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  • Writer's pictureAlex Rathbun

DIY Valentine (a practical craft)


Do you always see those amazingly cute DIYs that you click on and realize there's no way you could make it with the materials you have or with your attention span? Well, here's a Valentine's Day craft for the impatient, for the busy, for the realist, for the wants-to-start-and-end-a-project in-15 minutes, for those that don't want to spend money on materials, for the non-perfectionist (yes, I'm describing myself).


To start, gather your materials:

Magazines, colored paper (preferably pink, red or purple), tape, scissors, and a paper bag.


gather materials

Start by cutting your colored paper into the size and shape you’d like your card to be. I prefer the simplicity of a single rectangle or square, but you could make a folded card if you have a lot to say to your valentine.


create card shape

Next, cut out a smaller rectangle from the paper bag, using your cut out colored paper to trace the exact size.


cut brown paper

Tape this brown paper onto the colored paper using tape loops or double-sided tape.


tape two pieces together

make a tape loop

Now for my favorite part! Flip through your magazines and loosely cut out blocks of colors, textures, patterns and objects that stand out to you. Don’t worry about following any kind of theme or whether it will work well for a heart. It’s best to have lots of options!


cut from magazines

Lay out all your options and chose your favorite 8-10. Line them up and stack them on top of each other.


Holding the pieces together, fold them in half.


Cut out a half heart shape.


Once you have your hearts cut out, spend a few minutes determining your layout (without taping anything yet!). You'll want the hearts to cover the line between the colored and brown paper sections. Try pairing contrasting colors/textures next to each other and play around with how you layer them. When you’ve decided on the perfect layout, take photo so you can remember it.


Finish by taping all the hearts down as you laid them out. Take a look at your card. If you need to, trim any rough edges, or use this chance to crop your card differently.


trim edges

Once you’re satisfied with your taping and cropping, ta-da! You have yourself a Valentine’s Day card!


ta-da!

The only step left is to decide which gal pal in your life will be lucky enough to receive your work of art. The good news is that it only took you 15 minutes so you can make more than one if you can't decide!

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