Heart of Hearts

Around Valentine’s Day I fell in love with these hearts from the Etsy seller Sarah and Bendrix, but I couldn’t bare to pay the $76 (item plus shipping cost to the United States) that she was asking.

{via}

So, I went to the craft store and bought a heart shaped paper punch and some thick red, gray, and cream card stock.

Luckily, just about everything I bought was on sale. Don’t you just love that about craft stores?!

When I came home I started punching little red hearts. My heart punch is different than the one used by Sarah and Bendrix. Mine has a more defined point, but I like that about it. I also love that it lets you see what you’re punching before you do it.

Fold several of the hearts in half, positioning them in straight lines on the paper. Leave space for one (or more) different colored hearts and a few that have not been folded.

admi

I spaced the hearts further apart then they were in the original piece, but this choice is just personal preference. I carefully glued the hearts into place, making sure that the lines seemed organized. In my opinion the concept is interesting because it is a balance of order (the rows of hearts) and disorder (the apparently random nature of the folds). If both aspects were disorganized, then it would probably look like a giant mess.

Here’s the end result leaning against a wall:

We assembled ours using Yes Paste and an IKEA 9×9 Ribba (Shadow Bow). The total expense was less than $20 and now that we own a heart punch I could make a second one for the price of the frame plus an extra $0.50 for the card stock. For the next one I may try putting the hearts closer together and using a larger frame that would allow a border the size a a photo mat. Thoughts?

Meg over at House Notes is currently having an Anthropologie Inspired Craft Off. I didn’t manage to participate on this round, but head over to her blog to see some pretty amazing stuff.

Valentine’s Day Inspiration

I’ve been trying to think of what to do for Peter for Valentine’s Day, but instead I keep finding things that I would love to receive myself. My mother always taught me that I should always give people gifts that I would want to receive myself, but somehow, in this situation I don’t think that rule applies. Let’s take a look.

{Sarah and Bendrix}

{Paper Finger}

{Sew, Mama, Sew!}

{Pretty Peonies}

No, definitely not boy gifts, but they would be great for a friend and several of them could easily be reproduced. Head over to Sew, Mama, Sew! for a tutorial on how to make the hand-stitched valentine.

What are you giving your significant other for Valentine’s Day?