I always feel that Valentine’s Day should be celebrated but simply. It feels like I’m still paying off the excesses of Christmas in February and I want Valentine’s Day to be meaningful more than anything else. My daughter has already asked when she’s getting for Valentine’s Day so I’ve been emphasising the handmade nature of our gifts this year.

The children have been busy making cards and have bought small chocolate gifts for their friends. I love that my 8 year old made a card for her boyfriend, I really hope she gets one back.

Love Paper Box from MakeBox + Co

I love paper cutting, but haven’t really done any since I got my Cricut Maker. The Cricut cuts paper and vinyl which took all the fun (and hard work!) out of paper cutting. However, I liked the sound of the Love Paper Box from MakeBox + Co so signed up. It only arrived a few days ago and I knew I had to make a start quickly, otherwise I wouldn’t be finished before Valentine’s Day.

The Love Paper Box included a scalpel, blade frame, templates, cutting mat, coloured card, a glue stick and foam pads. There was a handy guide to paper cutting with a few projects according to your level of experience.

I don’t work on Mondays so I sat myself down to craft. I love to take a little time for myself and it felt fun to have everything I needed to make something. I actually used my own Swann Morton, picked a project and started cutting.

The templates were only printed on paper so you had to transfer them to card. I would have preferred it if the templates had been reversed, as this means you don’t see any of the cut lines. I chose to cut out the two love birds with a red heart. I framed them on a piece of pink card and put them into the box frame.

This was a super quick project but with great results. I miss paper cutting so I may have a look through my collection of books and see what else I can make.