oh valentine

I've always loved "scrappy" crafts; collages, decoupage, ransom notes... I'm a sucker for pretty slips of paper, and I tear apart most every magazine I get ahold of. I've even been known to furtively rip out pages in the doctor's office, shhh. So for my homemade valentines I like to go scrappy.

Back in Victorian days the ladies were really into the collage thing. They would sit around gabbing in parlors while they cut apart old magazines, books, and cards. I read somewhere that it was even a thing to trade your really good scraps, as in, "I'll trade you this wicked dove for those dope violets." The Valentines back in the day were especially cool.

This one's kind of intense. Is he seriously touching her boob?

I'm sure this card would've been "tradeable".

I like finding these online, printing them off, then doing what they would've done; cut up old cards to make new ones. I made a bunch this week, using all stuff I had around the house and pictures I've saved for a while.

 Perfect project to do on the couch with your hubby.

It takes a lot of patience. And very sharp scissors.

I went through my old scrapbooking stash, and found some fun paper. A couple stickers, a little glue, and - ooh la la - Victorian Style Valentines.

I was in such a scrapping mood after that, I dove into my favorite resource: magazines. I buzzed through and found all of the mostly red pages, and started folding paper hearts. Here's what I came up with:

I used this pattern to make the hearts. It was fun to try to fold strategically to get the berries, flowers, or gorgeous Persian rugs to show up on the front. Here's what I finally figured out. The purple bar on step three is what will make the front of your heart. Also I taped down all the back foldy pieces once each heart was done.

I even swiped the string off of a Valentine's present I just got. Ha! Completely free holiday decor. I love it. 

This post is featured on My Life, as Mommy & Wife's blog hop, Spread the Love.

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AND on Bower Power's link-up Lovely Crafts Linky Party.