Valentine's Day Ideas

Some quick ideas and hints on making your own greeting cards. Not only does the card say "I Love you", but spending time together as a family with some cool art project says it even better. Now break out those safety scissors and your glue stick, and get crackin'.

Making your own greeting card can be as simple as folding a piece of construction paper in half, and drawing and writing all over it. I can also be much more complex, as seen on the Valentine's Day history page. Either way, or somewhere in between, it's the thought that counts. Start by folding a piece of construction paper in half.
	We're going to make a pop-up card, so we need two pieces of construction paper, one for the inside too. Fold it in half as well, and cut a heart out of the center of it. Folded the outer edges back on themselves so you end up with a "w" shape. This technique can be adapted for to produce many variations. So go crazy! We're going to keep it simple for illustrative purposes.
With the center cut out, and everything folded properly, you ar ready to glue it down to the inside of the card. Play with the positioning of the insert to what you like best. Too close to the fold, and it won't open. Put it too close to the edges, and it will be flat when it is opened. "Flat" is not the desired shape for a pop-up card.
	While the inside is drying, you can begin decorating the outside. Feel free to use the shape you cut out of the inside to decorate the outside. It adds a nice continuity to the card. Just be careful not to disturb the inside of the card while it dries. If it does slip around a little you can trim the edges of the card so they are even.
For the example, we used some bits from a small bag of Valentine's Day confetti to decorate the outside. Another option that gives a more frilly appearance is using the small paper doilies you can find around this time of year. They are nice and lacey, and make a pretty addition.
	Here you can see the finished card. Just have fun with it! Below are a few more options for using what you have to make more cool designs. On the left, you can see tracing around the edges of the confetti. As it was put during the process "that way, if they fall off, there will still be a design". Also a small flower made from confetti hearts.

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