What's Galentine's Day I hear you ask? Well, it's only the best day of the year!

If you haven’t heard of Galentine’s Day before then firstly you need to go and watch all of Parks and Recreation immediately. I’m not even joking, drop everything.

To quote the wonderful Leslie Knope aka Galentine’s Day creator, “Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home and just kick it breakfast style. Ladies celebrating ladies.”

Galentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to spend time appreciating your girl friends and having fun.

So this Galentine’s Day, Spotlight have shared three DIY gift projects so you can show your bestie that you think she’s awesome.

Sculpey Love Heart Earrings.

What you’ll need:

• Sculpey Clay Tool Starter Set 

• Sculpey III in White, Red and Ballerina

• Sculpey Bead Making Kit 

• Oven 

• Baking paper 

• Jewellery pliers 

• Ribtex Earring hooks 

• Ribtex Jump rings in 4mm & 7mm

Instructions:

Step 1 - Preparation is key, decide on the  colours and design you would like for your earrings so you know what you are working towards. 

Step 2 - To create marble effects, roll the white, red and pink colours into a long snake shape and then wrap/twist them around each other and then roll up into a ball. Continue mixing the colours until you are happy with the results. Then roll out flat to 2mm thick and cut out your love heart shapes from this. 

Step 3 - You can cut the clay free hand using the Sculpey cutting tools or for precision, use cutter tools. Don’t forget to create holes for the jump rings, we used a toothpick.  

Step 4 – Now it’s time to make some beads for the tops of the earrings. Follow the instructions in the bead making kit to create perfectly round beads in the colours of your choice to match your design, we chose  white. Then using the Sculpey tools carefully create a hole through the centre of the bead so it can be threaded onto the wire later. 

Step 5 - Once you’re done with your pieces, you’re ready to bake your Sculpey in the oven. For best results, preheat your oven for at least 15 minutes. We recommend baking a test piece first to ensure you know the optimal time for curing your clay as  every oven will heat differently. A good rule of thumb for curing Sculpey III clay is to bake at 130C for 15 minutes for every 6mm thickness. For our 2mm thickness, it will be about 5 minutes - do not leave longer than 9 minutes. 

Step 6 - Place the pieces between 2 sheets of baking paper and put in the oven. Keep a sharp eye on the pieces to ensure they’re not overbaked as this will cause yellowing  on the surface. They will harden as they cool so don’t be alarmed if they appear soft. 

Step 8 - Now using the pliers and jewellery accessories you can assemble your earrings. The possibilities are endless so let your creativity go wild and see what creations you come up with.

Rhinestone Phonecase.

What you’ll need: 

• Selection of Flat back Rhinestones (assorted colours and shapes) 

• E6000 Glue (certain glues may affect the finish of the rhinestone)  

• Phone Case (make sure to check what type of phone your gal has!)

Instructions:

Step 1 – Using your choice of rhinestones lay out a pattern on the back of the phone case. You can either create an all over pattern or  create a design. 

Step 2 – Start gluing rhinestones one by one into place on the phone case.

Handy Tip – Take a photo before gluing so you have a reference of your pattern/design. 

Step 3 – Allow glue to dry and place phone in case for use.

Galentine’s Day Cookies.

What you’ll need:

• Roberts no spread biscuit mix 

• White fondant 

• Gel food colourings  

• Edible decorations of your choice -  sprinkles, lustre dust, glitter 

• Fondant roller  

• Cookie and fondant cutters - we used Wilton heart cut outs 

• Small paint brushes

Instructions:

Step 1 - Prepare biscuit mix as per packet directions.  

Step 2 - Once biscuits are cool, roll out fondant and cut out using the same size cutter (or one size smaller).  

Step 3 - Affix the fondant to the cookie using a small amount of water on the back of the fondant.  

Step 4 - Place a drop of gel food colouring  in a small bowl with approximately 1  tablespoon of water. Mix until combined and repeat with chosen colours in separate bowls. 

Step 5 - Use a paint brush to lightly brush fondant with coloured water. Use paper towel to soak up any excess food colour that may pool at the sides of the fondant. Top with edible decorations and leave to dry for a couple of hours.  

All products are available from Spotlight.