Homemade Valentine Card – for that special anyone

So Valentine’s is upon us, and you know what that means?!?  A reason to get crafty, of course, with a homemade valentine card. The best gift you can give someone is something that you made…well, that AND a new Louis Vuitton amiright?  

I came up with this idea for a homemade valentine card after playing around with some designs and my heart punch.  The first draft was 30 hearts, which means 30 reasons…yikes!  It took a while to come up with allll those reasons (no offense, hubs) and a bit longer to make the card, tbh.  So I opted for this simpler version for my homemade valentine card.

Keep scrolling for the complete step-by-step and supplies list.

Homemade Valentine Card Supplies:

• decorative cardstock paper measuring 12 inches by 6 inches.  (Saw this kraft and red polka dot paper, and fell in LOVE.)
• heart pattern to trace around for the inside of your card
• white cardstock paper 
• plain red paper
• heart punch – 1.5″
• mini heart hole punch
• foam squares
• glue
• scissors
• pencil
• pen
• red marker

A Little Note:

For that front banner image, I loved the vibe of this vintage banner.  But you can use any banner or just type the words, ’14 reasons why I love you’ and then cut it out of white cardstock.  Or if you have rockin’ handwriting, write directly on the card or on a white piece of paper.  I wanted to go the banner route to make it look a bit more professional. 

Homemade Valentine Card (Front)

For this image, once I found the graphic I liked, I used the font Janda Elegant Handwriting to type out the text.  Why 14?  Because Valentines is on February 14th, and also because that’s how many hearts fit nicely in the card.  You can get the free template for this banner here – Vday Cards Banner Template.  

For the heart pattern on the inside of the card, you can find that template here – Heart Pattern Template.  Once you print this template, you will cut out that heart and trace it for the inside design of the card.

Instructions:

1. Fold your paper in half to make a card. Using the tips of your fingers (or a bone folder) press the folded edge of your card to make a neat crease.
2. Use scissors to cut out the ’14 reasons…’ banner and adhere it to front of the card with foam squares.  You can certainly use glue instead, but foam squares will give your banner a raised (3D) look.  You’ll need to cut the foam into skinny rectangles so they can fit on the back of the banner.
3. Next, open your card and position the heart shape you cut from the template in the center. You’ll want to line up the crease of the heart shape with the crease of your card.  Using a pencil, trace around the large heart shape onto your card.  Then, using a red pen or thin marker, carefully trace around the large heart shape again.  This will give you a bold red outline for your heart.
4. Using the large heart paper punch, punch out 14 hearts from the red paper. Fold each heart in half.
5. With a pen, write the 14 reasons you love your special someone on each one of your hearts.
6. Position each heart inside your large heart outline.  You can use this picture of the inside of the card as a guide.
   

   Homemade Valentine Card (Inside)

   Then, using a glue stick, glue your hearts inside.  Be careful to only apply the glue to half of the heart.  The four hearts that are glued along the crease should be lined up exactly on the inside crease of your card so that the card will fold properly.
7. Taking a heart hole punch, punch out heart shapes in whatever color paper you choose. Place them along the heart outline you drew earlier and use glue to glue to them to your card.

Optional Envelope Design:

Homemade Valentine Envelope

I thought it would be fun to create paper hearts that resemble the candy conversation hearts that are so popular at this time of year.  Instead of traditional messages though, I made my own twist on these hearts.  You can find the template for these hearts here – Conversation Hearts.  These fit a 5/8 inch small heart punch, and you can print them on pastel colored cardstock. 

You can decorate your envelope with these hearts by either gluing them to the outside of your card or just dropping them inside your card for a sweet surprise!

So…what do you think?  Pretty easy to put together right?  And it’s a pretty heart felt card.  Ok, I had to.  That pun was too good not to use.

Let me know in the comments if you made this homemade valentine card and how it turned out!  Happy Valentine’s Day, ya’ll!