Well, it was possible to make the valentine jello. Watermelon flavor is a light pink, so that worked out splendidly as the background color. In case I decide to do this again next year, this will be a picture-heavy post to help me remember.
Dear Future Lauren: You bought:
8 boxes of watermelon (all boxes were 3 ounces)
3 boxes of black cherry
3 boxes of grape
4 cheap-o aluminum pans. They are probably in the basement in the valentine box so you can reuse them.
Lightly spray two of the pans with cooking spray, then wipe them down so they’re not super-greasy.
Mix up the cherry, then the grape, according to the directions for Jello Jigglers. Pour into their respective pans then go about your day for a couple of hours.
Spray the two other pans and get out the set Jello. Run a knife around the edge, put a piece of waxed paper over the top, then flip! (The pan, not you.)
Start cutting out hearts, then loudly say how much fun it is so that Lloyd will come over and want to try. He is so easy. What a Tom Sawyer moment you’ve just had!
After he’s cut them all out, tell him he can eat the scraps. Laugh when he says, “Why was I being so careful then?”
Scatter the hearts on the pans, then repeat wtih the other pan of Jello.
(Note: Black cherry is plenty red, and grape didn’t get very purple-y despite 10 drops of blue food coloring. Also, you could sub out one of the boxes of Jello for some unflavored Knox, because this was sa-wheeeet!!)
Ok, now stick them in the freezer while you mix up the watermelon Jello. Do this in two batches – 4 boxes at once – then let it cool down on the counter. (If you pour it when it’s hot it will melt the hearts.)
Um, maybe you should set some sort of timer so this doesn’t happen again.
Whatever. Pour the room-temperature Jello into the pan while it’s in the fridge. You don’t want to be carrying a flimsy pan of liquid over to the fridge!
Do the same with the other one, eh?
Triumph! When it’s set, put some waxed paper over it so it doesn’t get all rubbery.
Ain’t it pretty?
Brad says
Ha! That’s awesome! Is there anything Jello cannot do?
Beth says
Beeeeautiful!!
Happy Heart Day!
Annette says
It just makes me want to jiggle…remnents of the Elvis experience I guess!
Peggy says
Hehe…you funny!
And that is quite impressive Lauren!! Fantasic! The kids are going to love them!
(speaking of watermelons, have you seen the square ones Japan is growing: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1390088.stm
Kristi says
Wow! That’s a lotta love going into that project.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Gretchen says
Sing with me!
Watch it wiggle, see it jiggle,
cool and fruity, it’s Jell-o brand gelatin!
Of all desserts you’ll love the one
that tastes so good and makes such fun,
make Jell-o gelatin and make some fun!
J-E-LL-O!
Beth says
I never knew all the words to that song…I always sang:
…
Of all desserts you love to munch
tastes so good you’ll have a bunch
And then I stopped and hummed untill J-E-LL-O, because I didn’t know the rest.
But clearly I should have stopped singing two lines before because I didn’t know those words either!
Amy says
WOW!! That’s really cool! 🙂
Lauren says
After the fact, I’ll need to update this. Making so much extra jello for the hearts wasn’t really necessary. I think using just cherry or strawberry would be enough contrast with the watermelon. Also, I cut each pan into 24 squares, and instead of scattering the hearts about, I think I would arrange them so that each square had one heart.
(It was pretty funny watching some of the kids ‘pick out’ the hearts, though. They had a bunch of fun.)
Amy says
I like that idea 😉
Lauren's dad says
No heart for hearts?
bekahcubed says
That is a FANTASTIC idea. I’m totally gonna steal it (except now I have to think up an opportunity to use it, not being a preschool teacher.)