Marie’s Craft Corner, by Marie Hueston

Recycle magazines and catalogs into Valentine collages!

This year, create one-of-a-kind Valentines for friends, family, and significant others using the art of collage and the printed materials you have on hand. It’s fun, easy, and inexpensive. Here’s how to get started:

Collect magazines and catalogs. To find collage materials in our part of Brooklyn, you don’t have to spend any money. Many people put magazines out on a stoop, in a trash room, or by the curb when they’re finished with them, and street corner newsracks offer free copies of Brooklyn Parent, Brooklyn Family, and other publications. Add to this any catalogs you may receive in the mail and you’ll be able to accumulate a good stack to work with.

Prepare paper hearts. You can either buy pre-cut hearts (Paper Source on the corner of Smith and Pacific Streets sells a packet of 10 cardstock hearts for $7.95) or you can cut your own out of construction paper using the old trick of folding the paper in half, drawing half of a heart, and cutting along the line.

Arrange your materials on a table. Once you have your magazines and paper hearts ready to go, you’ll need scissors, glue sticks, and markers or crayons to add written messages to your Valentines. Consider covering the table with a tablecloth or newspaper to keep glue off the surface. Chocolates or conversation hearts can be a nice addition to the table as well, especially if you’re inviting friends to join you!

Start cutting! There are two main categories to look for when making a Valentine collage: One is decorative objects like flowers, jewelry, or hearts and the other is words and letters. Words we associate with Valentine’s Day are natural choices, like LOVE, FRIENDS, SWEET, and TRUE, as are the letters B, F, O, and X because they can be used to make BFF or XOX. You can even find names—an ad for Ralph Lauren, for example, can be used to personalize a card for someone named Ralph or Lauren.

Look for images with personal meaning. Keep an eye out for pictures that hold special significance for you and your Valentines, like a favorite food, hobby, or pet. Landmarks from the places you’ve lived or travelled to—or hope to travel to someday—also work well.

Play with placement before gluing things down. Once you find the words and images you want to use, place them onto your heart and move them around until you find a composition you’re happy with, then glue them in place one by one.

Add a written message. You can write on the same side as your collage or on the back of it. Consider the thickness of your paper before writing anything. Markers may bleed through to the other side of construction paper but will probably not be visible through cardstock. Experiment with a spare piece of paper before you begin.

Share your creations. Send pictures of your collages to our editor at george@redhookstar.com. Happy Valentine’s Day!

March Preview: Start saving your take-out chopsticks!

Author

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Comments are closed.

READ OUR FULL PRINT EDITION

click here to see our previous issues.

Our Sister Publication

a word from our sponsors!

Latest Media Guide!

Where to find the Star-Revue

Instagram

How many have visited our site?

wordpress hit counter

Social Media

Most Popular

On Key

Related Posts

Special birthday issue – information for advertisers

Author George Fiala George Fiala has worked in radio, newspapers and direct marketing his whole life, except for when he was a vendor at Shea Stadium, pizza and cheesesteak maker in Lancaster, PA, and an occasional comic book dealer. He studied English and drinking in college, international relations at the New School, and in his spare time plays drums and

PS 15’s ACES program a boon for students with special needs, by Laryn Kuchta

At P.S. 15 Patrick F. Daly in Red Hook, staff are reshaping the way elementary schoolers learn educationally and socially. They’ve put special emphasis on programs for students with intellectual disabilities and students who are learning or want to learn a second language, making sure those students have the same advantages and interactions any other child would. P.S. 15’s ACES

Big donors taking an interest in our City Council races

The New York City Council primary is less than three months away, and as campaigns are picking up steam, so are donations. In districts 38 and 39 in South Brooklyn, Incumbents Alexa Avilés (District 38) and Shahana Hanif (District 39) are being challenged by two moderate Democrats, and as we reported last month, big money is making its way into

Wraptor celebrates the start of spring

Red Hook’s Wraptor Restaurant, located at 358 Columbia St., marked the start of spring on March 30. Despite cool weather in the low 50s, more than 50 people showed up to enjoy the festivities. “We wanted to do something nice for everyone and celebrate the start of the spring so we got the permits to have everyone out in front,”