All Aboard...The Love Train! American Crafts XOXO

Today I am super excited to share my project with you all!  I know Valentine's Day has come and gone but I was lucky enough to win the American Crafts XOXO collection this past week over at the Moxie Fab World and I just had to play with it!  Plus, it was the perfect collection to use for Paper Crafts February Gallery Challenge!  I was so inspired that I came up with this...

 Cute, right?!  And just so you know, it does actually fold up (although it is pretty thick).  I think the idea first came to me because of this sweet, Valentine card my son got from my parents.

But actually creating this train card from design to execution was a bit of trial and error. 

For the final design, I started with a 4 1/2 x 12" piece of cardstock which I scored at 4 and 8" and then folded.  For the engine I actually created the template myself but you could probably make it easier on yourself and find some clip art online to print and trace.  My adorable train engineer is from My Mind's Eye's Alphabet Soup Boy Playing Cards.

For the wheels I punched circles out of patterned paper (love those little arrows!) and adhered them to cardstock circles (a must if you want the train to be able to stand up on it's own).  I used 3D foam squares to adhere them to the train cars and then used a border sticker to create coupling rods.

For the two train cars, I cut the cardstock to just 2 1/2 " high.  Then for the middle car I adhered a piece of white cardstock and attached several sticker, die cut, and layered heart embellishments.

For this last train car, I attached a piece of black cardstock which I trimmed with decorative scalloped scissors...I was thinking coal.  Then I just adhered the xo Thickers.  Obviously I covered all the main bodies of the train cars with patterned paper and various stickers/diecuts.

I love how this came together.  Wouldn't it be fun to add 2 more cars and a caboose?!   I might give it a try and use this as Valentine decor...I'm thinking it will look great on my mantle next Valentine's Day!  And I just got some of the BoBunny Surprise collection so maybe I'll make a birthday train next!

I hope I've inspired a few of you to create a train card...I'd love to see yours if you give it a try!  So, feel free to link it up in the comments section below.

Have a wonderful weekend!