DIY : Cliché Bouquet

When it comes to Valentine's day, I really appreciate a little lovey dovey infused humour.  Bluntly, sometimes making fun of love is awesome.  So this year, while in a particularly sarcastic mood, I came up with this year's Valentine's day card... and while not as entertaining as a chimp wearing a diaper holding a heart shaped box of chocolates, I thought this idea was the next best thing.

The Card isn't so much a card as it is a cross between a flower, a lollipop, and a puppet. FUN right?!  I called it a cliche bouquet for a bunch of reasons, but mainly because I chose to use the cheesiest, most over used quotes about love to pop out of my hearts... You don't have to go the cliche route, these hearts can be filled with cute rhymes, sweet inside jokes, really anything goes. 

If you would like to try it yourself here is what you'll need:

♥ Fabric or fancy paper
♥ Straws. Depending on how many you make, you will need at least two straws to complete one card
♥ Hot glue or white glue
♥ Rickrack, bias tape, and ribbon
♥ Paper hearts with your preferred phrases printed on them
♥ Scissors

Follow these instructions and you'll be playing peekaboo in no time!

1. Get two straws. doesn't matter how big or how long. They just have to be the same

2. If they are bendy straws cut off the elbow. You just want the straight bit

3. Split one straw up the middle. Do this by cutting the straw lengthwise

4/5. Glue the two ends of your split straw together end to end to make an extra long straw

6/7. Take your paper heart with your message and glue it to the end of your extra long straw

8. Next take your two fabric hearts that you cut out from either paper or fabric

9/10. Outline the edges of both fabric hearts with rickrack using your glue

11/12. Take your second straw that has not been split down the middle, and glue your straw to one side of your heart just a the bottom tip of the heart.

13. Then glue the second heart to the other side of the straw so both hearts can be glued together wrong sides facing in. You only want to glue the hearts together half way up the sides so the top stays open.

14. Next, take your extra long straw and thread it through the shorter straw you just glued your hearts to

15. Finish off the outside straw with ribbon to make it extra special. I just glued the ribbon wrapping it around the straw.

16. Finally make a little bow to add to the base of your heart.

Once it's all assembled, you will be able to move the inside straw up and down so your message pops up out of your pretty little rickrack heart!