This time we’re taking a look at the crafts geared most toward the language of love. Almost inevitably, many of these crafts on this list were brought about by Valentine’s Day; those with an aversion to love hearts and the colour pink should consider themselves warned!
Tokyo based blogger Alyssa (one half of Alyssa and Carla) has recently unveiled an origami project. Before we go any further, however, it’s worth attaching a caveat: by Alyssa’s own admission, her creation isn’t actually Origami. It’s Kirigami. The distinction between the two lies in the fact that the latter allows for the paper to be cut, while the former does not.
Paper-folding purists may object, but as we have seen, Alyssa wouldn’t be the first person in the world to forgo accuracy in order to create a more alluring headline, and she deserves credit for her candour on the matter. Both origami and it’s less widely-appreciated cousin are especially suitable for DIY creations, and Alyssa’s project is a perfect example of why: perfectly elegant results can be achieved with barely any materials at all.
Much of the work involved in the project stemmed from the creation of the hearts themselves. They can be created from a single strip of wrapping paper – any colour will do, though pinks, reds and whites are favoured. By simply folding and cutting as she directs, anyone can create their own; they can then be lovingly strewn around a suitable location, such as a bedroom or dinner table. Alyssa has opted to use 7x1 inch strips of wrapping paper, though any size should work equally well, provided the proportions are kept the same.
Our next craftsperson is Dana Watson, a native of North Carolina whose travels in East Asia have endowed her with a huge amount of skill in another lesser known oriental artform: Temari. Temari involves weaving decorative balls of thread. If that sounds unimpressive, then we invite you to view some of Watson’s creations for yourself. The results are invariably beautiful in their simplicity. This effort in particular puts a romantic twist on the tradition, and demonstrates a talent for embroidery.
Nicolette, along with her husband, Jason, run a blog called A Little Red Thread, whose ethos tends toward thrift rather than opulence; all of the items were made from things she already had lying around the house, and therefore no additional expenditure was required. This is a tendency we appreciate – after all, part of the appeal of Doing It Yourself is the financial reward of doing so.
In her latest entry she offers details of some of the items she made for her husband on Valentine’s Day. It’s the last of these items which caught our attention – a box full of ideas for potential dates. The appeal of this should be obvious.
Thinking of unusual, fun things to do together can be mentally taxing – particularly to those encumbered by work, children and the myriad other stressors that life can present. For lack of a better option, you might find yourself trooped down to your local pub, where your mutual boredom will develop into a deep-seated resentment toward one another. This box of ideas means that better options are never far away – you need only leaf through its contents to find one.
Our final entry is from Niamh, a New Zealander who runs a self-described ‘mommy’ blog called Simply Earnest. She has created these coasters from baking soda and cornstarch clay – materials which Niamh describes in glowing terms, noting that they retain their colour and durability even after being put through the oven. Having created the coasters themselves, all that remained was to append a layer of cork to the coaster’s underside, so as not to damage the table surface beneath.
These coasters, inevitably, come in the shape of a love heart. Etched in the centre is the word ‘love’. If you intend to replicate Niamh’s work, there is no reason that a more personal message could not be inscribed there – different couples, after all, express their fondness for one another in different ways. You can always hide your creations when entertaining, if they are too cringingly saccharine to inflict on your house guests.
The results of Niamh’s work, we are sure you’ll agree, are charming – and, perhaps more than any other time on this list, surmise what romance is all about. Is there anything more romantic than making each other lots and lots of tea?
The creation of our first entry comes courtesy of Rosemary Lynn, a children’s author whose blog, Roaming Rosie, is geared mostly toward ‘spreading literacy and a love of reading’, though she dabbles in arts and crafts as well. The project which drew our eye was one made to coincide with Valentine’s Day. Having come into the possession of a sizeable horde of tiny stickers, Rosie needed a place to stick them all – lest her children find creatively destructive uses for them. Her solution involved cutting a pink love heart from craft paper (you were warned!) and pritt-sticking the result into the centre of a heart-shaped dolly. We’re unsure exactly how Victorian this project really is, but we appreciate the alliteration – even if it does come at the expense of historical accuracy.
