DIY: Doily Valentines

To kick off the week of Valentine's Day, I thought I would post this adorable and simple DIY Valentine project.  I think what I love most about Valentine's Day is the sweetness of a homemade Valentine.  My husband made me one years ago out of poster board, pipe cleaners, and some other random materials that stood about two feet tall.  I still have it.
So in that same spirit, I want to share this DIY doily Valentine project from Avie Designs.


Supplies: (for all three projects)

2 Circular Doily (mine are 12" in diameter)

A2 cards & envelopes
knife w/ sharp blade
ruler
cutting boardAleene's tacky glue
1 sheet printer paper

Instructions:
First up, we're going to make a cutout doily valentine which is the one with the pink card above.

Step 1: You need to poke out the shapes of the doily that did not get fully separated when it was machine cut. This can be easily done by holding down the shape with your knife and gently pulling the rest of the doily away. Do this on a cutting board as you may have to actually do a little cutting.

Step 2: Turn the doily over so that the underside is facing up and place your card in the middle of the doily.

Step 3: Using your ruler with the card as your guide, mark with a pencil where you want to cut. Cut along your guides, you could even use scissors if you like. Save the scraps for the next project.

Step 4: Now fold the sides over the card so you can see where you want to cut off the design.  Cut with your knife to reveal the design you want.  Make sure to leave room for your note!

Step 5: Starting with the back, glue the doily to the card. Now, it will be nearly impossible to glue every piece down, but you really just need to concentrate on the edges and the middle. Glue the doily and then lay the card inside of it. Flip over so that the doily is on top of the card and take your printer paper and lay it on top. Rub your fingers over the card and doily and paper to make sure that the doily is adhered to the card. This will ensure that you don't get glue all over yourself. Then glue the sides to the front of the card and rub to secure using the printer paper. Let the card dry and you're done! 

Next up, we're going to make this white on ivory card made with the scraps of the last valentine.

Step 1: Take the scrap from the last card make sure all the holes are poked out.

Step 2: Center your card in the doily scrap.

Step 3: Fold the sides up.

Step 4: Glue the doily to the card just like the last one. And there you go! 

Lastly, I'm going to show you how easy it is to line an envelope with a doily.

Step 1: Poke out all the holes in a full doily and lay it over the envelope with the center of the doily positioned just under the adhesive of the tip of the envelope with the wrong side up.

Step 2: Using your ruler and a pencil, mark where you will cut. If you are using the same size materials as I did, it will be easy since you only have to make the 2 cuts. The bottom will not need trimming. Go ahead and cut along your lines.

Step 3: Slide your cutout into the envelope to make sure it fits and fold it down along the crease of the envelope. Glue your doily inside your envelope. Put glue on the lower half first and slide inside the envelope and make sure it is secure. Then glue the top part and secure it using the printer paper.

There you go...three easy, affordable, and homemade Valentines!  Thanks again to Avie Designs for the project.