Blue flyers featuring sad bunny faces could be found around The New School campus this Valentine’s Day.
“Sad on Valentine’s Day?” the bunny doodle said, with a tear coming out of one eye. “Same tbh [to be honest].”
The flyers had been printed that morning by Kate Zibluk, a fourth-year studying theater at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts. Voucher tear offs with phrases like “wahoo” and “I would like a nap” at the bottom of each flyer encouraged people to take one in order to receive a homemade Valentine’s Day craft.
“I’m sad; I’m sure other people are sad too,” Zibluk said.
So, to spread some love on a day that can make people feel the opposite, she decided to offer up gifts from a stranger. By simply tearing off one of those small blue pieces of paper, anyone could direct message them on Instagram and, as promised by Zibluk, a handcrafted gift would be delivered to them the next day on campus.
This wasn’t the first Valentine’s Day Zibluk had given her crafts out around campus. It started in 2019 — their freshman year — with passing out pigeon doodles she had made to her friends and classmates.
“I had been pretty shy and introverted coming into college,” they said. Being able to hand out things they had made to friends and people in her classes, however, helped them get out of their comfort zone.
The next year, in 2020, Zibluk went a little further. Without asking the university for permission, Zibluk and a friend set up a craft booth in the Lang courtyard, complete with some of their own supplies as well as construction paper they had purchased. Students stopped by between classes to make their own Valentine’s cards with the materials.
“The googly eyes were a big hit,” Zibluk said, laughing.
With the closure of The New School campus during February 2021, Zibluk was unable to continue this tradition.
This year — their final year at The New School — it was hard for Zibluk to find the the motivation to do a craft table. But despite their lack of pink construction paper, and the fact that they had less time and money and more anxiety than the first year, Zibluk felt obligated to follow through with the annual tradition that they had started.
Spontaneously acting on their deep love of crafts — especially “shitty” ones, as they put it — she printed 25 of these “Sad on Valentine’s Day?” posters on her way to class on Feb. 14. Despite her hesitations, she still wanted to provide a way for people to connect on this holiday. Though only one person has reached out over DMs so far, she’s hoping more people will respond because they plan on continuing to keep the offer up.
“People are afraid to ask for things,” Zibluk said.
They want students around campus to know that they actually will make them something, whether it be a heart shaped paper cut out, a sticker or a doodle.
“It doesn’t have to be great,” Zibluk said.
Making anything brings joy to her, and she hopes to pass that along to anyone willing to take it.