Supplies You Need
You can make fun, creative, colorful Valentine's Day cards with just a brown paper bag, and old book, some paint, and a glue stick.
A great way to show love for your sweetheart, spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, children, parents, teacher, neighbor, and friend! And they will mean so much more than store bought.
Start with a simple brown paper bag, and cut into squares, circles, or even hearts.
Add a variety of red, white, and pink paints on these cutouts. You don't need to paint in the center.
Don't worry about making the red parts look "pretty", because most of it will be covered up in the end.
While that dries, pull together some other paper item that has no value for you as it is :: an old book, or map, or cards people have given you, or old letters (originals or photocopies work too), cutouts from magazines. Or, if you prefer, fabric!
Here I used an old broken book that's written in French.
I tore out pages that had a good look to me, and painted over the words on one side with blended red and white paint. I added a bit of water to the mix so it's thin enough to still see the lettering. Mix the colors on the paper (not fully mixed ahead on a pallette) so it has mottled shades. Let them dry.
I also smeared some gold paint on in places, using the circular end of a glue stick dipped in gold acrylic paint.
Then I cut out heart shapes from those pages.
I glued them onto the paper bag pieces. Some are big enough for one heart.
Some are big enough for two hearts.
With a simple change in marker color to outline the hearts, you can have a completely different look. And gold paint changes it even more.
Supplies You Can Add for Fun
Then, where the background paint changes color, you can outline that with a fine tip marker if you like that look.
[One optional strategy to make the card even brighter in color and even stronger, is to apply gesso or white primer or paint to the paper bag before adding the red and pink paints. See some samples of that direction below.]
Now, the world is wide open to add even more details for fun!
Get inspired by what you have at home ~ here are a few ideas ::
- buttons
- beads
- ribbon
- more paint
- Posca paint pens
- wire
- feathers
- stamps
- stitching (thread or embroidery thread)
- fabric
- washi tape
- stencils
- oil pastels
- crayons
- colored pencils
- markers
- wax
- shells
- dyes
- cut up old artwork, maps, personal letters
- line drawings
- wallpaper samples
- magazine cutouts
- hole punches in fun shapes
- doilies
- lace
- glitter
- sand
- texture medium, then paint
- keys
- confetti
The Process & Finished Cards
There are so many ways to make these your own and take them to the next level!
Some of the supplies I use
I use Sharpies first, and oil pastels on top of them, so the Sharpies or other markers don't get gummed up in the oil.
See how this one has a tiny red heart on the right, cut out of fabric? You could do a lot on these with fabric!
See with this one how much difference it makes to put gesso or white acrylic paint down on the paper bag before adding anything else? With a white base, I could use watercolors and the color still shows through, but directly on the brown paper the watercolor would be too weak to show clearly. Video about this
Layer and layer as many colors, shapes, and textures as you like!
Don't get boxed in or try to make them "perfect" ~ embrace the imperfection!
Especially when making art with kids, have the emphasis be on having fun, not on "doing it right". That way, they are more likely to embrace art-making, and keep playing throughout their lives, and it will be more fun for you, too,
Here's a video of me making these handmade Valentine's Day cards
If you're on my mailing list, you've received an invitation to our Valentines Making Party on Sat Feb 10, along with the Zoom link and suggested materials list. It's free for you, and we can't wait to see you! Not a subscriber? You can join here :: LiveYummy.com and we'll invite you!
I'd love it if you share your ideas about making Valentines in the comments.
Lisa
