I'm not exactly a Valentine's Day fan - I'm more skull & crossbones than hearts & teddybears. But I am a fan of go big or go home, so please enjoy this ridiculously huge, candy filled homemade Valentine's Day card tutorial.
Skip right to the instructions.
It's hard to pass by a bulk bin filled with the shining foil wrappers of Hershey's Valentine's kisses. They're the only thing grocery store fluorescent lighting can actually make look good. On a whim I shovelled what I thought was about $10 worth (but ended up being $25 worth) of them into my cart and started planning.
I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with them. All I knew was that only good could come from $25 worth of kisses. (Unless they're kisses from a scabby, cocaine addicted prostitute. Only bad can come from that.)
A couple of days later, sure enough, I knew their purpose.
A giant, DIY, candy filled Valentine's Day card. Even though I don't like Valentine's Day and frankly had no one to give the card to.
The actual card is two pieces of Dollar store foam core board and some construction paper.
The inside, a great big heart of Hershey's kisses which through the magic of technology (a hot glue gun) can be plucked off the card and eaten.
DIY CANDY VALENTINE'S CARD
Want to make the most ridiculous Valentine's Day card in the world? Here's what you need.
Materials
3 lbs Hershey's Kisses ($25-$30 depending on whether they're on sale)
2 pieces of foam core board
Construction paper (2 sheets of black, 1 sheet of white)
Hot Glue and gun
Instructions
1. Lay Hershey's kisses onto foam core board in the shape of a heart. I chose to let the red fade into the pink at the bottom. Just fool around with it.
2. Once you're happy with the look, lift each kiss up, put a very small dab of hot glue* on the bottom of the foil and stick it back in place on the board. Continue until all the kisses are glued down.
3. Cut a 6" wide strip of white construction paper lengthwise. This will be the spine of your card.
4. Lay your card heart side down with your other piece of foam core 2" to the right of it. If you'd like the back of your card to be black like mine, glue a piece of black construction paper onto the back of the foam core on the left. (the one with the chocolates on the other side of it).
5. Glue your strip of construction paper on both side of the foam core to form your spine. You need the 2" space between the foam core boards to allow room for the candy inside.
6. Decorate the front of your card with anything you want. I chose to cut out a black heart from construction paper.
7. You can also write on the heart with a white marker. Here are a few ideas.
I mean, I'd never use any of those cheesy sayings, but Valentine's Day seems to bring out the cheese. Actually, I wish it would literally bring out the cheese because I for one would applaud any man who showed up at my door with a $75 block of cheese as opposed to a $75 bunch of red roses on Valentine's Day. I would applaud him, grab the cheese, shove him away, then shut the door. Because it's my cheese and I don't feel like sharing.
The total cost of this card is around $30 if you get your chocolates on sale. Which is probably about what you'd spend on a card and a small gift or box of chocolate anyway and THIS one is much more fun. Plus you can make it a custom Valentine. Write anything you want in it or on it.
If you think this is just a little too big, you're wrong. BUT, I'm willing to bend here a little bit so if you'd like to make this card smaller, you could do it half the size with half the amount of chocolates and therefore half the amount of money.
These are two DIY gifts that I think would work really well for Valentine's Day.
DIY Valentine's Gift Ideas
Easy Embroidery Hoop Art.
Instead of using fabric samples in the emboidery hoops, use a favourite tee shirt, or ... and this would be GREAT ... something incredibly thoughtful and sentimental like an article of clothing one of you wore on your first date.
"Antique" Cheese Board
I featured this over Christmas, but again, I really think cheese and Valentine's day should be a thing, lol. This homemade cheese board with a nice hunk of cheese would win anyone's heart.
Is this a completely ridiculous Valentine's Day card? Yes. Yes it is. But Valentine's Day in general is ridiculous and as far as I'm concerned, any man who went to the trouble of making this for me as opposed to buying me overpriced fragrant roses knows the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach, not her nose.
Unless she's a scabby cocaine addict of course.
