Allergic Living » valentine’s day

Valentine’s Day Fun – Without Food

Susan Clemens — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 15:56:04 +0000

For food-allergic kids, Valentine’s can feel like a minefield of forbidden chocolate. But now they can get their hearts into the day too – with Allergic Living’s creative crafts.

Is Valentine’s Day is all about chocolates and candy? No! Valentine’s Day is about expressing your affection for others. What better way that to create something far more personal than a store-bought goodie?

Just let your imagination go. So gather up those craft supplies, like ribbons and wadded up tissue paper, and pull out your cookie cutters. There’s no telling what you might make.

My daughter and I spent a wonderful few hours creating the following. We hope they will inspire your own creations.

Heart-Shaped Crayons

Materials
- wax crayons
- muffin tin or silicone pan

Preheat the oven to 270° F
Break up crayons into small pieces about ½-inch in length or smaller and place pieces in a heart-shaped muffin tin or silicone pan.
Put the tin into the oven for 7-8 minutes until the wax has melted. Be careful!
Remove and let cool completely before taking the crayon hearts out of the pan.

Tip: If you use bright-colored crayons, you will end up with sensational-looking hearts to give to friends.

Heart People

Materials
- scissors
- heart-shaped cookie cutters
- glue
- craft foam
- 8 ½ x 11-inch paper
- googly eyes

Using various sizes of cookie cutters, create your people by cutting several different sized hearts out of craft foam. Glue a medium-sized one onto a larger one to create a frame effect.
To create the arms and legs, cut 8 strips of 8 ½ x 11-inch paper lengthwise. You’ll need two strips per arm or leg.
Apply glue to a small section of the end of one strip of paper and attach another strip in a right angle position to form an “L” shape. Fold the first strip over the second; the second over the first and so on so that you end up with a stack of accordion-like squares.
Finish each of the arms and legs by gluing a small heart-shaped foam piece to the bottom.
Add glue to the top of 2 legs and attach them to the bottom of the heart. Do the same for the arms, attaching them to the towards the middle of the heart.
Googly eyes and a smile complete the look.

Love Bug

Materials
- glue
- toilet paper tube
- red or pink tissue paper
- googly eyes
- craft foam
- party picks
- paper (for banner)

Cover a toilet paper tube with red or pink tissue paper. Now glue on some googly eyes.
Use craft foam to create wings that can be glued onto the back of the roll.
Antennae can be made from party picks.
Add a banner with a sweet or funny Valentine’s message.

Tissue Paper Heart

Materials
- scissors
- heart-shaped cookie cutter
- white glue
- pencil
- cardstock paper
- tissue paper (various colors)

Trace around a heart-shaped cookie cutter on cardstock paper and then cut out the heart.
Get tissue paper of various colors and cut into 1-inch squares.
Now place the point of a pencil into the center of your first tissue paper square and twist the tissue paper around it. Dip the point of the tissue paper/pencil into some white glue and press it gently onto the cardstock heart.
Remove the pencil and repeat until the entire shape is covered with tissue.

Next: More great craft ideas

Valentine’s Day: The Allergy-Friendly Candy List

Jenny Kales — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:16:34 +0000

Here’s some sweet news for all you last-minute Valentine’s Day shoppers: Supermarket and drugstore seasonal candy finds are becoming more and more allergy-friendly and gluten aware. We found several options right in the local aisles.

Updated for 2013 with files from Erin Stevenson, Website Coordinator

Available in the United States and Canada

• Double your love this Valentine’s Day by giving Divvies’ Two Hearts. These gourmet chocolate hearts can be enjoyed solo or shared with someone special. Contain soy. Available at Whole Foods locations in the U.S. and Canada. For more stores visit www.divvies.com.

• Allergy-friendly candy company Gimbal’s offers Cherry Lovers fruit chews, in charming heart shapes and made with real cherry juice. Free of the top 8 allergens, they are gluten-free and gelatin-free, plus contain no high-fructose corn syrup or trans fats. Available at grocers throughout the U.S. and in Canada at select Shoppers Drug Mart, Walmart and London Drugs stores. Also buy online at www.gimbalscandy.com.

• Got fans of gummy candies on your list? All-natural, organic Fruity Hearts from Surf Sweets are available for a limited time in a seasonal heart shape. Enjoy mouth-watering cherry and watermelon flavors that are gluten-free, GMO-free and free of the Top 8 allergens.

• Class parties get a boost from Skittles Candy and Stickers, a candy kit with 25 Valentines (includes one for teacher!), along with small boxes of the original fruity candy. No peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, eggs or dairy – or gelatin.

