Nothing says loved-filled gifts like DIY (Do It Yourself) candy boxes made for family and friends on those special ocassions. The best thing about them are the fact they are both one of a kind and cost effective. First off, no need to spend $10 on a pre-blank paper mache heart box at arts and crafts stores or online, 12-inch heart shaped boxes are everywhere around Valentine’s Day season for $1 each. After emptying the boxes of their previous content, the boxes are ready for a makeover.

The materials necessary for the box makeovers are everyday items like scissors, colored craft paper of choice, glue stick, a pencil, non-toxic acrylic paint, and a small paint brush.

Second, paint over the heart shaped boxes using the small brush with the acrylic paint color of your choice. Paint the boxes inside and out, including the lids, with as many coats of paint as necessary until the boxes’ color transformation is complete. Once done, trace the heart shaped box onto the craft paper with the pencil and glue the craft paper onto the top lid (and bottom lid if applicable). Meanwhile, the candy boxes are left to dry completely, you can choose to home bake some of those inside candy box treats.

If choosing to make chocolate truffles, the ingredients are the following: 2 ½ cups of crushed cereal (of your choice), one 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk, one 7oz can of marshmallow cream, two 12oz bags of white chocolate baking bits, food coloring gel, and sprinkles for coating. Lay a piece of parchment paper inside a loaf pan. Place one bag of your white chocolate bits (12oz) inside your pan. Place the pan in the microwave for a set of 30 second intervals, each time stirring the pan, until the chocolate is fully melted. Inside a mixing bowl blend the melted chocolate, crushed cereal, condensed milk, and marshmallow cream. After blending, pour the mix back into loaf pan. Allow the mixture to become a little hard by placing it inside the freezer for about 3 hours. Once cooled, use a tablespoon to scoop out the chocolate and roll them into box sized truffle balls. Using a cookie sheet this time, line the chocolate balls onto the parchment paper and put back into the refrigerator for another 3 hours. Meanwhile, take the second bag of white chocolate bits (12oz) and melt the chocolate into the cleaned loaf pan lined with parchment paper as before. Once the white chocolate has melted, use the food coloring gel to turn the melted chocolate into any color of your choosing.

Take out the chocolate balls and dip them inside the new melted chocolate one by one, until each is fully coated. Place each chocolate truffle onto the cookie sheet, and there you can choose to add sprinkles to the chocolate balls. Afterwards, you can let them cool of by placing them back into the refrigerator. The treats are now fully complete, so you can finish the candy gift boxes by placing the chocolate truffles into the DIY gift boxes. You can use crepe paper for the chocolate truffle holders.