If you really want to make an impression on Valentine’s Day, nothing tops sentiments that are straight from the heart! Taking the time to make your own cards and writing love notes inside instantly adds a special personal touch your Valentine will treasure.
Your loved one may be just across town or thousands of miles away, but no matter the distance, it is always thrilling to pick up a thoughtfully handcrafted card.
DIY Valentine’s Day Card Ideas
Making your own Valentine’s Day card is a lot easier than you may think. With just a few simple steps and the right craft tools anyone can create a lovely card.
If you are truly crafty, you can make the card as complex or professional-looking as you wish. If you have minimal craft skills or are like me and favor simplicity, you can still create a charming card to gift.
Basically, you’ll need card stock, markers, scissors and glue. It’s also great to use stickers, pre-cut heart shapes, glitter and any other embellishments you choose.
(Generally, for all my craft needs, I turn to Oriental Trading. I’m an Oriental Trading partner and part of the #OTCCupidSquad this year. This inspired me to get creative and figure out fun and easy Valentine’s Day crafts to enjoy and gift to my loved ones.)
Each of the ideas below took me only minutes to create. As I used pre-cut corrugated cardboard heart shapes and jewel heart embellishments, all I really had to do was cut few shapes and ribbon, then glue it all together.
Rural Mom’s Barn Valentine’s Day Card
For obvious reasons, one of my favorite things to design is what’s near and dear to me. For this farm-inspired card, I used corrugated cardboard heart shapes for the roof, jewel hearts for loft “windows” and barn door, and used silver and gold markers to embellish the design.
Cup of Love Valentine’s Day Card
As you know, coffee is my favorite food group, so expressing my love java-style seemed appropriate! For this card, I free-hand drew and cut out the coffee mug shape, used a corrugated cardboard heart shape to decorate the mug, and used jewel hearts as sort of the “steam” of the coffee.
Heart Balloon Valentine’s Day Card
I saw a somewhat similar design concept on a card at a local retailer and thought “hey, I can create something like that.” So I did! Corrugated heart shapes are the balloons. Cut ribbon forms the strings and bow. That’s it! This was easy-peasy to put together.
Tips for Writing Love Notes
Whether you want to just add a short greeting inside your card or a good old fashioned love letter, there are some basics steps that can help you along the way. First, remember that you are writing to someone special so you may want to use a real fountain pen and ink for that extra special touch.
Committing your innermost thoughts to paper is not easy but the environment will help to create the right mood. Go to a quite room, dim the light or use a scented candle to write by. Play some romantic music and have some mementos of your loved one near by.
Opening Greetings
As a type of memento, you might start your love note with the day, date, time and place of writing. You can place this information on the inside of the card or on the back of the card.
Next, create an endearing opening; don’t be formal, start with something like “My dearest Julie,” “My darling John.”
Then say why you are writing the love letter, something like this may be a good opener: “From the time we said goodbye I have had many sleepless nights wishing and longing that we could be locked in one more loving embrace.”
If you just want to write a sentiment inside the card, you can skip the greeting and just add in a short sentiment. Or you could create a cute, snarky, romantic or even sensual phrase to match the cover of your card.
For example, if you create a coffee cup card, the phrase might be “I love you a latte”.
Positive Words
Be positive with your words and emotions when writing love notes. Don’t say that you think your new love will not understand that you have such strong emotions. Tell him or her of the time you fell in love, what it felt like, how you feel now.
Say how much you miss their company and that life is empty without when you are not together. List the things you liked to do together and your lover’s special qualities: the sense of humor, the looks, the way he or she walks or the tone of his or her voice, or could it be their kindness?
The Power of Poetry
If you just can’t figure out what to say, don’t forget the power of poetry. There are many love poems that convey how you feel.
Choose one and either copy the whole piece or select a verse or two that shows how you feel. There are websites that will find the right poem.
Ending the Letter
End the letter by being upbeat; say something like: “I’ve said what I wanted and now my heart is happy. Tonight I will dream sweet dreams of you.”
The valediction, the signing off should be heartfelt and real. And a simple “Love,” with a hand-drawn heart and your name works very well, too!
Practice Makes Perfect
It is important to practice your love note once, twice or more. For your card, you want it to neatly written with no crossings out and easy to read. Then all you have to do is post it and wait for the reply.
Revive the lost art of writing love letters with real ink, and you and your loved one will share a tender moment and be close even from across the world.
