How to Make a Valentine Using Instagram Pictures

Welcome to We {heart} INSTAGRAM week! And a special hello to all you Studio 5 Viewers! We hope you'll stick around awhile and see what we're all about here at My Sister's Suitcase. And make sure to follow along as we share a new Instagram idea every day this week.

Pin It

To give a little introduction, I have to explain my fascination with the Instagram app. I rarely use anything but my phone these days to take pictures of my kiddies. It's just SO convenient because it's always with me. (Seriously, my poor Canon DSLR is gathering waaaayyy too much dust.)

But let's face it, phone pictures don't always look the best. Enter Instagram. HELLO! I can now make my fuzzy little iPhone picture look...artistic? Can I use that word? Haha.
BUT. These ideas are in NO WAY exclusive to Instagram users! You can use any picture format you have - from your phone, your digital camera, and even some old prints you have lying around. So, hang in there. You'll see it's really easy.

To kick off a week of fresh ideas, we're starting with a simple little Matchbook Valentine. It's a perfect way to get those pictures off your phone or computer and into the hands of someone who loves 'em. (Think Grandparents!)

You'll need:
- white cardstock (if printing at home)
- printed Matchbook cover template
- at least 5 pictures (but you can easily add more, see below)
- printed Photo Insert template
- Scissors/cutter
- Stapler

Start by grabbing these two templates here: Matchbook Cover and Picture Insert

{If you're using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to add digital pictures, leave a comment or send us an e-mail and I'll email you my PSD file!}

*Edited to add: Here's a great video tutorial I found from Deb Duty on printing Instagram photos from home! http://www.debduty.com/2012/01/printing-instagram-photos-for-project.html

Next, you'll need 5 pictures cropped to a square. So you can either take them that size (Instagram) or crop them later on your computer, or cut out pictures you have printed. If you're going the digital route, just drag onto the template and re-size to leave a small white border. The pictures should be about 2.75 in by 2.75 in (Or right at 3x3 if you don't want the white border) if you're cutting them out by hand.

Here's what my template looked like with my Instagram pictures on it.

1- Cut into two vertical strips and glue two strips together to make one long 5-picture strip (using the little "leave blank" tab.) **Here's where you could add more pictures easily - if you have 7 kids and want a picture of each... simply attach more 2 or 3 picture strips, but keep in mind, the total must be an odd number for the folding to work out correctly!**


2- Now it's time to fold! The easiest way to do it is start from the bottom. You won't need to fold on the last gray line above the "leave blank area" so start folding DOWN on the next line up (basically, make the two bottom pictures kiss.)  From there, go back and forth until you get a nice accordion fold. If you have a scoring blade on your paper trimmer, go for it! I use the non-sharp edge of a butter knife :)

3- Fold on all the gray fold lines on the Matchbook Cover once you've cut it out. Now it's time to put it together. And it's pretty darn easy. Stick that bottom "leave blank" tab into the bottom fold of the matchbook (see video for more help). Then just do two staples to keep that part attached, making sure they are only 1/3 way up the blue chevron strip.

4-This is so you have a little bit to tuck the front cover into. There you go! All done!

You could totally use this same accordion fold with your own cute paper and simply write a little love note on it. Make it your own!

Finally, I hope no one was scared off by the LENGTH of this post. I probably over-explained it. And the other 4 projects this week are much more simple. So please come back! We have some fun things coming up! Click here to see our latest Instagram idea :) And if you want to share the love, grab our button:

<a href="http://mysisterssuitcase.blogspot.com/search/label/Instagram" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l590/sisterssuitcase/instagrambutton_185.jpg" border="0" alt="mysisterssuitcase.blogspot.com"/></a>

P.S. I just have to give a big 'ol shout out to my wonderful husband. Here is the awesome setup for our little video shoot that he did! He is not only incredibly talented, but incredibly patient with me and my crazy ways. He just brought me some "brain food" (a banana split he made himself) while I'm writing this post! Love you, Babe.

See y'all tomorrow!

Find us here:

We love linking to these parties!