Valentine’s Day is a day to show your loved ones how much you care. Whether it is through a good deed, a thoughtful gift, or a card, there are limitless possibilities to express your love. My favorite way to show my loved ones how much I care is through homemade vintage cards. It let’s that special someone know that I made that little extra effort just for them on Valentine’s Day. But you do not have to go through hours of gluing, cutting, or drawing to create a beautiful card. A great vintage photo, some decorative scrapbook paper, stickers, ribbon, and love is all you need!
I personally like to use vintage photographs for my cards. To me, it gives more of an old-time Victorian feel to the card. You can use old photographs of your own family to create a heirloom to pass on to your Valentine or turn a photo you took into a vintage-sepia style. If you do not have a software program to turn your photos to the sepia effect, then upload a photo on picnik.com to create them. Another option for vintage photographs is from The Vintage Work Shop, which has wonderful photos you can purchase as well as download for free.
Once you have all your supplies needed, particularly the photograph and paper, then you can begin to create your vintage Valentine. Depending on the size of the card you want to create, cut out your paper accordingly. I would recommend using a 8 ½” x 11″ size, which creates a nice size card once folded in half. When you have your paper in the desired size, paste your photo on the front along with any embellishments you choose, such as, stickers, ribbon, or glitter.
Now that your card is complete, handwrite a nice message inside or simply sign, “With Love”. Re-use some envelopes from left-over cards for your Valentine, or create a origami-style envelope with old wrapping or scrapbook paper. Seal it with a Hershey’s Kiss or candy creating a wonderful vintage Valentine and gift, which will surely bring a smile to your loved one on Valentine’s Day.