Handmade valentines a tradition

How do I love thee? Let me craft the ways … Well, no, that’s not exactly what Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, but I like to think that after she wrote her immortal sonnet, she reached for her sewing basket and stitched up a love token for her best beloved, Robert. Or maybe she got out the glue pot and fashioned one from pretty paper.

Either way, making valentines by hand is a time-honored tradition that can be done easily without taking a lot of time.

Consider this a challenge – create a handmade valentine using stuff you have around the house.

You will need:

. A 5-by-7-inch frame. The one I used came from a local department store several years ago. It cost $2.

. Paper for background. I used the personals ads from Bangor Daily News, but watercolor paper, business stationery, typing paper, a page from a magazine, construction paper or anything that suits your fancy will do. Place the frame’s cardboard back on the background paper, trace around it and cut out the shape.

. Small pieces of fabric. I used a piece of overdyed, 100 percent cotton and a scrap of printed fabric I found in one of my stash piles. If you don’t have fabric stashed away anywhere, cut up an old clothing item. Stay away from fabrics such as velvet and satin unless you have experience working with slip-sliding things.

. Five smallish, flat buttons and a sprinkle of seed, bugle and pearl beads. Got no beads? Check your jewelry box and see what you have that might serve the purpose. Or use more buttons. Got no buttons? Snip a few off an old shirt or sweater.

. Needle and thread. I used off-white hand-quilting thread, but any kind or color will do. When you stitch, let the knot at the end of the thread show and leave a thread tail about 1 inch long when you clip the thread. Don’t worry – they won’t go anywhere.

Here’s what you do:

. Cut two heart shapes the same size from your fabric. You can do this freehand or you can make yourself a paper pattern. Make sure the heart is small enough to fit into the frame. It should measure approximately 4 inches long and 4 inches wide. Cut a 1-inch square shape from the second fabric.

. With wrong sides together, sew the heart shapes together using a small running stitch and having a 1/4-inch seam. Leave about 11/2 inches unsewn. With your scissors, make tiny clips all around the seam allowance, including the V part of the heart. This is so the shape won’t pucker when you turn it right side out. Turn the piece right side out. Stitch the opening closed.

. Place the small fabric square where you want it and stitch it to the heart.

. Sew on the buttons placed randomly on the heart.

. Stitch on the beads.

. Make a line of stitching about 1/4 inch away from the edge of the heart. Make running stitches randomly all over the heart. Clip the thread.

. Place the heart face down in the frame. Place the background paper face down on it. Add the frame’s cardboard backing and there it is: a special heart for the light of your life.

Remember those elementary school days in the 1950s when every pupil made a valentine’s box out of shoeboxes covered with red crepe paper or tissue paper lavishly embellished with paper doilies and paper heart cutouts? And the handmade valentine cards? All we needed was a pair of blunt-nosed scissors – which chewed rather than cut – some white paste and maybe a roll of cellophane tape. We made it up as we went along and the result may have been a little uneven, but it was our very own effort and we took pride not only in the adventure of crafting the boxes and cards, but in what we had made.

That kind of playful ease is pretty much lost when we get to be grownups, but I see no reason why it can’t be reclaimed. That’s why I’m revisiting paper valentine making.

The process of making a paper valentine hasn’t changed since I was a pup – with one exception: glue sticks, one of the best inventions of the 20th century. The tools are still the same – pretty paper, a pair of scissors and one’s ideas and imagination.

The valentine I made uses a recycled, pink-striped paper bag from a well-known lingerie store, a square paper doily, another paper bag with a purple paisley pattern and a few inches of narrow satin ribbon.

If paper bags are too mundane for your taste, visit local craft and art supply stores and look for origami, handmade and specialty papers.

I don’t need to tell you how to make paper valentines – you were born knowing how to do that, so get started.

Snippets

Stitches From the Heart is a volunteer group that donates hats, sweaters, blankets and booties to newborns who have little or nothing to wear home from the hospital. Medical centers across the United States receive boxes filled with items for babies in need. To put your hands and heart to work, call Kathy Silverton toll-free at (866) 472-6903 or e-mail stitchesfromheart@aol.com.