Four Homemade Valentine's Day Cards to Make

There is nothing as special or personal as a homemade Valentine's Day card. Surprise your friends and family with your handmade creations. Here are some ideas to get you started. The link at the end of the article shows photographs of the finished cards.

Materials:

Four blank greeting cards (available at craft stores), dark red piece of scrapbooking paper, white piece of cardstock, cream colored piece of cardstock, red and white gingham piece of scrapbooking paper, paper cutter, scissors, glue stick, computer, printer, sewing machine.

Card #1

For this card you will need a dark red piece of scrapbooking paper, a red and white gingham piece of scrapbooking paper (or other coordinating piece of paper), and a piece of white cardstock. Cut a piece of the dark red paper to fit the front of the greeting card and glue it in place. The dark red is the background of the card. Cut two strips of the gingham paper, approximately an inch and a half wide. Cut them to the width of the card (this card will open horizontally). Tear a freehand heart from the gingham paper, large enough to fill up approximately three quarters of the entire card. Next glue the strips of gingham paper to the front of the card with space in between them. The idea is that there is a "strip" of gingham, a strip of red, a strip of gingham, and then a strip of red. Use your sewing machine to stitch* along the edges of the strips of gingham paper, and then stitch around the edge of the card. Glue the heart in the middle of the card. Type "Happy Valentine's Day" on your computer and print out on white cardstock. Cut out the phrase (narrow strip) and glue to the center of the heart.

* Stitching tips: If you have never used your sewing machine to make cards, it is easy! Just sew on the paper like you would on fabric. You might want to reserve a needle just for paper so you don't dull the needle for your fabric projects. There are two ways you can include stitching in your card making projects. You can either stitch directly on the card, or you can stitch on a separate piece of paper and then glue that piece to the card (then the stitching won't show through the card).

Card #2:

This Valentine's Day card is quick and easy. Cut a piece of dark red paper to fit the front of your blank card and glue it in place. Type "Happy Valentine's Day" on your computer and print it on the cream colored paper. Mat the cut-out phrase first on a dark red piece of paper, and then mat that piece on another piece of cream colored cardstock to create a layered look. This card will open horizontally, so turn it in that direction and glue the Valentine's sentiment to the top third of the card. For the bottom portion of the card cut three small freehand hearts from the dark red paper. Glue these hearts to three torn scraps (in the shapes of squares) of cream colored paper. Space these pieces across the bottom of the card and glue in place. Stitch around the outside of the card and around the "Happy Valentine's Day" if you wish, but it isn't necessary.

Card #3:

This card is made from a dark red piece of paper and a cream colored piece of paper. Cut a piece of the dark red paper to fit the front of your blank card and glue it in place. Cut a large square from the cream colored paper and glue it just above the center of the card. Glue the piece of paper in place. Tear a large heart from the dark red paper and glue it in the center of the cream colored square. Type "Happy Valentine's Day" on your computer. Print on cream colored paper and glue in the center of the heart. Stitch around the cream colored square and the edge of the card, if you wish.

Card #4:

This card is made from a dark red piece of paper, the gingham paper, and white card stock. This card will open horizontally. Cut a piece of the dark red paper to fit the front of your pre-made card and glue it in place. Cut two strips of gingham paper and glue them to the top and bottom of the card so that there is a red strip in between. Cut three freehand hearts from the gingham paper and space them out in the red portion of the card. Glue them in place. Type "Happy Valentine's Day" on your computer and print on white paper. Cut out into a narrow strip (narrower than hearts) and glue in the center of the card on top of the hearts.

Notes: - The terms "card stock" and "paper" are used interchangably here, but it is up to you which kind of paper you use, depending on the look you are trying to achieve - A sewing machine isn't necessary for this project, it is just a nice added touch - You don't have to use your computer for this project, you can handwrite the words if you wish.

Photos of finished cards: http://www.crafty-moms.com/valentines-day-cards.shtml

About the Author - Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For scrapbooking, card making, gift-giving ideas, and more family memory-making activities, visit http://www.crafty-moms.com.

Valentine's Day Cards - A Great Way To Say I Love You

There are many ways to show that you love someone. One of those ways is to give the gift of a special Valentine's Day card. This is a great way to get your message across in a sweet, loving way without having to find the words on your own. And, because there are so many to choose from, you are likely to find just what you want and what you'll love too.

Your Spouse Or Significant Other

Your first goal is to honor your significant other with a special card. It is okay to go with something humorous or something touching. What you choose is up to you and your preferences but you can easily find a card that shows how much you love someone, how it is you two against the world or simply ways that you wish to show your love. Choose whichever fits well with your desires. Make sure you leave a special message at the bottom or a simple, "I Love You" will mean the world to them.

