Friday, February 10, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!


I just finished making these custom Valentine's Day cards for Oliver's class at school. I'm pretty proud of them, even though they were super easy to do and even though it wasn't my original idea at all. First found these cool card ideas on Design Mom, and have since seen them all over Pinterest. But still, I've made them mine now!

Denise Made This:
 
And did not photograph it very well, but oh well...
I will get better with the photography, I promise.

How Denise Made It:
    1. Took photos of Oliver with fist out.
    2. Put said digital photos on laptop and picked one.
    3. Placed photo on a 4x6 template in In-Design.
    4. Added background and wording.
    5. Exported to JPG (600 resolution).
    6. Uploaded to Target Photo Store.
    7. Ordered 30 copies for pick-up ($0.19 each).
    8. Picked 'em up the next morning and bought some lollipops while there.
    9. Also bought a Sharpie because I keep misplacing mine.
    10. Had Oliver sign his name to the backs of the photos.
    11. Cut slits with exacto knife at top and bottom of fist. (About 1/4 inch long)
    12. Place lollipop stick thru the slits.
    Lessons Learned:
    • I'm not exactly a pro with the ol' point-n-shoot Elph, but it sure beats an iPhone for capturing Oliver's goofy grin -- and, I have to say, that this one was the least goofy of them all.
    • Valentine's Day Cards can, in fact, double as advertising: Call Little Fox Day School at ... (Why do they put the phone number on there? I mean, I'm all about school spirit, but the 4-year-old as walking billboard I could do without.)
    • You can never trust the bleed and crop on Target photo processing, so things didn't really align and center the way I had intended (a little tight around right-side and bottom), but it was cheap and easy and I didn't have to leave my desk to do it.
    • Make sure to have the boy sign the cards before assembling them. Luckily this occurred to me after I had only done a couple of them.
    • Dumdums work as well as Tootsie Rolls on these. And Tootsie Rolls come in packs of 17 (WTH?) -- not enough for his class. I guess his "real" Valentines will get the better selections.
    • If you don't have In-Design, you might be able to work something out in PowerPoint, which also exports to JPG or even MSPaint or other cheap digital photo editing software. Or, you could always do a photo card from a template at an online store, but it would just cost more. Or you could just print out the photos and glue or write the Valentine's message. Or you could have the kid wear a shirt that says Happy Valentine's Day and just print the photos as-is without manipulation.
    • This was really easy, relatively painless, not too schmoopy, and hopefully regarded as more clever than Spongebob or Spiderman. 
    • There are lots and lots of cute ideas for homemade Valentine's online that are making me wish this holiday came more than once a year <-- a huge shift since I typically hope that it never comes even once a year.

    New Obsessions

    So I'm digging the whole Pinterest craze, aren't you? It's the perfect partner in my desire for constant research on my interests (sounds so work-oriented, but isn't that really what we do when we browse and compile? Research?)

    My obsession with gathering and trying new recipes has now grown into gathering and trying new DIY projects and gathering (and perhaps someday trying) interior design ideas. Also of note are kids activities, cool products to remember to buy, and all sorts of other fodder to pin and repin.

    In any case, since DIY falls squarely under the umbrella of the blog's title "Denise Made This," and because my sister has been heckling me on her blog (Heinz57) to get back to blogging, I suppose, I shall.

    Thanks for playing and stay tuned...