Making Your Own Valentine's Card

With Valentine's Day an annual event, I thought I would share some valentine card ideas with a detailed step-by-step tutorial for each one of them. Last week I read a quote from an unknown author that said, ''Love is like a butterfly, it goes where it pleases and pleases wherever it goes.''

This beautiful quote inspired me to get crafty with some butterfly-themed romantic card ideas for Valentine's day!

Okay, let's make a start with our DIY Valentine's day cards!

As the spinning butterfly in this card is the main attraction, you don't need to get too fancy with other embellishments. I used a pretty floral Australiana-themed card stock that I've been dying to use for ages and a scrap of lace.

However, this valentine's card will look great with simple and plain colored card stock as well.

Once you have decided on your cardstock, you will need to cut a circle where you would like your pretty butterfly to spin on your valentine's card.

Grab something perfectly round in an appropriate size and use it as a template to create a hole on your valentine's day card. I used a small roll of sticky tape but jar lids, camera lens caps, and bottle caps also work well. If you have a pencil marking compass ... even better!

Once you have drawn your perfect circle, use a craft knife to carefully cut out the hole. Scissors can also be used but a craft knife will give a neater outcome.

Now that your cardstock base is completed, let's move on to the spinning butterfly-- the main attraction of your valentine card!

Make a butterfly shape that is smaller than the hole you cut in your DIY Valentine's card, cut out two butterflies exactly the same size and shape.

Sticky tape or glue your string onto the back of one of the butterflies like in the photograph below. I have used a few bits of very thin glitter thread but if you are using something thicker like a cord, you will only need to use one.

Once your string is secured, glue your two butterfly pieces together enclosing the string inside so that you can only see the bits dangling out of the bottom and the top like in the photograph below.

Open your card and attach the spinning butterfly by adhering with sticky tape above and below the cut-out hole. The string needs to be fairly taught so that the butterfly spins around in your DIY valentine's day card rather than flops around.

Make sure your butterfly spins around by blowing on it or giving it a little flick and tighten the string on your valentine's card if necessary.

Now we want to hide the string on the inside of the valentine card. I have used a faux wood sticker that I cut into strips to fit but you could also use decorative washi tape, card, or paper.

If I wasn't using such pretty card stock, I would have completely covered the whole inside of my card with plain colored paper. If you do this you will obviously need to cut out a hole and line it up perfectly.

Now for the fun part that you'll love!

Close the valentine's day card up, add the last few finishing touches and embellishments (if any), and give your butterfly a little spin!

This cut-out card design is so incredibly versatile and works for nearly every occasion. Make a cute little bunny embellishment for Easter, a bauble for Christmas, or something more personalized for a birthday card.

This next easy DIY valentine's day card will make your card pop quite literally!

With a butterfly-shaped and heart-shaped card stock or construction paper, you'll be able to recreate this beautiful Valentine's day card!

This cute 3D Valentine's card uses little pieces of square double-sided foam adhesive to make the butterfly pop out. The squares are placed under the body only so that the wings are free to be shaped upwards so that it looks like it's fluttering a little on your DIY valentine's day card.

My butterfly is a cut-out from a coloring book that was colored using Derwent pencils. However, you could easily print one from the internet or cut one from a pretty colored cardstock.

As far as easy DIY Valentine's day cards go, this one is super simple to make on your own! Here's what you do:

This bright pastel butterfly valentine's card is both messy and fun to make!

Here's how to make it:

This is another of our card ideas that work well for any occasion. I think this would look great on black cardstock using a template of a couple dancing. The black card would act as a silhouette with the bright color popping behind it.

I hope you have found some inspiration for making your own DIY Valentine's day cards with these card ideas and I would love to see your interpretation of these Valentine's day cards. I know I had fun making them!

Happy carmaking!