Paint Swatch Valentine's Day Cards

I've seen some super cute Valentine's Day cards at the store and online (since the day after Christmas?!?!?), but this year I decided to be thrifty and creative.  Why not make some?  On Pinterest, I've viewed some cool crafts/art using paint swatches.  This mode of paint-swatch crafting, if you can call it that, has fueled my creativity for this one....get ready for it...that's right, cards with paint swatch hearts.

This is a fun project that even little ones can help with.  Ok, I admit, maybe little ones old enough to have some mad scissor skills.  On that note, a disclaimer: My little one didn't have the option...this was a naptime craft.

Materials:

- Selection of {FREE!} paint swatches in red, pink, and purple shades (I love you, Home Depot!)
- 3M Mounting Tape (this is a great tape...it's padded and double-sided, so it's great for lots of crafts)
- Notecards (any solid color or subtle pattern would work)
- Scissors
- Pen/Marker

Easy Instructions:

1. Cut out your hearts.  There are a couple ways to do this, and some "Lessons Learned" that will hopefully spare you...

You can fold your paint swatch in half and draw half a heart, then cut it out...this makes it symmetrical but unfortunately the paint started peeling off the fronts of my hearts.

Ok, not such a great idea for my swatches...moving on.

You can simply draw a full heart on the back of the swatch, as a guide, then cut around the heart.  I drew small dashes on the left so I'd know where the white dividing lines were on the swatch.

This worked out much better...

But, to be completely honest, I just started cutting them out free hand to save some time.  They aren't perfect hearts but there is love in the imperfection!

2. Using small squares of mounting tape, attach your hearts to the notecards.  I chose to do a series of 3 hearts on most of the cards, to represent the three of us in our little family.  However, you can be creative and personalize it for your recipients.  (i.e. I made one with 7 hearts for my aunt's family - 2 parent hearts and 5 kid hearts)

3. If you have some extra paint swatches, cut out long rectangles, write a Valentines message, and attach them on the inside with mounting tape.

That's it!  Super easy and totally customized for your family and friends.

Has anyone seen any other cool homemade V-Day card ideas?  Please share with us by commenting below...I'd love to hear your ideas.  Happy crafting!  -Kristen