Your Parents

You will likely not find it hard to find a card that you can give your mother or your father for this day. Here, honor the things that mom and dad have done for you throughout the years or continue to do for you now. A card can praise the things that your father has done too. A card that shows that you love them, respect them, and appreciate them will be cherished by them. If you can't say these words to them easily, finding just the right card to express is will be that much more meaningful to them.

Your Siblings

Sure, they drive you made most of the time, but your sisters and brothers should receive a card too. You can really get away with a comical card here. Tease them about something from childhood or a cute joke is just the right touch for these cards. Make sure to provide a sentiment of your love and respect for them, or perhaps how much you value them.

Everyone Else

You'll find a wide range of other Valentine's Day cards available too. You'll find them for virtually every member of your family and can purchase them for these individuals if you would like to. Make sure that the card says something that is special and meaningful for that relationship. This is a great way for you to feel good about your family and friends in an inexpensive way to remember them on this day.

Friends and other people in your life can really find it sweet that you have thought of them on this day. Providing just the right type of card is crucial here. Make sure to get the relationship down onto the card well and then a simple note is all that is needed.

Providing a Valentine's Day card to those that you love and those that have meaning in your life will strengthen your relationship with them. They will appreciate you and your feelings for them. And, they will be thrilled that you thought of them on this day.

About the author - Nicola Kennedy has become an expert in giving valentines day cards that are appreciated. Visit her site http://www.Best-Valentines.info for more great Valentines gift ideas to make Valentines 2006 a special one.

The Origin Of Giving Valentine's Day Cards

Traditionally, mid-February was a Roman time to meet and court prospective mates. The Lupercian lottery (under penalty of mortal sin), Roman young men did institute the custom of offering women they admired and wished to court handwritten greetings of affection on February 14. The cards acquired St. Valentine's name.

As Christianity spread, so did the Valentine's Day card. The earliest extant card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. It is now in the British Museum.

In the sixteenth century, St. Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva, attempted to expunge the custom of cards and reinstate the lottery of saints' names. He felt that Christians had become wayward and needed models to emulate. However, this lottery was less successful and shorter-lived than Pope Gelasius's. And rather than disappearing, cards proliferated and became more decorative.

Cupid, the naked cherub armed with arrows dipped in love potion, beame a popular valentine image. He was associated with the holiday because in Roman mythology he is the son of Venus, goddess of love and beauty.

By the seventeenth century, handmade cards were oversized and elaborate, while store-bought ones were smaller and costly. In 1797, a British publisher issued 'The Young Man's Valentine Writer', which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own.

Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, called "mechanical valentines," and a reduction in postal rates in the next century ushered in the less personal but easier practice of mailing valentines. That, in turn, made it possible for the first time to exchange cards anonymously, which is taken as the reason for the sudden appearance of racy verse in an era otherwise prudishly Victorian.

The burgeoning number of obscene valentines caused several countries to ban the practice of exchanging cards. In Chicago, for instance, late in the nineteenth century, the post office rejected some twenty-five thousand cards on the ground that they were not fit to be carried through the U.S. mail.

The first American publisher of valentines was printer and artist Esther Howland. Her elaborate lace cards of the 1870s cost from five to ten dollars, with some selling for as much as thirty-five dollars. Since that time, the valentine card business has flourished. With the exception of Christmas, Americans exchange more cards on Valentine's Day than at any other time of the year. Just thinking about it brings memories of red construction paper, and little boxes of heart candies that say 'Be Mine'!

About the Author - Eric Allen is a friend to the rose growers at http://www.rosefarm.com, delivering fresh cut roses direct from the farm, along with dark chocolate truffles and other gifts for all occasions.

Express Your Love Through Real Valentine's Day Greeting Cards

Valentine's Day cards are one of the great expectations and attractions of this special day. Such cards embody a very wide range of emotions - traditional capricious, humorous, charming, ornate, romantic, sensitive, and many more. Cards for Valentine's Day are invariably sent or given to anyone considered a lover or a romantically inclined boyfriend or girlfriend.

The tradition of Valentine's Day greeting cards dates back to the middle ages. Some say it began with Charles Duke of Orleans in 1415. He addressed a poem to his much loved spouse while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following the battle of Agincourt. This particular greeting card is a special memoir and a part of the manuscript collection which can be seen in the British Library.

But did the Saint Valentine have anything to do with Valentine's Day? And who was he anyway? It is thought that he was most probably a legend; however, there are in fact three Saints who go by the name Valentine or Valentinius, each associated with the 14th February. One was a priest, another a bishop, yet all three were said to be martyred. One of the most popular legends states that just before his beheading for refusing to deny Christ, Valentine wrote a letter to his beloved which he signed "From Your Valentine".

