Romantic Homemade Valentine's Day Cards

Making romantic homemade Valentine's Day cards is the best way to express your love at Valentine's Day. A handcrafted card is also sure to be unique, unlike the mass-produced Valentine's Day cards in stores. To make these handmade cards you will need card stock, ink pads, acrylic craft paint in Valentine's Day colors, some celery or lettuce, a potato and paint brushes.

Rose

Get a stalk of celery and cut off the end of the celery heart to make a rose stamp. If you prefer, you can also use the end of a head of lettuce such as radicchio or romaine to create your rose stamp. Clean the celery or lettuce thoroughly under running water. Use a paint brush to brush red acrylic craft paint over the cut ends of the celery or lettuce stamp. Use the stamp to create as many roses as you like on the front of a folded piece of white or pale pink card stock. A single rose will create a more minimalist Valentine's Day card. Several roses will create a more a look that's more lush. Use an inked rubber stamp to create a Valentine's Day greeting on the front of the card.

Heart

Cut a potato in half and carve a small heart into the end. If necessary, insert a small heart-shaped cookie cutter into the end of the potato to use as a guide. Create one heart stamp for each color you intend to use on your Valentine's Day card. Press your handmade heart stamp into an ink pad or coat it with acrylic craft paint. Stamp the hearts on the front of the card in any pattern or combination of colors you like. If you're using dark or brightly colored card stock, create white or pastel hearts on your card. If your card stock is lightly colored, go with darker hearts.

Photo

Get a romantic 4 by 6 inch photo of yourself or of you and your sweetheart together. Create a matte for the photo by cutting a piece of card stock with a craft blade over a piece of corrugated cardboard. Make sure that the outer dimensions of the matte are the same size as your card stock, folded in half. Then cut a 3 by 5 inch hole in the matte. Cut down the photo, if necessary, to fit the front of your card. Place it down on the front of the Valentine's Day card, then place the matte on top of the photo. Remove the matte and use pencil to carefully mark the where the edges of the photo go on the card. Attach the photo to the card with a glue stick. Then glue the matte down over the photo.

Old Fashioned

Find some old Valentine's Day cards, post cards, vintage books or magazines, and cut out some attractive pictures. Alternatively, print out some old fashioned Valentine's Day pictures online and cut them out. Look specifically for old fashioned pictures of lovers, cupids, hearts and roses. Also cut out a Valentine's Day greeting or romantic verse. If you like, you can attach some pieces of lace or doilies to set on your Valentine's Day card first. Use a glue stick to attach the picture and the Valentine's picture, greeting and poetry to a piece of folded card stock.

For more ideas, read Best Sites for Free Printable Valentine's Day Cards and Homemade Valentine's Day Cards for Kids.