• What would Valentine’s Day be without chocolate? Heart-shaped Valentine’s Dove Dark Chocolate Promises are dark, delicious – and nut-free. They’re gluten-free, too (but do contain milk and soy lecithin).

• Andes Crème de Menthe Mints are another great free-from chocolate option for your allergic sweetie. Wrapped in seasonal Valentine’s packaging, these luscious candy favorites are the perfect gift: no peanuts, tree nuts, eggs or gluten (but do contain milk and soy).

U.S. Only

• Kids (and kids at heart) will adore Smarties Love Hearts, the classic candy wafer with a Valentine’s twist. Free of gluten and the Top 8 allergens, each candy is imprinted with a heart design and a sweet saying. Have fun comparing love messages.

Canada Only

• In Canada, look for Canuck-style Smarties (from Nestlé Canada) in an attractive heart-shaped box with that eye-catching peanut-free logo. Also, no artificial flavors. Contains dairy, wheat and soy.

• Give kids twice the delight with a Kinder Surprise Egg. The certified peanut- and nut-free chocolate egg contains a small toy ready to assemble for an extra dash of fun & learning. No egg either, but contains dairy and soy lecithin.

Next: Online Goodie Shopping

February 2010 NewsReport

Allergic Living — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:24:39 +0000

Spoil the allergic sweeties in your life with luxurious bites from three companies dedicated to safety and quality.

Heart’s Content

Premium chocolate free of peanuts, tree nuts, dairy and egg from Guardian Angel Foods. Large hollow chocolate heart filled with smaller solid hearts: $7.99/75 g. Select stores in Canada or online.

Chocolate Lover

Organic artisan chocolates by Seth Ellis Chocolatier are made in a peanut-, tree nut-, and gluten-free facility. Some contain dairy and soy lecithin. $7.99/box of 4 and $24.99/box of 18. Order online.

Pretty in Pink

Amanda’s Own makes great tasting chocolate, completely free of peanut, tree nut, dairy, egg and gluten, sweetly packaged. $4.75-$5.00/3 oz. online.
– Pamela Lee

Our Man on Skis

Steve Omischl grew up as a “pretty sick kid with asthma” and a peanut allergy. But he’s never let that stop him on his quest to world domination in freestyle skiing. Now, after disappointing finishes at his last two Olympics, the Winter Games in Vancouver are this four-time world aerials champ’s chance to snag Olympic gold. Last winter, Allergic Living spoke to Omischl about his huge anaphylactic reaction the night before a World Cup event. more

Celebrity For a Day

On a normal day, Olivia Piluso is a typical teenager – albeit an active, sporty one. But on a recent day, this peanut-allergic girl “felt like a celebrity” instead of an average teen. That day, Olivia carried the Olympic flame 300 metres as part of the Olympic torch relay. more

The Pollen Problem

The CSACI says pollen allergies may take some athletes by surprise during the Vancouver Games. Spring allergies come early on the West Coast, with alder pollen peaking in mid February to early March. Symptoms may cause concern as they mimic respiratory infections and influenza, and some allergy and cold medications contain banned substances. more

A recent study finds that one in three people reacting to peanuts and tree nuts aboard an aircraft are experiencing anaphylaxis, the most serious form of allergic reaction.

Of particular concern to researchers from the University of Michigan and the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network was that only 10 per cent of survey participants who had an inflight reaction used an epinephrine auto-injector to treat symptoms. (Most opted for an antihistamine.)

Of 285 people who expressed interest in the study, 150 were chosen to participate since they (or their children) had experienced an allergic reaction aboard a commercial flight. Reactions were graded.

“You have 50 people who had a fairly severe reaction on airplanes in the middle of nowhere, there’s a lot of risk to be taken if you’re just going to have Benadryl,” allergist Dr. Matthew Greenhawt, co-author of the study, told Allergic Living. more

Large number of
winter Olympians have asthma.

Molecule that turns
on allergies found.

Girl re-grows skin after reaction to
painkiller and virus.

New asthma
treatment?
Didgeridoo improves
lung function: study.

Celiac linked to
low birth weight.

Allergy shots reduce health
care costs.

Feb. 6
Allergy-aware
Indian cooking
class, Toronto. more

Feb. 7-9
AllerGen research conf.
Quebec City. more

Feb. 26-Mar. 2
AAAAI annual meeting,
New Orleans. more

Mar. 21
Lung Assoc. Stair
Climb, Vancouver. more