Sorting Valentines at the Postal Station by Betsy Skagen

Hello! After serving as a guest designer for a couple years, I could not resist making the leap to joining the official educator team in 2017. The opportunity to work with so many talented artists and play with the boundless creative opportunities of Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts products was a dream come true.

To kick off the year, I created this miniature Valentine Postal Station. I hope you tour all the tiny details--from the miniature millinery cabinet, to the mail bags filled with itty-bitty love letters, to the minuscule chocolate kisses.

Designed in 1:12 scale, this sorting station is a mix of old and new. There's no computerized robotics to sort the lovelorn postcards, the cute Valentine puns and the packages filled with chocolate truffles; yet you can see a few modern-day postal boxes.

To make the Millinery Cabinet, simply assemble and glue the pieces together and then paint with a brown acrylic paint.

Except for one or two of the brown paper packages (tied up with strings) that were store-bought, a friend and I made the rest. To make these, simply cut pieces of florist foam into rectangles, wrap them with Kraft paper, creasing the edges with a bone folder. Then, wrap the packages with a narrow string.

I also made the Priority Mail packages. I mistakenly thought since they were government issued they were public domain. Oops--I was wrong. So I designed new mail packages for you to use, as well as stamps, additional Valentine packages and postcards.

The Chocolate boxes are from the Tiny Valentines Collage Sheet and the Calendar is from the Valentine Packages Collage Sheet.

To make the base, assemble and glue a Cottage Base and adhere cardstock that looks like distressed flooring--super easy!

To make the walls, cut two 9" x 9" x 10" pieces of foam core and adhere together at a 90 degree angle. Add some cardstock that looks like distressed wood. I've been watching too much of the Fixer Upper TV show lately, so I gave the cardstock a light whitewash of gesso to make it look like shiplap. Heh heh. Use a strong glue to adhere the walls to the Cottage Base. 

To make the table, just assemble and glue the 1:12 Round table and chairs and paint with off-white paint. 

Create teeny-tiny chocolate kisses by first making a huge sacrifice and eating one or two real chocolate kisses. I know, I know, the difficult things we must do in the name of art. Cut the paper strip into tiny strips and shape the foil into tiny kiss shapes around the paper strip. 

I hope you noticed that Valentine's Day could not be complete without some Conversation Hearts nearby to snack on during break time?

Make the canvas mail bags by cutting a piece of lightweight canvas, gluing together, and folding the inside edge over a string and hot gluing the edge down. Of course, a person could actually sew a bag, but I avoid sewing at all costs. Stamp the letters M-A-I-L in red ink on both sides of the bags, stuff the bags most of the way with pieces of paper towel and then top off with packages and letters. Add a final touch by painting a curious little mouse with a white paint and placing nearby.  

Prime the Border Sticks and Narrow windows with white gesso. Then color with red paint. Adhere the windows to blue polka-dot cardstock and glue to the walls. Also adhere the borders sticks to the left wall above the cabinet. Make a chandelier by hanging a small Christmas decoration from a piece of stiff wire that runs across the top of your walls. 

This project is easier than it looks, I hope you consider trying all or some of it for your Valentine decor. 

Great Stuff

Millinery Cabinet 1:12
Cottage Base
Round table and chairs 1:12
Border Sticks
Narrow windows 
Valentine Packages Collage Sheet.
Tiny Valentines Collage Sheet
Little Letters Collage Sheet

Glass jar

Tiny metal mouse

Beacon Fabri-Tac Adhesive

Distressed flooring cardstock

Distressed walls cardstock

Blue polka dot cardstock
Kraft paper

Small pot

Red star

Wire

Canvas

String

Paper towel

Stamp letters

Red Ink

Chocolate kisses

Miniature pencils

Miniature plant

Foamcore

White gesso

Brown paint

Off white paint

Red paint

White paint pen