Happy Galentine's Day!

 

Last weekend, a friend and I got ready for "Galentine's Day," a time when ladies get together to have brunch and socialize and show their appreciation for each other.  This unofficial holiday was started in the popular TV show "Parks and Recreation," by the character Leslie Knope.  Galentine's

Day is officially (unofficially?) the day before Valentine's Day, but I and some of my friends will be getting together tomorrow for brunch and games, seeing as how tomorrow will be a lovely Saturday.

 

I went an unorthodox route with my Galentine's Day cards, as you'll see below.  I decided to make a little card for each person, like those mass-produced Valentine's that we used to exchange in class in elementary school.  Each card featured the recipient's first initial.  I made mine out of cardboard, fabric scraps, lace ribbon, colored duct tape, and fabric paint.  So they're a mix of traditional and non-traditional materials to create a non-traditional party favor.

 

I started out by stitching triangles of my two base fabrics together with my sewing machine.  Then I laid each square of fabric over a smaller square of white cardboard.

 

Next, I dabbed glue on the underside of  my lace ribbon--I used a thick machine-knitted lace, with threads that are almost like yarn, and I dotted glue where the pattern wove the threads more thickly together, to keep the glue from seeping up onto the front of my card.  I pressed the ribbon down along the diagonal join of my fabrics.  Pro Pointer: As you can see, all of my gluing was done on a sheet of cardboard, to protect the table.

 

I wrapped my fabric squares around the cardboard and taped them in place with my blue-green duct tape, lining up the tape so that it framed the front of my card.  I then left the cards to dry for a bit, and socialized.

 

When my fabric cards were ready, I laid out my fabric letters.

 

Looking good!  I dabbed glue onto the letters, and pressed them into my fabric.

 

For a final, whimsical touch (inspired by the glue!), I added white polka dots to my letters, to brighten the cards up.

 

The finished product! 

My friend's cards followed the slightly more traditional route of featuring hearts and flowers (some adorable little sheep made appearances, too, as you can see above).  I'll show you some other examples of those tomorrow.

 

Happy Galentine's Evening!

 

And Happy Friday!