DIY projects

Giant Valentine’s Day Posters + Free Download

Here is another Valentine’s Day Project! I made these giant Valentine posters 5 years ago and we thought it would be fun to put together another version that people could download. It is so easy, you just download the files and take it to your nearest Kinkos and print it out giant for $5 on their giant copy machines. I like the idea that these could stay up for a while even after Valentine’s Day is over. See all the instructions and details below!

Materials Needed: Download the images right here, Kinkos

Step 1: Download the six poster images and print out or else email the files to your nearest Kinkos.
Step 2: At Kinkos print out the images in giant poster size (each one should be about $5.)
Step 3: Fold up and give to someone you love.

All photography by Aubrey Trinnaman for Oh Happy Day
Art Direction by Jordan Ferney
Production by Stacy Wichelhaus
Styling by Milan Shimono Lee
Crafting by Irene Yu
Assisted by Harper Casimiro

Giant Letter Valentine

Here is another Valentine’s Day idea to do a for a friend or lover. It is easy and cheap and all you need is a roll of white paper. (On a sidenote: we make it a family policy to always keep a cheap roll of white butcher paper around for art projects etc. My mom always kept one around when I was a kid and I remember it was my favorite thing.) For this project you fold up these big letters and then send one every day until your message is spelled out loud and clear. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Materials Needed: Roll of white butcher paper, bone folder, envelopes, stamps

Step 1: Trace out a giant letter on the white paper and cut it out.
Step 2: Fold the letters down using the bone folder (it gets bulky without it.)
Step 3: When it is small enough to fit in an envelope, tie it up and put it in the envelope. Address, Stamp, and Send.

All photography by Aubrey Trinnaman for Oh Happy Day
Art Direction by Jordan Ferney
Production by Stacy Wichelhaus
Styling by Milan Shimono Lee
Crafting by Irene Yu
Assisted by Harper Casimiro

Tree Heart Installation

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays ever. I love the idea of doing grand gestures for friends or family. This heart installation idea is really easy but a fun way to surprise someone on Valentine’s Day. You can set this up outside someone’s window while they are at lunch so they can see it all day. You could even take it a step further and write something you love about that person on each heart. Yea for Love!!

Material Needed: Construction Paper, Yarn, Tape, scissors

Step 1: Cut out hearts of various shapes and sizes out of construction paper (tip – fold the paper in quarters to cut multiple hearts at once)
Step 2: Cut yarn of various lengths
Step 3: Tape the hearts to the yarn
Step 4: Hang in a low tree

Credits + Contributors:
All photography by Heather Zweig for Oh Happy Day
Art Directed by Jordan Ferney
Produced by Stacy Wichelhaus
Crafting by Caitlin Barker
Assisted by Harper Casimiro

Heart Stamp Cups

Here is an easy little project we put together last week. I was introduced to hand carved stamps a few years ago and they are so great for personalizing something for a party last minute. This project uses a basic heart but you could do any shape or pattern. I like to keep the stamp blocks around for when I’m throwing something together at the last minute but still want some customized details.

Credits + Contributors:

All photography by Heather Zweig for Oh Happy Day
Art Directed by Jordan Ferney
Produced by Stacy Wichelhaus
Crafting by Caitlin Barker

Braided Chignon Tutorial

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Rubi Jones (hair stylist extraordinaire) was in town so I asked her to host a braid bar and teach us how to braid our hair. I met Rubi when I was living in Paris and she was always off in exotic locations doing hair for fashion week. She is really talented so I was excited to collaborate with her. We made these letterpress instructions for the night of the event. The talented Samantha Hahn did the illustrations and then we printed them on my letterpress (with a tiny bit of red neon ink at the bottom.) For those that couldn’t make it here is a step by step from Rubi on how to do a braided chignon. This is a great everyday hairstyle or for something a little fancier.

Step 1: Start with a deep side part and continue it all the way down to your neck. That will divide your hair into two sections.

Step 2: French braid one section, starting as close to your side part as you can and when you cant add more hair just finish off the braid like a normal braid. French braid the other side.

Step 3: Now you’re going to pin both braids together to create a low chignon. Cross them once and pin one braid and then pin the other.

Step 4: Once your hair feels secure, you’re going to pull your braid apart a little bit to add some texture. Starting at the beginning of your braids lightly tug on either side of the braid as you work your way to the end.

Here are some photos I pulled from instagram of the finished results.

images from: @ohhappyday /@maryinsf /@margaretgstewart /@rubijones