There are many ways that single women can embrace Valentine’s Day without being isolated or feeling lonely. A homemade scrapbook may not only help single gals have a productive holiday but also provides an opportunity to reflect on how much love surrounds her. This craft project can also be adapted to use as an afternoon or weekend activity for teenage girls and youth.
Materials:
3 Cereal boxes, identical in size
1 Hole punch
White lace fabric
3 half-inch by 5 inch pieces of cotton or denim fabric
12 Photos
1 Glue stick
1 Sheet of red (or violet) 9 by 12 inch construction paper
1 Sheet of pink (or yellow, white) 9 by 12 inch construction paper
6 Bite size chocolate candy wrappers
1 Bottle of glue
1 Pair of scissors
1 Ruler (optional)
1 Black ink pen
1 Box of eight-count markers
Cut out the front and back cardboard panels from your cereal boxes. Discard the remaining elements including the nutritional information panel. Cut out the top closure flaps and bottom flaps from the front and back cereal box sections if they are still attached. You should now have six square or rectangle shaped pieces of cardboard.
Put three holes in a vertical line near the far right or left edge of one of these cardboard pieces using a hole punch. The holes should be evenly distributed down the side of the cardboard, creating a few inches of space between each hole. Repeat this hole-punching process with the remaining five cardboard sheets, aligning them properly so the position of each hole is the same among all of the sheets. Use a ruler to help you add holes to the cardboard, if necessary.
Gather 12 photos of yourself with loved ones such as family, friends, pets or mentors. Photos of individuals can also work for this Valentine’s Day scrapbook craft project if you do not have a lot of group photos to use. Trim your photos into smaller shapes to only display the main subjects or people in the photo, if possible. Cut out several heart shapes from the red construction paper, using scissors. These red heart shapes should vary in size.
Substitute the red construction paper with violet paper if you do not like the color red. Write three separate but memorable quotes that you’ve overheard someone say in previous years, on the pink construction paper sheet using a black ink pen. Write three separate pieces of Valentine’s Day advice that you would give to another female friend, relative or stranger using the ink pen. Use real-life references if necessary to come up with some advice. Draw a heart around your quotes and advice and then cut these shapes out using scissors.
Substitute the pink construction paper for yellow or white paper if you do not like the color pink. You can also write the quotes and advice with purple colored ink pens or fine point markets if these paper substitutions are being used. Align all of the cardboard sheets and then tie them together by placing one piece of fabric through each hole. Denim fabric, t-shirts or cotton washcloths can be used to make the binding more durable when completing this step for the Valentine’s Day scrapbook project. Design a cover for your scrapbook by attaching the largest red construction pager heart to the first cardboard sheet using school glue.
Cover the edge of your scrapbook cover with a piece of lace fabric, using the glue stick. Label this cover with your name or festive title using a variety of markers. Attach your red heart shapes to the next four pages using the school glue. Add photos to these pages until you do not have any more images left. Outline all four edges of each photo with a small piece of the white lace fabric to create a photo frame.
Secure the frames in place using your glue stick. Attach your pink heart shaped quotes to leftover empty spaces on the pages featuring photos, using school glue. The sixth page of your Valentine’s Day scrapbook is the back cover, which is left blank on the back side but filled with candy coated fun on the inside. Attach all of your candy bar wrappers each to a different area of the inner back cover page using school glue. Write a new, candy bar inspired nickname for each of your ex-boyfriends next to a different wrapper on this back cover using an ink pen or marker. You can also put an alternative spin on this step by writing funny nicknames for all of your male celebrity crushes.