By the sixteenth century, the tradition of Saint Valentine's Day greeting cards had really started to gain momentum. Handwritten cards were then being elaborately decorated with laces, silk or satin, flowers, gold-leaf and even perfumed. Coloured paper and watercolours were amongst the essential elements used to create the greeting card. Also in those days ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions at a time when subtle emotions were the appropriate response and direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged.

Paper Valentine greeting cards have long been very popular in the UK. Manufactured cards with images of Cupid and hearts were even on sale at the end of the nineteenth century.

The most common one liner in these cards is "Be My Valentine". Don't forget, a Valentine is 'a person' singled out as one's sweetheart on Saint Valentine's Day.

In the age of electronic greetings there has been a real revival of, and fascination for, handmade Valentines Day cards. Even though cards have also found their way into the e-cards form, electronic Valentine's Day greeting cards that can be sent and received virtually through the World Wide Web, such e-cards are often frowned upon and thought by recipients to be the result of the sender 'forgetting them' and using an e-card as a last minute, better than nothing, option.

Whatever the form you use, a unique, sentimental handmade card or a pre printed card with a personalised message, it is the message the card carries that truly matters.

As Saint Valentine's Day approaches, there is even more to consider these days, there is also the Valentine's gift, with chocolates, flowers, fragrances and jewellery being the gifts most readily received.

Express Your Love with Valentine Cards

Valentines Day is the day of celebration of love. It is the most important day for lovers as they express their innermost feelings to their sweethearts this day. Expressing the thoughts of love with a valentine card is a sort of giving a new approach to a romantic day. Love is a beautiful feeling where heart does the talking. To express the impact of love valentine cards are sent to the reason of love.

Valentine Day card are mainly sent for conveying special message. Valentine cards help in letting your beloved know that how much you love them and what importance does he or she holds in your life. All the illustrations and the colors of a card have just supportive value but the message is most important thing.

Valentine card a handy thing when someone is expressing his or her love for very first time. First love is always special and there is a need of great courage to propose love to someone for the first time. When it is not possible to express your love for first time, valentine cards are a great help as they carry the appropriate message that you want to convey to your sweetheart.

A valentine card can also be given along with a valentine gift. A handmade valentine card will be the best to impress someone. You can decorate the card with the figures and pictures of your own choice. You can write self-composed message or you can take it from any online or offline source. A valentine poem written on the card will be highly romantic. You need to put those thoughts in the card, which is similar to the one you think about him or her. A be my valentine message would be a great thing in a handmade valentine card.

A valentine card may have different themes. Some prominent themes are miss you valentine cards, Kiss you valentine cards, Friend valentine cards, Flower valentine cards, Hugs valentine cards, Chocolate and gift cards, Poems and Love Songs cards, Family valentine cards etc. Therefore select a unique Valentine's Day card say your sweetheart I Love You.

About the Author

Jenny Chane is an associated editor of http://www.mydearvalentine.com/, which provides you the free facility to send Valentine Cards to your beloved. Your feedbacks are highly appreciated at jennychane@gmail.com

Picking Out a Valentine's Day Card

Believe it or not, picking out a Valentine's Day card can be the most difficult pasrt of this holiday for many. They may worry that the card they select does not properly express their feelings or they may worry that their partner will not understand the card or will think the card is inappropriate.

All of these concerns can make choosing a card for Valentine's Day a very difficult and stressful task. However, this article will provide some useful information for picking out a great Valentine's Day card which your partner is sure to enjoy. Valentine's Day cards can be romantic, humorous or filled with heartfelt emotion. Whichever type of card you select, it is very important to make sure the card is one your partner will appreciate.

When most people think about Valentine's Day, they think of romantic cards filled with words of love. This is a great type of card to give on Valentine's Day for couples who really want to use the holiday as an opportunity to express their love for each other. They may tell each other they love each other every day of the year and they may also show their love through their kind actions throughout the year but Valentine's Day is a great day to give a card which expresses these feelings of love.

If you are planning to give your partner a truly romantic card on Valentine's Day, you have a few options. You can search through card stores for the card which best expresses your feelings for your partner. However, it is important to note that there are many cards available and finding the right one can be difficult.

Those who want to give their partner a really romantic card for Valentine's Day do have other options available to them. They can also purchase a blank card and write your own heartfelt sentiments inside. This is one way to ensure the card you give to your partner really says exactly what you mean.

Other cards available commercially may come close to expressing your feelings but they are not likely to say exactly what you feel. For this reason, writing your own message can be much more special. You can also include a short poem in your card if there is one you feel is appropriate for your current relationship.

Humorous cards are another popular option for Valentine's Day. They can be a great idea for a fun loving couple who doesn't take Valentine's Day so seriously. They may enjoy spending time together on this day but they likely do not think this holiday is the only time to tell someone how much they mean to you.

Humorous Valentine's Day cards can still express a very loving emotion but they will likely do so in a way that is also fun and lighthearted. If you know your partner will appreciate this type of card, it can be an excellent way to express your love on Valentine's Day.

