Ditch Ugly Cards for Tasteful Handmade Valentines

I’m sick and tired of people slandering Valentine’s Day cards for being ugly and cheesy when the only representation they’ve seen are the ones with the nauseating combination of fluorescent, neon pink, and firetruck red that springs up in the dollar section of Target exactly a week and a half after Christmas is over. 

However, Valentine’s Day cards don’t have to look as ugly, corporate, and soulless as the holiday aisles in grocery stores lead us to believe. Instead of giving and receiving the same tired and un-aesthetically-pleasing Valentine’s Day cards this year, here’s some inspiration for crafting tasteful, cute-looking ones instead!

A big piece of advice I have is to stop constraining yourself to the modern-day generic red/pink color scheme that you normally see. Embrace vintage-inspired prints and designs! Play with pastels! Get some mixed media involved! In my opinion, handmade valentines that make use of softer colors and layers of different textures turn out the best. Doilies, construction paper, tissue paper, and ribbons are easy to find at a craft store like Michaels or Joann, and I get most of the images, art, and patterns from a vintage Valentine’s Day ephemera book. This is the one that I bought most recently, but there are many other options from Amazon, too. Alternatively, you can find lots of art and prints to download and collage with for free on Pinterest.

So what are you waiting for? Get out some doilies, scissors, ribbons, pressed flowers, and make some artsy-looking valentines!