DIY Valentine's Day Heart Photo Cards

:: Chomp chomp ::

That's me, eating my words about mall photo sessions.  After our last attempt was such a disaster, I assumed our mall photo days were done.

Then Yia Yia visited (that's grandmother, in Greek) and since I had an extra set of hands decided to take the plunge and get some grandma shots of the kids.  After all, they are at such a fun age and I feel as if they are changing every day.  So I took a deep breath, decided that whatever happened would be fine, and we strolled into a mall photo store with bags of goldfish and a few lollipops.

Boy, am I glad we went.  The photos are treasures.  Out of the 15 or so shots that turned out, this one really warms my heart:

Since we finally had a photo of the two of them together, I knew we needed to make a few photo Valentines for the cousins and grandmas.  With a little cutting and folding, I came up with this:

{it unfolds into a heart, though it looks a little lumpy in that photo!}

We had fun picking the paper to fit the receiver... Micky Mouse for the cousins, floral for my aunties, etc.  It was a great excuse to raid my stash of scrapbook paper.  

{what, you don't hoard scrapbook paper?!}

They definitely have a homemade feel, which is our vibe so it works for us.

If you'd like to make some for yourself, and I really hope you do, here's how it's done.

DIY Valentine's Day Heart Photo Cards

1.  First things first.  You'll need a template.  Use a piece of cheap scrapbook paper (I save the blank paper that come in scrapbooks and use those), fold it in half, and cut out a large heart.  Be sure there is enough room in the heart to fold it around a photo.

 

2.  Using template, cut out hearts from selected scrapbook paper.  Be sure to avoid barcodes that are often printed on the back.

3.  Using photo safe glue or mounting squares, place photo in the middle.

Fold in each side of the heart.

Next, fold in the top of the heart.

Last, fold up the bottom to create your envelope.

4.  Once you are sure the folding has been done correctly, use a the edge of a ruler to smooth over the crease to make a nice sharp edge.  Noodle demonstrates this technique below on her "art".  {she saw me doing it to the Valentines and demanded to try it as well on her piece of paper.}

5.  Inside, write your message.  Be sure the pen you use will not bleed through the paper.  I found this calligraphy pen works well.  {I have terrible handwriting so had to take it for a test drive.}

6.  Fold back up, secure with sticker, and either hand out to loved ones or stick in an envelope and send.  I used the leftover envelopes sent with the free charity cards we always get around the holidays.  Since we don't use them as Christmas cards (I buy photo cards instead), I repurpose the free cards into gift tags which means we always have some handy leftover envelopes.

who's peeking out?

  

hi grandma!

My husband will probably kill me for sharing this, but he picked out these stickers.  I forced my family to go to Michaels with me, and since the hubs was in charge of The Bee he was ready to leave almost immediately.  But... in an entire store dedicated to crafts and draped in red and pink for Valentine's Day I could not find one single pack of heart stickers.  My husband, desperate to get the heck out of Dodge, found this one {which he dubbed "the least cheesy of all the heart sticker packs"} on the bottom row of a display hidden in the corner of the store.  Yes, I'm a very lucky woman.

the "least cheesy" of the cheesy heart sticker packs at Michaels

There you have it!  Super easy photo Valentines, customized for the person destined to receive them.

Can I show you one more?  Because this one makes my heart go pitter patter.

Level with me. Do you hoard scrapbook paper too or do I need therapy?  Anyways, who's up for tackling this project before the big day?  I'd love to see how they turn out!
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