All lined up baking...just don't try the big ones with the sucker sticks...they don't work!

My many boxes of candy canes that I started out with.

Have a heart for Haiti

I know I have seen this idea before. Maybe in a Family Fun magazine? I don't remember. What I do know, is that I love a good after Christmas sale and what I love even more is when you can buy something on an after Christmas sale and then use it after Christmas! I picked up a dozen or so boxes of candy canes after Christmas for a quarter a box in the hopes of making valentines out of them for one of the kids classes. While teaching Sunday school this past week a few of our girls were excited to do a bake sale this coming weekend at church in order to raise money to donate to the Haiti relief efforts. I thought these would candy cane hearts would be a perfect addition to their bake sale.

They are pretty simple to make, however, if I were to do it again, I would have choosen the smaller candy canes since they aren't in individual shrink wrap. Taking the candy canes out of their wrappers took FOREVER! In mid January though, beggers can't be choosers so I went with what was out there. I also tried to put a lollipop stick through them (again, it would work better on the smaller canes) with no luck, they are just too top heavy.

Here's what you need to do: unwrap your candy canes and pre-heat your over to 300 degrees F. Place your candy canes on wax paper or a silpat liner (love mine! I feel like Martha Stewart everytime I use it!) in a heart shape (however, it doesn't really matter because they don't melt together) and bake for about 5 minutes. Take out of the oven and squeeze/pinch the ends together. This WILL burn your fingers. I didn't come up with any other method that didn't so until I hear otherwise, it's the only way I know how. Let sit for a few minutes to cool and then place them in your decorative bag and viola! You are done!