Free and All Ages

LOVE LOCAL: MAKE POP-UP VALENTINES!

Learn how to make 3 unique pop-up valentine cards to send to your loved ones! Fun and accessible to many developmental levels, this hour-long workshop is open to all ages. Families can choose to work together or side-by-side to create their valentines.

Note: This is a recording of a live workshop offered on Saturday, January 30, 2021, in lieu of MCBA’s annual Love Local open house. Ahead of the live event, we made kits of pre-cut paper available for sale. While we are no longer selling pre-cut paper, we have provided dimensions below so you can prep your own!

MATERIALS NEEDED
To follow along with the workshop, all participants will need to prepare the construction paper or card stock cut to the following dimensions, along with the tools below:

Flower Bouquet Card
1x 5 ½ x 8 ½ in. 1x 5 ¼ x 8 ¼ in.

Nesting Accordion Card
1x 4 ½ x 11 in. 1x 4 ½ x 7 in.

LOVE V-fold Card
1x 5 ½ x 8 ½ in. 1x 3 ½ x 7 in.

Tools
Bone folder or alternative (popsicle stick, spoon)
Scissors
Pencil
Glue stick
Ruler
Waste sheets for gluing
Additional scrap paper to decorate your cards


MAIL IS MAGIC

Dive into a different aspect of mail art in each of the five episodes below!  Hosted by MCBA Lead Teaching Artist Madeline Garcia, these 10-to-15-minute lessons cover everything from DIY envelopes to hand lettering and printmaking techniques. Madeline shares lots of inspiring examples and prompts to get you started.

Send your mail art to a loved one, or send it to us and be part of a pop-up window installation at MCBA! You’ll support the USPS while you’re at it. #MailedIt

In Lesson One: Envelopes, Madeline showed us how to make an envelope from scratch by folding any large photograph or paper sheet into nine sections.

In Lesson Two: Artistamps, Madeline showed us how to design a sheet of “artistamps,”which play off of real postage stamps for design inspiration.

In Lesson 3: Hand-Lettering in Mail Art, Madeline inspired viewers to create mail art composed entirely of letterforms (with the help of scissors, stickers, and colorful pens).

In Lesson 4: Rubber Stamp Carving, Madeline demonstrated how to carve your own stamp with an Xacto knife and a rubber eraser.

In Lesson 5: Collage & Found Objects, Madeline inspired us to repurpose paper scraps and found media into a mail art collage.


VIRTUAL FOLD-ALONGS

These paper-based projects can be assembled with simple household materials and are perfect for all skill levels. Though we are no longer presenting live fold-alongs, we have archived all 11 videos here so you can catch up on a missed lesson or return to a favorite structure.