BE YOUR OWN VALENTINE

by Kristal Wick, Author, Designer, Instructor and SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS Ambassador,

Exclusively for Fire Mountain Gems and Beads®

Gone are the days of our youth when we handmade Valentine Boxes in grade school, laboriously embellished with red and pink construction paper hearts, glue paste (that one kid in class always ate to gross us out), and the pièce de résistance … lacy paper doilies! We’d all slip Valentines into each other’s boxes and wait with baited breath and butterflies in our tummies, hoping we’d receive a Valentine from one of the “cool kids” or the cute kid we had a crush on.

The big excitement of receiving little boxes of “conversational heart” candies, Necco wafers and perhaps a chocolate or two is a far cry from the extravagant box of Godiva chocolates I now treat myself to each year!

One year my crafty mom made heart hair clips with a hand calligraphy initial for every girl in class. She stayed up until 2 or 3am working away (gee, I wonder where I get it), and they were the hit of our 4th grade Valentine’s Party! There were probably a few boys in my class that would have enjoyed them as well, but those were different times …

Life was simpler then; no texting, emails or iPhones, which makes Valentines made from the heart all that more precious. I haven’t had a “Valentine” for a few years now (except from my little WhippaWaWa puppy, Sparkle), and I thought why not be my own Valentine? Honor and love myself by making myself a Valentine! A touch of vintage with a splash of contemporary in mind, I came up with wearable Valentine pin/pendants using antique Valentine postcards and ICE Resin®. Of course, no Valentine is complete without a dash of Swarovski crystals and pearls! I had so many compliments on my necklace, I had to make more for my BFFs! Using a ribbon, I dangled each pin from the branch of a small white feather Christmas tree and let all my friends pick their fave from my Valentine Tree. They were thrilled!

I invite you to do the same! Here is my free Valentine project for you! Let me know how they turn out; I love seeing pictures of your creations!

Creatively,
Kristal

Click here for my free project:

Single-Strand Necklace with ICE Resin® and Vintage Paper Pendant and Swarovski Crystal Beads and Pearls