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| Making Valentine's Day Cards
Making Valentine's Day Cards
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Overview
A homemade Valentine's Day card expresses your love in a personal way that no greeting card company could capture. Even if your finished product isn't as polished as a store-bought card, the time and effort put into creating it will make a very sweet statement. As long it expresses the romantic feelings in your heart, any number of motifs and materials can be used to make a great valentine.
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Make It Specific
Store-bought cards are generic and lack any references to the special details of your relationship. For your homemade valentine, add in as many personal references as you can to make the object extra special. Write your sweetheart's name in your card or use a photograph of the two of you in the card to add a personal touch. Make the message inside reflect your lives as a couple. Refer to the names of the loved ones in your lives, such as your children or pets. Write about experiences you have shared together, like a special vacation, and any goals you hold for the future---even if just to simply get know one another better.
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Think Outside the Heart
Valentine's Day is typically symbolized with hearts, cupids, red and pink tones, and lots of frilly decoration. If this doesn't sound like it will suit your sweetheart, get creative with your homemade card and use your own romantic imagery. Love can be symbolized in a myriad of ways, from pictures of your favorite foods to a cartoon personifying your cute pet names for each other. Use your honey's favorite colors to decorate his or her card. If it is done with love, even a black and white card can be romantic. Choose a style that reflects who you are as a couple over traditional Valentine's Day motifs.
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Engage the Senses
Since you're making your Valentine's Day card from scratch, you can use virtually any material to construct this token of your affection. Elaborate cards can be expensive to buy, but many household items and leftovers from other projects can be added to a valentine for a cheap and interesting card. A simple sheet of card stock can be a base to sew fabric and buttons, or glue scraps of decorative papers and beads. Pop-up cards can be made with some patience and a sharp knife.
For a truly one-of-a-kind valentine, try out untraditional materials. Cross-stitch a love haiku, write a little Valentine's Day song, or spell out an edible message in icing on a heart-shaped cake. For the technologically inclined, a romantic Flash animation, YouTube video, or website can be a sweet and everlasting token of your affection. Just be sure that whatever you publish to the web is something that you wouldn't mind being seen by the world at large in case your valentine goes viral.
