Get crafty: Make your own Valentine’s Day cards

Express your feelings with computer-made greetings

By Anjali Kapoor

Leap into the spirit of Valentine’s Day this year by crafting personalized cards for friends and family. If kids need to bring valentines to school, get them involved by selecting card images, signing their names, or decorating envelopes and cards with stickers. Doing it themselves means these Valentine’s Day messages come from the heart!

Microsoft Home Magazine provides three ways to create specialized Valentine’s Day cards.

Go basic

Print up to six Valentine’s Day postcards on a single sheet of cardstock and produce enough cards for the whole class in a flash.

1. Buy postcard paper or plain, heavy cardstock from an office supply store. Postcard paper is usually perforated, so you won’t have to cut out the valentines after printing.
2. Open a program such as Microsoft Word to design your cards.
3. Create a table with six boxes (Insert > Table).
4. Select a Clip Art image from Word or Design Gallery Live. Or use a scanned photograph. Choose shapes and pictures that allow for text to be placed on top of the image.
5. Import six images (or one image six times) into each box, and size accordingly. Add a text box to each one and type in your Valentine’s Day greeting.
6. Print a test page on regular paper before printing on the cardstock. Add the recipient’s name and your child’s signature in colourful marker to the back of the card.

Get customized

Regular cards take a little longer to make, as you need to add an image and greeting to both the cover and the inside. Save these for family members or best friends.

1. Purchase pre-folded cards or coloured 8½” × 11” paper that you can later fold yourself.
2. Open a card template in Word to match your card style (half-fold or quarter-fold).  You can use the provided image or add a new one by going to Insert > Clip Art or Insert > Picture.
3. Add a text box to the cover of your card to include a greeting that complements your image or says something special to the recipient.
4. Add a personalized message to the inside of the card.
5. Print.
6. Embellish your Valentines cards with ribbon, stickers or other materials.

Complement with candy

A twist on the Valentine’s Day postcard is to add a space for candy on each card, such as a red lollipop where a balloon may be or a confetti of candy hearts as raindrops. Select images so a certain type of candy can easily become part of the design.

You can also make a valentine cone to hold candy hearts, chocolates or other treats.

1. In Word, import a variety of valentine images, such as kisses and hearts, onto an 8½” × 11” template.
2. Print onto heavy cardstock and then cut it into a circle.
3. Make one slit from the centre of the circle to the edge. Fold the circle into a cone shape and tape or staple in place.
4. Insert a piece of ribbon through the top of the cone to use as a handle.
5. Add your candy, cover with tulle or cellophane paper, and attach to your Valentine’s Day card.