When you hear the words Valentine’s Day, what immediately comes to mind? For many of you, it’s hearts and kittens and cupid and roses. For some, it’s a day to celebrate with someone you love. For others, it’s a day to dress in all black and hide from the painful, all too commercialized reminder that you’re alone in this world and probably going to die, still alone, in an apartment full of hungry cats where you won’t be found until months later when the neighbors below you complain of the slowly spreading oily stain on their ceiling.
While it would be easy for me to fall into either of those categories (depending on what’s going on in my social life, and swapping Chihuahuas for cats), I’ve been incredibly lucky…because for the past 28 years, when I hear Valentine’s Day, I don’t think of couples or kisses or romantic, gooey, sentimental crap. I think of sandworms, rednecks, stampedes and a tall lean cowboy named Valentine McKee.
Valentine’s Day, to me, is the day I watch my absolute favorite movie of all times, Tremors.
Who needs love to get your heart pounding when you have the tiny town of Perfection, nestled into the middle of Nevada, literally writhing with subterranean flesh-eating monsters?
Who needs flowers when you have a handful of mismatched locals, rough around the edges, but each with their own hearts of gold (except you, Melvin. You suck. You have always sucked. You will always suck. You and that stupid basketball. Deal with it.)
And who needs to be reminded of how cripplingly lonely you are when you can watch your favorite band of ragtag heroes sit out on top of an island of residual boulders and contemplate their own loneliness as multiple man-eating creatures swim through the Pleistocene alluvial soil just at their feet because, as they put it, their tiny valley is the perfect epitome of geographic isolation?
Ahh, Tremors. The answer to all life’s questions can be found in this film. This timeless tale of man (and woman) versus monster firmly hold the key to my heart, and with Kevin Bacon swaggering through the scene in his so-tight-they-look-spray-painted-on wranglers and dusty cowboy hat spewing pithy one-liners and shooting barbs at his equally rough and tumble mentor Earl Basset, I’m reminded that life is good. Damn good.
Which is why I want to celebrate just how much I love this movie with my very own tribute box of candy hearts and epic giveaway.
Oh, did I forget to mention that? That’s right…we’re doing an
EPIC TREMORS VALENTINE’S DAY GIVEAWAY!
Because I so firmly believe that Tremors is the perfect Valentine’s day movie, I’m giving away an extra special prize pack to one lucky Nom follower on February the 14th…Valentine’s day.
The winner will receive:
- 1 copy of the Tremors Attack Pack (Tremors / Tremors 2: Aftershocks / Tremors 3: Back to Perfection / Tremors 4: The Legend Begins)*
- 1 food safe human heart mold
- 1 silicone spatula
- 1 bloody splash spoon rest
- 1 official Nom apron
Now, if you want to skip the candy hearts and awesomeness and just go straight to the contest, click here.
For the rest of us that want to continue on with the recipe, let’s get started! But before we do, just a reminder, this post contains affiliate links. Go here to read my full disclosure.
To make your own Tremor’s Valentine candy hearts, you will need:
- 1 bag of red candy melts
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
- ½ can (about ½ cup) sweetened condensed milk
- ½ cup butter, melted
- ½ Tablespoon flavoring of your choice (mint, vanilla, almond, etc.)
You will also need:
- Small, microwave safe bowl
- Larger mixing bowl
- Heart mold
- Red paper mini-muffin cups
- Parchment paper
- 4 chopsticks
- Spatula
- 3.2 oz heart-shaped box of chocolates (empty)
- tremor_heart_box_graphics.pdf
- Glue
- Scissors
- Pen or pencil
- Computer
- Printer
Start by first downloading and printing the Tremors graphics.
The file you want to download is right here –> tremor heart box graphics
The file is two 8 ½ x11” pages in .pdf format. Make sure when you print them that you have your printer set to portrait. Don’t check the box for “Scale to fit media” as that will shrink the image and increase the white borders around the edge of your picture. If it tells you it will clip the image, that’s okay…
Carefully cut out your Graboid and the two black boxed phrases (Tremors and You Make My Heart) from page 2 of the printouts.
