Are you one of those people who saves cards
for sentimental reasons but you never
really know what to do with them other
than stash them in a box?
If so....here's an idea
for a Valentine or anniversary gift.
Each year I try to top the Valentine I made the year prior.
After nearly 20 years of this, it's getting difficult and I'm
running out of ideas and energy. Last year I
couldn't figure out what to make for Valentines so
I got to looking thru all the Valentines we've
exchanged over the years as inspiration.
Yes......we have kept them in a little box along with
other cards and letters we've exchanged thru the
years. After that much time, it's become
quite a collection. Rather than make a Valentine
for him last year, I decided to make a memory book
with all of the Valentines we have exchanged over
the past 19 years. This is how it turned out.
I used this hand made binder that my aunt (who's really
my 2nd cousin) gave us a couple years ago .
It's made from wood that she stained and constructed
herself. This was just the project I was waiting
for to fill this monogrammed binder!
I gathered up all of the Valentines we've exchanged
over the years and put them in chronological order.
I bunched a few of them together and tied with
ribbon or tulle and placed that in pockets I
sewed onto the page (cardstock).
Each page is a little different and you could
design them to your liking.
This folks, is the first Valentine I ever made him.
19 years ago......1994. We were so poor and the only
supplies I had were pictures, yellow legal paper,
crayons, tape and pink toilet paper (remember when they
used to make colored toilet paper?). I think they
stopped making it because it turned out the dyes
in it were a bit too "harsh" for some people's
who ha's and nether regions.
I decorated some of the "pockets" with smaller sized
Valentines I'd made. If the Valentine was double sided
I made a color copy of the back in order to see
both sides and the message.
Once I had the pages done, I put them in thick
plastic page protectors so the cards won't fall out.
I always make my Valentines and write a simple
message. My husband on the other hand, buys
the most beautiful, sappy and love sick card
he can find......and I absolutely love it!
Another way to display them is to place them
on your cardstock and make a slit in the page
protector to slide the card thru. That way you
can actually open the card and see the message.
For those years when we had a long distance
relationship and had to mail our Valentines....
I used the actual envelope as the pocket and stuck
that right to the cardstock with a bunch of
Valentines in it. As you can see, I also scattered
a few pictures of us together througout the years.
It's a bit thick and bulky but it's just fine for where it
sits, on display in our window ledge.
I will add a page to it each year with our Valentines.
You know what that means now......
I gotta figure out what the heck type of Valentine
to make this year.
