Make Your Own Valentine's Day Cards - Not Just for Kids!

You're a deer

             February 14th - St. Valentine's Day = Love

Starting with the Roman Festival of Lupercalia, moving on to the Greek mythology of Venus, Cupid & Psyche and culminating with the Christian story of St. Valentine ... it's always been about Love!  Winter is ending, Spring is beginning ... love is in the air. The Meadow Sweet Grove fairies love cheeky vintage Valentines ... like the one to the left! With their playful play on words - they really reflect the essence of Valentine's Day with flirtatiousness, fun and comradery.  Of course, the industrious fairies also love to turn the scraps, trimmings and clippings that they saved during the year into one-of-a-kind home-made card creations as well!

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A fairy's primer for home-made Valentine's Day cards:

The Victorians were famous for their industriousness and their fancy work. Many of their craft projects would today be labeled as "re-purposing", "upcycling" or "environmentally-conscious"; but this is no new trend.  Rather making do with what you have, and being a bit creative and resourceful; is actually a return to the tried and tested ways of yesteryear.  So many people throw things out -- only to buy them back again in a different form!

Here's a simple how-to option for that special home-made Valentine's Day card:

You're magic Valentine

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~ Save your scraps ~

Set aside a shoe box or large envelope and collect scraps throughout the year.  Cut out beautiful pictures from magazines, cards, advertisements, tags, packaging, wrapping paper, stickers from address labels, stamps - you get the idea!  Save little bits of cloth ribbon from chocolate and nut packages, cut buttons off clothes too worn to donate and anything else you find pretty.  Once you get going, and truly look at everything in your hand before you drop it in the trash or recycling bin - you will be amazed at what you have available to you - for free!!  ​

~ Making the cards ~  ​

There are countless ways to make your card - and absolutely the sky is the limit!  Here's one option for a flat card, with message on the reverse, that can be displayed by "propping":

• Find a piece of thin cardboard or an old used card.  Cover it up entirely with a piece of tissue or wrapping paper, folding, gluing or scotch taping on one side only;
• Fold a piece of paper in half and trace a heart.  (Use a piece of junk mail if you like, we're going to cover it up.) Unfold and, on the opposite side to the heart, paste a large collage of pretty pictures from magazines onto the entire sheet (rubber cement works best). Allow to dry. Flip over and gently cut out the heart shape. This creates a seamless collage to the very edge of the heart;
• Glue your heart collage in the centre of card; covering any tape ends;
• Now you may embellish it as you wish with stickers, glitter, ribbon, buttons - anything you like;
• Write or type your own special message on a small piece of paper ("I love you" - is always good!), cut out with pinking scissors to create a special edging (or crop the edges with regular scissors), and glue your message to the front or back of the card.  ​
  

Et voilà!  Instant, pretty, unique and free Valentine's Day card. Children and the youngest fairies, of course, love making their own cards ... and some of the not-so-young ones do too ...

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​​Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017 / edited 2021