PAPEL PICADO VALENTINES

Valentines Day is quickly approaching so I wanted to tie it into my Do-It-Yourself project for the week. Here are some "easy" valentines to whip up for your friends & family. The level of difficulty depends on your design and your level of experience with a knife.

Supplies:

Tissue Paper
Iron
Stapler
Knife
Design
Cutting Mat
Card Stock
Glue Stick

Directions:

Step 1: Print out your design onto a 8.5"x11" sheet of paper. The thinner the better. I printed mine in light gray just to save ink. You can print it out in any color you like. My design is small, so I printed 4 on one sheet.

Step 2: Iron your tissue paper. I know this sounds silly, but it is the best way to get out the folds. Put your iron on a very low setting and iron until the folds are out.

Step 4: If your tissue paper is a standard size, fold it in half and then in half again so that you have a final rectangle that is 1/4 the original sheet. Now, when you cut, you'll end up with 8 cutouts.

Step 5: Staple your printed design on top of your folded tissue paper.

Step 6: Now it's time to pull out your knife (with a new blade) and cutting mat and start cutting.

Step 7: This is the most difficult part to explain. I would recommend practicing if you are not experienced with a knife. The smaller your shapes, shown in my design, the harder it will be. You want to cut out the inner shapes first and then move to cutting around the edge of the design. Use your finger nails to press on the paper while you cut to stabilize it so that it cuts and does not rip. Lastly, you do not want to start a new cut where the last cut ended, you want to back into it so that the end of the second cut meets the beginning of the first cut. This also prevents ripping.

Step 8: Lay the cutout on the card where you want it to be. Lift up the corners one at a time and place a small amount of glue on the underside of the tissue and press it down onto the paper to secure. Do this on all 4 corners. This way, the cutout is tacked to the card but you can also see the delicate cutout in all it's loveliness.

Notes:

When considering a design, make sure that everything connects so that you don't have a design element flapping in the wind in the middle of the card. Also, think about a dotted i, the dot will not connect to anything. Round shapes are much more difficult to cut than straight lines.

This design took me about an hour to cutout, expect for this to take a while. If you use less sheets of tissue, it will be easier. Also expect for your fingers, wrist, back & neck to hurt. Take breaks often and make sure you are sitting in a comfortable spot. I usually do mine in front of the tv with a glass of wine.

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* If you have a Do-It-Yourself project that you think I should feature in this section, please contact me at avie.designs@gmail.com with the subject: blog.DIY Please attach images to be used.