats from http://thedecoratedcookie.com/2011/02/marshmallow-love-bugs/ 

What I did different?  I tried to make them even more edible by making the antennae from pretzel sticks instead of raw spaghetti and the eyes out of available candy-eyes. I avoided using any type of food marker/coloring because my kids always tell me they have a bitter aftertaste. I used white chocolate to stick the eyes on which hardened almost instantly and made for perfect "glue".  I think if I didn't have access to the candy eyes, I would have used the white chocolate to "draw" some on.

Another thing I changed was that I topped the antennae with Twizzlers that I cut up into half inch pieces. They are hollow and fit perfectly onto the pretzel sticks!  You might have to split the pretzel sticks in half so they aren't absurdly long looking antennae.

I had some upside down mini muffin cups left over from the previous evening's Strawberry Love Bugs (also a brilliant Valentine idea from the Wing it Vegan blog @ http://wingitvegan.blogspot.com/2011/02/theyre-heeeere-vegantines-day.html ) so I decided to keep little hands un-sticky by using them as a skirt for the "Love-Mellows".

I will say, that although really simple, they are time consuming and so I wouldn't recommend them if you're looking for a quick treat for your kids classmates.  We had to make more than 60!  I did have my little elves split pretzel sticks and stick Twizzlers on so that saved a bunch of time!  If you have some elves that can help I highly recommend their assembly line services to speed up the whole thing and the fun factor!

Wrapped it all up using clear treat bags and ribbon and attached some cards that my kids made for the finish.  Who could resist these cuties?  Yum!