But for future reference? I'd still prefer the gift of cheese.
Hi Karen,
I was enjoying one of your earlier posts in which you described accosting a woman in the market to tell her that her dinner would suck because she was using pre-cut stew beef. Can you explain please? I buy pre-cut stew beef and this anecdote is haunting me.
Keep up the good work!
LOL. Hi Shannon. The reason is because when you buy stewing beef you're basically buying the offcuts of the butcher's meat. Not in itself a bad thing, they're perfectly good pieces of meat. The problem is that they come from different cuts of meat, so they all are of different quality and take different lengths of time to cook. For stew I buy a blade roast (or similar) and cut it into cubes myself. ~ karen!
I am confused. I KNOW I've seen this post before, and the comments are dated 2015. But what are the references to walking?
Hi Suzanne! When I republish the posts, I update them, improve the photos and rewrite them. I don't just republish them as they were. Sometimes I rewrite them a little, sometimes a lot (depending on the post and the info in it). So often the older comments don't match the newer post. ~ karen!
Thanks, eh? Alway a good read.
Thank you jesus and Karen for photos of ladies who know how to sit elegantly in a dress and heels. Not an inner thigh in sight AND your feet aren't shooting out from your crossed knees two different directions. Bet you know how to properly get in and out of an expensive vehicle in that ensemble, too. Excellent form, you need to go pro with that.
I need 19 cards for 19 grandchildren. Ideas? 5 children are in NYC, 3 in Texas, and the rest in Florida. Thank you!
LOVE everything in this post, including the comments! Yes, exercise and diet regimens, please!
This project was awesome with a capital "A".
Incidentally, that outfit looks awesome too! :)))
Well thanks Toronto Boy! You haven't been around for a while! :) ~ karen!
I hadn't left yet, and that was the fastest I'd walked that route, thanks :)
I would expect that you can eat whatever you want to, since you're always on the go. So, yes, we need to know what you DO, too!
Love the card. Your dress. The gardening journal. Okay, now I can get up and go for a walk. Oh wait, I didn't read the email you sent today - just clicked on the link to this one.
Sigh.
ha! Well in case you haven't started walking yet if you're going for exercise remember to walk FAST. 4 mph if you can. ~ karen!
You look absolutely ravishing darling..and so does Cleo..oh yeah..the valentine is cool too..
Pinterest GOLD!!! Although I'm purposely not pinning this so I can keep it a secret for myself (and the millions of readers you have-everyone ssshhh!!!).
Do you think it would be too much for a 4 year old that is only allowed one piece of candy on the weekend??? hmmm dilemmas.
Hi Trish ... in case waiting seven days for a piece of candy is too hard for a 4 year-old, how about doing just the outline of Karen’s heart? In other words, not “filling it in”.
Like everyone else, your arms and back look great and that dress suits you to a tee, not to mention those awesome retro looking heels! But enough about you....what is that book you are writing in? Is it a daily calendar? I adore books, journals, sketch books, etc. and I want one!
You're gonna need additional postage when you mail this to me.
I shared the idea with Zoie and she says 'It's cool but I don't want to do it.'
you can lead a horse...
Booooo. ~ karen
What a cute dress, and an awesome hide ( the one on the floor, but your skin is pretty great too).....
I'd love if you would do a tutorial on how you get pictures of yourself. I'm assuming your using a timer? Or you have secret invisible photography staff that follows you around?
I have to say you are one sexy woman (and that's coming from a gay man). Cheers to you and your hotness.
Thanks Tres! As we all know that compliment is much better coming from a gay man any day. ~ karen!
It amazes me how I look forward to your new blogs. I haven't done any of the projects that you have...yet. but I really want to do the glowing yard globes--the first project that got me hooked on your blog; and, I would like to have chickens again. Maybe someday.
My honey would love a card full of kisses; I may have to make that for him. But, he would really love a card full of cheetos. I don't think he would appreciate the glue on them, thought, and they would not make as pretty a heart. Guess I'll stick to kisses.