Homemade Valentine's Day Cards
Bonding Experiences
Before you get out the paper lace and red construction paper, do a little research with your children about the history of St. Valentine's Day and the superstitions and customs surrounding it. To get you started, check out Tokens of Love by Roberta B. Etter (Abbeville Press, 1990) and point your browser to Valentine's Day History on the Internet.
Bet You Didn't Know
In the 18th century, the custom was for young men to draw names of eligible maidens and pin them on their sleeve. This is where the experession "wearing his heard on his sleeve" comes from.
Perhaps more than any other holiday, Valentine's Day is the day of The Card, and cards are one of the easiest crafts to do with kids. What could be simpler than folding a sheet of paper in half, decorating it, and writing a message inside?
Victorian valentines showcased the printer's art and included moving parts, three-dimensional effects, feathers, real lace and fringe, spun glass, and even pearls. Valentines were sent between friends, not just to objects of romantic affection.
One simple way to decorate a card is to make a design on white or light-colored paper using a traditional pin-pricking or piercing technique. The result can be as simple or complex as you choose.
Project: Pin-Pricked Paper Heart Card
Level: Medium
Age: 7 and up
Materials needed: Fairly stiff white paper (lampshade paper works well; get itwhite on one side, colored on the other), red construction paper (or otherkind of paper), a sharp needle or piercer (like a small skewer), baby's breath(or other small dried flowers) scissors, utility knife, glue (optional)
Directions:
Draw or make a template first and trace around a heart for your basicoutside shape.
Create a simple pattern. Embroidery books can give you some ideas. You can draw this freehand or create one pattern and trace it at evenintervals.
Use the utility knife to make straight and curved cuts (this should bedone by an adult); use the needle or skewer to pierce holes. Make sureto go all one way from back to front of the surface you want to show.
On straight lines that have been cut, use the needle to raise one edge ofeach line open to a slit. On curved lines, use the needle to roll the curve to the inside and open it up so the card color will show through.
Glue baby's breath, other dried flowers, or small silk flowers to theback of your heart, so they extend out the top.
Glue the pierced heart to a card of contrasting color (white on red is nice), putting glue on the outer edges only. Glue a small bow to the top.
Write a message on the front and inside.
Do not flatten. Deliver your card in a small box.
Here are some more card ideas (see examples by clicking on the link):
Crafty Clues
Use a corrugated cardboard square with hard plastic taped to the back so your child can't pierce though and hurt himself or mar the work surface.
Crafty Clues
A great source for sintimental and old-fahioned stickers is Dover Publications. These are reproduced from vintage printed images and come ina wide variety of themes, including cats, brids, butterflies, angels, valentines, romantic images, and animals.
Crafty Clues
If you're looking for way to use your computer as a card-making machine, check out these programs: Microsoft Publisher 97, Hallmark Connections Card Studio, Printmaster Gold CD Publishing Suite, and Print Artis CD Edition (all for Windows CD-ROM); Print Shop Deluxe Ensemble and CardShop Plus Deluxe (both available for Macintosh and Windows CD-ROM); and Microsoft Great Greetings (Windows disk).
Cut a heart out of removable sticker paper (available from rubber stamping stores and catalogs or crafts stores) and type, rubber-stamp, or print a message over it. The words can be terms of endearment or "I Love You" in different languages (check out the list at the "I love you" web page at http://www. tu-chemnitz.de/~lpo/ lovep.html). Experiment with different typefaces or colors. Remove the sticker paper and you'll have a clear heart suspended in a sea of type.
Pop-up cards are easier to make than they may seem. The following illustration shows the basic pattern. Create a design on the cut center part. Experiment first with some prototypes.
Mirror cards can use an actual mirror, or better yet, some mylar (available from crafts or art supply stores). Cut out a heart shape and then cut the center out in a heart shape. Cut the mylar just a tad smaller than the outer edge of the heart. Glue the paper heart "frame" to the front of your card, with the mylar sandwiched in between.
A birdcage or spiral card was popular in the 19th century. These featured an image hidden beneath a piece of paper cut in a spiral, which, when lifted, revealed the image underneath. One popular idea was a bird under a birdcage. Cut paper in a spiral as shown in the following illustration and tack the outside edge to the card. Make a tab in the center of the spiral by inserting a piece of ribbon through a slit and taping it flat on the underside.
Cards don't have to be simple bi-folds. Try using a tri-fold or multi-fold and making a big, bold greeting inside.
Make a simple pinwheel card. For these you'll need some extra-stiff paper, about the stiffness of a manila folder. Adapt the basic pattern shown in the following illustration.
Cards that unfold when you open them add some interest. Use the simple pattern for making a fortune teller, and you can experiment with it to make a card..
Throw in something extra. Add heart-shaped confetti, glitter, flower petals, potpourri, or some other surprise to your card.
Experiment! Try using fabric instead of paper for your glue-on decorations, play with rubber stamps, use cut out images from magazines and old calendars, and look around at card and craft stores for ideas.
You don't have to stick with hearts and flowers, either, when it comes to images to use on Valentine's Day cards or gifts. Other symbols include rings, lovebirds and doves, roses, and cupids. Love knots and gloves were Victorian symbols. Animals can also make for all kinds of variations. Put your imagination to work and come up with phrases for any animal that appeals to you: "Hog wild for you!" "Don't monkey around! Be mine!" "I can't bear it...Be my valentine!" The cornier, the better.
And just one more note...make sure your kids have valentines for everyone in the class, not just their favorites. It's also a lovely gesture to send a valentine to someone you know probably won't be receiving one. You can sign it "from Your Secret Admirer" or your own name and wish the person a happy day.
You might also want to make a valentine mailbox with your child. I recommend making two-one for home and one for school. These are easily made from shoe boxes. Make a good-sized slit in the top of the box, cover the box with appropriate wrapping paper or fabric, and decorate. All the valentines that come in the mail can go into the home box, along with the ones you've made for each other. The school box can be used to carry valentines to and from school.
Think of special places to hide valentines where the receiver can discover them: in a lunch box, under a pillow, in a cabinet, or in a briefcase or purse.
Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Crafts with Kids © 1998 by Georgene Lockwood. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
To order this book visit the Idiot's Guide web site or call 1-800-253-6476.