*if you want your Graboid and heartfelt messages to have some extra ‘pop’ or ‘dimension,’ prior to cutting them out, glue them onto a thin piece of cardboard to create a slightly raised image on your final product. This is purely optional. I chose to keep mine completely flat, just like my sense of enthusiasm about venturing into the world of online dating in a desperate bid to avoid that all too cliche ‘cats ate her face when she died alone’ scenario…but with Chihuahuas instead of cats.
Using your heart box lid as a template, position it on page 1 of your printouts, making sure to center it so the top of your heart dips down to just over the sun in the silhouette.
Trace around your heart using your pen or pencil (I traced mine on the back of my paper instead of the front because I’m tricky like that, but feel free to trace on whichever side is easier for you) and carefully cut it out.
Using your glue, attach your heart to the front of your heart-shaped box lid.
Position your Graboid cut out as well as your two phrases on the front of your box, placing them where they best fit (depending on which box you purchased, you may need to adjust how they’re positioned).
Once you’re happy with how they placement all looks, glue them into place and set aside to dry.
After all your glue is dry, trim off any excess or overhang (I made the Graboid and the Tremors text large enough that you should, depending on how you position them, have a little bit of overhang.)
If your box has a pre-attached plastic liner (many of the new chocolate boxes now have these in place of the older, traditional paper cups) carefully slice that out, making sure that you only remove the cups but leave the outer edge of your box in place.
In your microwave safe bowl, melt your red candy melts by microwaving in 15-second bursts, stirring between each zap until your candy is smooth and liquid.
Pour your melted candy melts into your heart-shaped mold, filling each cup all the way to the top. Let the candy sit for about 3 minutes, then carefully pour the excess back into your melting bowl.
Stack your chopsticks into a frame shape just slightly smaller than your heart mold over a piece of parchment paper. Invert your mold over this chopstick frame and allow the excess chocolate to drain out for approximately 10 minutes. Turn your mold right side up and use your spatula to scrape the excess chocolate off the top and sides of your mold. Pop the mold (still right side up) into your fridge for another additional 10 minutes to allow your candy melts to firm up.
Making the Tremors candy hearts creamy centers
While your hearts are firming up, combine 2 cups of your powdered sugar with the melted butter, your sweetened condensed milk and the flavoring of your choice. The mixture should come together into an incredibly thick and sticky dough.
When it’s too thick to continue mixing, turn out onto a surface liberally dusted with more of your powdered sugar.
Knead the dough, adding more powdered sugar as needed, until you end up with a dough that is pliable and glossy.
Remove your hearts from the fridge.
Time to fill your Tremors candy hearts
Pinch off a small amount of your dough and press into your heart molds and fill them up, making sure you leave a small amount of space between the top of your dough and the top of the mold to accommodate for another layer of candy melts.
Pour the remainder of your candy melts on top of your now filled heart molds and again use your spatula to smooth down the edges and flatten the back.
Return the mold to the fridge for an additional and final 15-minutes.
Unmold your chocolates onto a plate. Gently place each heart into a paper mini-muffin cup and transfer to your now decorated chocolate box and admire how incredible they look. Ooh, shiny and gorgeous!
Share your love for Tremors with someone you care about by giving them this awesome box of homemade happiness…
or better yet…eat them all yourself while you watch Tremors, celebrating this undeniable paragon of cinematic perfection with unbridled enthusiasm and glee…
And speaking of glee…here’s that entry into the Tremors Bloody Valentine’s giveaway again…just click on the image to be taken to the entry form.
Bloody good luck and bone appetite!
Oh, before you go…if you’re looking for more Valentine’s day inspired ideas, we’ve got a few more for you including:
My Bloody Valentine Anatomical Mint Hearts and Coffin Box
Roasted sirloin heart with burgundy reduction and red velvet cake
*I am well aware that there are more than four Tremors movies…however, based on their quality and distinct lack of Kevin Bacon…I refuse to acknowledge them.
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