1 Make a paper heart.

You can make your own paper heart or print out our heart template.

a.)  Make your own - create a heart shape from any paper or cardstock. Fold the paper in half and draw half of a heart shape along the folded edge. Cut along the outline.

Unfold to reveal the paper heart.

b.)  Print out the template - print out this heart envelope template on A4 or Letter size paper or cardstock. If you are using patterned paper or cardstock, make sure to print on the paper's plain side. Cut out the heart shape.

2 Crease the template along the lines.

If you are working with the template, place the heart with the printed side facing up. You need to crease the heart along all four dashed lines. If you made your own paper heart, skip to Step 3.

First, fold in along one vertical dashed line. Unfold. Next, fold along the opposite vertical line and unfold.

Similarly fold and unfold the heart along the pair of horizontal dashed lines. Your paper heart should now be nicely creased on all four lines.

If the paper is quite thick, it is necessary to score the lines before doing the folds above. You can use a pair of scissors like I did but young crafters should use a safer scoring tool like a spent ball point pen or a blunt plastic knife.

To score, simply run the point of the scoring tool along the length of each line. It helps to put a ruler on the line to guide the tool. Try not to score too deep as this could tear the paper.

3 Write your greeting.

Write your message or greeting on the heart's plain side. You can also draw details with markers or colored pencils.

4 Decorate the greeting card.

Make the inside of your greeting card extra special by gluing materials like lace, paper shapes or fabric scraps. You can also put stickers (not the puffy ones) or colorful washi tape. However, you have to avoid gluing or putting anything on the heart's lines.

If you made your own heart, it is much easier to do this step after Step 7. You will have to unfold the heart, decorate, then re-fold.

5 Make the first two folds.

Fold the paper heart's right and left sides towards the middle. To illustrate the next folds, the corners are labeled with the letters A, B, C, D, and E.

6 Make the third fold.

Fold down corners A and B to meet corners C and D.

7 Make the fourth fold.

Lastly, fold up the bottom point E over corners AC and BD.

8 Seal the envelope.

Turn the paper so that the opening is on top. Put a small token or an additional note inside, if you like. Seal the envelope with a sticker, a strip of washi tape or you can just glue the tip.

Send out to friends and loved ones for Valentine's day. You can also make this on Mother's day or for a loved one on her birthday or special day.