52 Reasons I love you

It's hard to believe that in just two short weeks, it will already be Valentine's day! It feels like Christmas JUST ended!  There really is no denying it when you walk into any store and the shelves are exploding with candy, stuffed animals and cards in every shade of pink and red known to man.  I, for one, am and have always been a fan of  Valentine's day.  I don't know that I have ever really taken it very seriously, but I always enjoyed exchanging cards. And who doesn't love candy?? As a kid, I remember we would always make our Valentine's "mailboxes" in class and decorate them.  I remember my Mom taking us to pick out our box of cards themed to whatever cartoon character or children's TV show character we were into at the time.  I  remember the sheer panic of making sure that none of the boys in class were given a Valentine that expressed anything more than mere friendship. (EEEEK!)  But growing up, it was always a holiday that I looked forward to.

I have never bought into the necessity, as an adult, to make it a huge fancy date night, full of pressure to match yourself up with someone, ANYONE just for the sake of having a Valentine.  I do, however still enjoy the holiday and like to do something to acknowledge it.  Call me a hopeless romantic if you will, but how can you knock a holiday about love?  As the line from Love Actually says, "Love is all around us" and Valentine's day can be a day to celebrate all the kinds of Love we have in our lives.  For me, its a day to REMIND ourselves of the Love, not just a day where we ACT like we love someone.

Of course, I tell my boyfriend that I love him every day, but I like to do a little something special for Valentine's day.  Last year, I gave him this hilarious Chocolate fish wearing a tuxedo and a Family Guy fleece blanket I made for him. This year, I had my eye on a pinterest project I saw a while back. I have seen several pins and varieties of this project and decided, this year, to make one myself.  Basically, its a Valentine's card in the form of a deck of cards. This is a nice idea because it can be used for anyone you love. Mom, Dad, child etc:anyone with whom you would like to share 52 reasons that you love them. 

First step was to write down my 52 reasons, one for each of the cards in the deck. (No problem!) I wrote them down on a separate paper to be sure that I got my wording and spelling right before putting them permanently on my cards. Once those were done, I gathered up my supplies.

YOU WILL NEED

                   -a deck of cards ( I chose red for obvious Valentine's theme but any color will do)
                   -labels or stickers
                   -ribbon or string
                   -a single hole punch

Taking my fresh deck of cards, I first took out the joker cards as well as any extra advertising cards, leaving me with only the 52 cards of a standard deck.  Don't throw away your joker cards though, as they will eventually become your front and back cover to your deck.  I then placed a label in the center of each card and wrote one of my reasons on each card. I chose to leave my cards in suit order, but feel free to arrange yours any way you choose.

I next took one of my joker cards and prepared it to be the front cover of my deck. I had these "I love you" stickers that had just the right layout and space for me to write "52 reasons" on them.  I affixed one to the backside of my joker card.

Now that all of my cards were set, I took my hole punch (I had a rectangle one from a previous project but any kind will do) and punched my holes where I wanted them on my cover card.  I then used my cover card as a master and traced holes onto the rest of my cards to ensure that they would all match up.  Once each card had hole marks traced on, I lined up my hole punch on each marker and punched out all the holes.

I then cut about a foot long section of my ribbon and fed it through the top off my aligned stack of cards, putting one end through each hole.

Then, I pulled both ends through until the ribbon lay flat across my cards and the ends fell all the way through the bottom of my deck.

Next, I took the two ends from the back side and brought them back around to the top side, feeding them underneath the flat loop on the top.

Then, I tied the ends into a knot to secure my binding. Lastly, I tied the ends into a bow to complete my Valentine's day card.

I'm sure I will find him a nice gift to go with his super cute (and simple) card, but this is such a cute start! It doesn't take very long, its super cheap, and its a very thoughtful gift for anyone on your Valentine's list.