However, there are some concerns with giving a humorous card for Valentine's Day. If you plan to give your loved one a humorous card on Valentine's Day, you should be sure your partner will appreciate this type of card and will not interpret a humorous card as meaning you are not serious about your relationship. This can occur when your partner gives you a very romantic card and you give her a humorous card. Although you may not mean anything negative by giving this type of card, your partner may interpret it this way.

One way to offset this type of reaction is to purchase a humorous card but to include a handwritten note expressing a more romantic and loving sentiment with the card. This way your partner will appreciate the humor in the card but will also understand your true feelings and will not likely be offended by the card.

About the Author

Ryan Smith is the owner of MyCirclePal.Com, one of the Net's hottest community and social neworking sites! Post your free profile today at http://www.mycirclepal.com/

How to Choose the Best Valentine E-card

Before the 'how' let's analyze the 'why'. Why do I need the best e-card? Why can't I just settle for the first one that pops up on the free e-cards site?

If these are the questions that have arisen then try and answer the following one...Do I fall in love everyday? If the answer is yes, then you can not only choose any random free valentine e-cards, but even if you don't bother it's not going to make that much of a difference!! But if you've answered in the negative, you have the single most important reason to look for the best.

We can now move on to the 'how' in question. The answer is dating websites. These websites are at your service and their main purpose is to make your loved one feel special and...well, loved.

Valentine's Day is celebrated the world over by people in love. The reason this day is so unique is because not everyone has the guts to be gushy-mushy everyday. Most people need an excuse to be silly and Valentine's Day provides just that excuse.

Months before Valentines Day, free romantic e-card websites start overflowing with thousands of cards for you to choose from. They are certainly trying their best to make your life easier, but end up confusing you thoroughly and leave you wondering whether it's worth the effort. To avoid feeling all fed up and unenthusiastic, you should first visit a dating website with high popularity and check out some tips on how to choose the best from a plethora of free romantic e-cards. These websites may even reduce your work by providing links to good quality free e-cards. There's half your work done.

While e-card hunting, ensure the 'free' part is true right at the beginning. You may end up spending a lot of time surfing the site and even finalizing a card only to realize that they expect you to pay for it. Also, make sure the website isn't too outdated.

For couples just fallen in love, a card with a touch of humor would be a bigger hit than a card full of boring old love lines. Though humor is appreciated at all ages, it may be a good idea to send your wife of fifteen years a card subtly telling her how appreciated she is and how much light she's brought into your life. Free valentine e-cards are also available for parents, grand-parents, siblings and other relatives. But the thing to remember is whether the recipient is net-savvy enough or not. You may send an e-card and not wish them personally assuming they've seen it!

Last of all, but by no means least important, send as many cards as you want. Like I said before, special days like these give you a license to do silly, happy things and not give explanations for them. So go ahead and spread joy. It's free!!

About the Author

Molly Rose has a great interest in writing articles, blogs etc on online dating. She also works for http://www.eromance.com as a content writer for dating topics.

How to make a simple Greetings card for Valentine's Day

Raw material required:

1. Hand made paper (Yellow) : Size 22 cm x 17 cm 2. Tinted paper (Violet) : Size 3 cm x 14.5 cm 3. Glossy paper (White) : Size 4 cm x 15.5 cm 4. Flower shapes (Dark pink) : Quantity 4 5. Metallic rings : Quantity 4 6. Paper cutter 7. Glue 8. Metal ruler

All these things required are easily available at stationary shops.

Procedure:

A. Cut a handmade paper (yellow) into 22 cm x 17 size. The handmade papers are available in different colours, shades, and textures. Then fold it at the center so that the size of the folded plane card is 11 cm x 17 cm.

B. Cut a tinted paper (violet) into 3 cm x 14.5 cm and a glossy paper (white) into 4 cm x 15.5 cm. Now you have 2 stripes, which we can paste over the hand made paper.

C. Using glue, first paste the white stripe at a distance of 1 cm from the folded line as shown.

D. Next apply the glue on the blue stripe and paste it over the white stripe area.

E. Now you are ready to paste flower shapes and metallic rings as shown.

F. Please keep enough space at right hand side so that you can paint a message like " Happy Valentine's day" over there.

G. You may select different color shades, different flower designs. By using different combinations you can achieve the desired result easily.

H. Now your own handcrafted greetings card is ready for the Valentine day celebration. So get set and be ready to celebrate Valentines Day with this your own designed greetings card.

About the Author

Miss Sangeeta Dhanmeher is a fine art artist. She has created a rich collection of Handpainted greetings cards and handcrafted greetings cards made out of premium quality handmade paper from India. Please visit to http://www.creativeartofgreetingscards.com to have a look at the gallery of greetings cards.