Sometimes when we think about art and creativity we imagine that it takes a huge amount of time and materials, when really it is often about expanding the way we look at things and using everyday items in a different way. Today’s “creativity moment” literally took five minutes.

Pop-up card, cut from bargain book

However, I couldn’t have done this in five minutes if I hadn’t had a flash of brilliance a few months ago. I was in Copperfields, my favorite bookstore, when I found this on the sale rack for $7.99:

Art of the Heart by Mary Emmerling

A whole book full of photographs of heart-shaped items…not really a book to read, but lots of fun pictures. I had been thinking about buying some greeting cards, when it hit me: for the cost of two cards, I could buy this book, cut it up, and make a couple dozen!

Now, I am not an altered-book-maker. I am a former librarian, and I do. not. destroy. books. Maybe I’ve highlighted sections in a textbook or two, but I have never bought a book for the sole purpose of cutting it up!

Ever since I bought it, I periodically cut out a heart and turn it into a quickie love note for my wife. Part of the fun of love notes is that we get a lot of mileage out of them in my house. We both have a tendency to exclaim over a note, then absent-mindedly stick it into a random pile or book, where it turns up to surprise and delight us all over again a few days, weeks or months later.

What could YOU do in five minutes, with materials right in front of you?