Elizabeth Banks

Peaches is a Peach! Last, she shared with us this gorgois, that’s “gorge-wah,” DIY statement necklace. Now she’s sharing this adorable and easy Valentine’s Day DIY. Like, so easy I could do it. And I am no Martha. If you try it, I want to see! Send me your photos in the comments. Xx EB

The tradition of exchanging valentines used to be a token of courtship. Romance. Sentiment. Schmaltz. The thoughtful hallmark of a budding relationship. At one time, when valentines were homemade and given from the heart, emotionally repressed Victorians would weave their words into riddles, or delicate drawings of symbolic flowers, or letters with key words encircled with ringlets of hair.

Roses are red, violets are blue. Sugar is sweet, here is an envelope full of hair.

These days valentine slogans are much more blunt, if not downright confrontational.

Be Mine. Hug me. True love. Forever.

Reality check: Maybe you aren’t looking for forever right now. Maybe that is a lot of pressure to put on someone. Maybe you just want to exchange some chocolate with your best pals and let them know you think they are swell. Not in the romantic sense, just in the "I Think You Are Special So Here You Go I Made You Something" sense.

Cards are great, but three-dimensional valentines are flat out awesome because you can do oodles of fun things with them — like tie them on a bag of cookies or just add a small to/from tag (no pressure to write a love poem when there is no room). Later on, the recipients can pin the valentines up on a bulletin board or even their shirt. A wearable valentine – who knew?

Let’s get started!

Materials:

• Hot glue gun
• Hot glue sticks
• Parchment paper (not wax paper – parchment paper, you can buy a roll at any grocery store right next to the aluminum foil)
• Confetti (click here for a quick tutorial on making confetti*)
  
  

A note about hot glue: If you are doing this project with the kiddos, substitute hot glue for an ultra thick white glue (I like this one). It will need to set out overnight, and the end results will dry a bit flat, but it is better to be safe than sorry. If you are not working with kiddos, but feel intimidated by the idea of working with a glue gun, don’t be. Hot glue is easy to worth with and it’s pretty cheap too! You can purchase a mini glue gun and a package of glue sticks for under $5 at any craft or hardware store. They also sell low-temperature glue guns for slightly more money, which is sort of like training wheels for the crafting novice. To each his own.

Directions:

1. On a sheet of parchment paper, use the hot glue to create the shape of a heart. Glop it on there good and thick. No reason to be neat here. Embrace the messiness!

2. Sprinkle a heavy layer of confetti over the heart. The glue will dry 10 seconds after it hits the parchment, so you may want to work in chunks.

3. Let it dry. The glue will lose its stickiness after ten seconds, but give it a good ten minutes to harden. While it’s drying, move on to the next heart.

4. Shake excess confetti back into a bowl to use on the next batch of hearts.

5. Peel the heart off the parchment paper.

6. Optional: For a double-sided heart, flip it over and repeat steps 1-5.

7. Stand back and admire your work. Woot!

Tips:
* If you have trouble with free-hand drawing with a glue gun, use a pencil to draw hearts on the parchment paper beforehand. You can also do letters or numbers. Think outside of hearts.
* Confetti can be messy. Work over a cookie tray to help keep fly-away pieces in place.
* These hearts are fun to send in the mail. Slip them in translucent vellum envelopes and the mailman will be so intrigued.

Who says Valentine’s day has to be red and pink? Why not rainbow confetti? Why not sparkles? Why not ditch the confetti and cover the glue with something else? Paint. Glitter. Sequins. Sparkles. SPRINKLES…

Happy Valentine’s day!

Do you get crafty for Valentine’s Day? Would you give this a try?



About Peaches: Peaches, the artist and author behind the blog Aunt Peaches, shares creative and inexpensive how-to projects for those who love where they live. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter at @auntpeachesblog.