52 Reasons Why I Love You DIY

Front Cover for 52 Reasons I Love You DIY

Valentine’s Day is almost here, and I know a lot of you out there are probably searching for gifts for your boyfriend/husband or girlfriend/wife.  I always say this, but I think homemade gifts are such a wonderful way to express your love for someone.  So much thought, energy, and love goes into the gift that that’s almost a gift on its own!

I had come across the 52 Reasons Why I Love You DIY a while ago, and knew I wanted to make it at some point for a special occasion.  After pinning it, I was a little intimidated by the DIY… I’m what I like to call an “uncrafty crafter.”  This project looked slightly beyond my capabilities, so I passed on it more than a few times.

Finally, last year for Valentine’s Day I decided to take on the challenge and make it for Daniel.  This DIY is all over Pinterest and everyone has their own take on it.  After looking at a bunch of examples, I knew how I was going personalize it for Daniel and myself.  And now I’d like to share it with you all, so here’s my DIY of the 52 Reasons Why I Love You gift!

Here’s what you need:

  • Hole puncher
  • Deck of cards
  • Scissors or exacto knife
  • 1 in. to 1-1/2 in. binder rings
  • Small binder clip
  • Card stock
  • Mod Podge
  • Scrapbook paper (optional)

Here’s what you do:

Deck of Cards for 52 Reasons I Love You DIY

What I love about this project is that you can really get creative and personalize this gift.  You can add so many touches that are unique to your relationship, and I definitely urge you to customize it to your needs.

One way you can do that is in your choice of cards.  There are a ton of different styles of cards on Amazon, and you can really have fun with your selection.  I decided to go with a classic style, and I chose red because… well, it was a Valentine’s Day gift and I personally like the expected color!

52 Reasons I Love You Template

Now, after you decide on your cards, you then need to figure out the other components.  The most important being the 52 reasons you love your significant other!

When I was looking at other examples I saw examples of both handwritten and printed.  I really liked how clean and polished printed examples looked, so I decided to do that.

I noticed some people printed them on labels, which would be a really fast and easy way to do them!  However, I wanted them to match up perfectly with the rectangle in the middle of the card.  Do to that, I created a template in Photoshop and printed them on cardstock.

I’m no wizard with Photoshop, all I did was measure the rectangle on the card, and then created an image in Photoshop and added a black border.  Then I created another image the size of my cardstock, copy and pasted the rectangle image a bunch of times, and that was my template.  I used a free font called Daddy’s Girl, I really liked this font because it had a handwritten feel, and it also included Valentine looking images.  Since there are 52 of these little bad boys, I highly suggest using an exacto knife to quickly cut them out.  So if you’re creating a template make sure they all match up correctly!

A few more components you need are a front cover and a back cover.  This is another great opportunity to personalize this DIY to your relationship!  I made the front cover by measuring the card and creating an image in Photoshop.  I Googled an image of a card and a little clipart bear holding a heart (which is an inside joke).  Puzzles have long been a theme in our relationship, and I found this great tutorial on how to create a puzzle effect in Photoshop!

Front Cover for 52 Reasons I Love You DIY

For the back cover, I found an image of a heart that I liked, used the same puzzle effect, and included our anniversary date.  Both the front cover and back cover are printed on cardstock.  You can see here the font I used replaces some letters with hearts, which was another reason I chose to use it!  Very Valentine’s Day!

Back Cover for 52 Reasons I Love You DIY

Components for 52 Reasons I Love You DIYOk, now the final component you need are pictures!  To really add to the mushiness, I had the idea to include special moments in our relationship throughout the years.

I wanted to space them throughout the deck, so I only used 30 pictures.  I resized all my pictures to the size of the cards and printed them out on cardstock.

Now that you have all your components, it’s time for assembly!

It’s Mod Podge city for the next two steps!  Glue all of your 52 reasons and back cover to your deck of cards.  Here are a few examples of how the completed cards will look.

Reason I Love You for Valentine's DIY

Example for 52 Reasons I Love You

Example for 52 Reasons I Love You DIY

52 Reasons I Love You Example

Next, I Mod Podged all the pictures onto the face of the cards and then rounded the corners with scissors.  Also do this for your front cover if it’s the same size.  I glued my front cover to the back of the card (the red side).  Here are some pictures of how they turned out.

Photo Example for 52 Reasons I Love You

Photo Example for 52 Reasons I Love You DIY

Photo and Example for 52 Reasons I Love You

52 Reasons I Love You Example with Picture

52 Reasons I Love You Example with Photo

The final step is punching holes in the cards.  I made two holes on the left hand side of one card.  After punching holes in the first card, you will then use that card as a template for the rest.  Depending on your strength, you can do about 4-5 cards at a time and hold them together with a binder clip.

How to Punch Holes for 52 Reasons DIY

Once you have punched holes into all the cards, all that’s left is placing them all in the binder rings and you’re done!  I would suggest letting your cards dry for a day or two before the final assembly.  This is a very heartfelt and romantic gift, and absolutely perfect for Valentine’s Day!  It would also be a great gift for an anniversary as well!

Bonus:  The Gift Box!

After completing the 52 Reasons Why I Love You DIY, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to present it.  While I was searching for ideas, I stumbled on this tutorial for a DIY gift box made entirely out of scrapbook paper!  Super easy and looks great.  Check out the photos below!

DIY Gift Box

DIY Gift Box Close Up

52 Reasons I Love You Front Cover

52 Reasons I Love You in DIY Gift Box


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