When is a Valentine card not a card?
When is a Valentine’s card not a card?
When it’s a shoe or a pair of glasses or a tea cup.
Who made the law that says a greeting card must be made from paper or card stock?
Not us, that’s for sure. It’s not that we don’t love receiving an “old-fashioned” card, if it’s printed on 100% recycled paper or plantable seed stock. It’s just that greetings can be so imaginative and fun when you create them yourself from re-purposed items.
At least that’s the way I think when I head into my studio to make Valentine’s cards.
OK, I admit it. I collect…stuff…bottle caps, slips of paper, tickets from events or bus rides, string, wire, corks, tiny toys, pen caps…well, you get the picture. But even I occasionally toss out what seems in the moment, unusable.
Last week, for instance, I put a pair of red shoes into the waste basket. The soles had worn clear through and they couldn’t be re-soled. I’d checked. I felt guilty every time I walked by that basket. I’d lovingly worn them to death and now they were destined for the dump. Luckily, I didn’t take the time to empty the can and one day it hit me…Valentine’s Day…red! Those shoes went from the basket to my studio where I turned them into this:
When it comes to celebrating green, there’s no better way to do it than to grab whatever is handy and use your imagination to re-purpose it into something eco-fabulous or at least eco-funny to give or keep.
Don’t consider yourself creative? Try this exercise. Pick up an object, any object. Set a timer to five minutes. During that time try to come up with some Valentine’s “sayings” you could incorporate into a greeting “card” using the object. For instance:
Pair of eye glasses or frame: Clearly I love you
Hanger: I’m hung up on you
Fake apple (or real, then it’s an edible Valentine’s card!): You’re the apple of my eye
Lock and key: You’ve got the key to my heart
Ruler or tape measure: My love for you is immeasurable
Broken watch: I’ll love you til the end of time
Tea cup: You suit me to a T
Socks: You warm my heart
Admittedly these won’t win me the poetry Pulitzer, and you probably can come up with better ones yourself, but the point is not to impress with poetic prowess, it’s to give a gift from the heart, the hands and yes (if you’ve cleaned it) rescued from the trash.
Why not make some unique re-purposed Valentines and share them with us.
