Extra Special Cards You Can Make Yourself

There are times during the year when I buy an actual greeting card from the store. But mostly, I make one myself. Most of my gifts don’t require a big card and they don’t require something other than a one or two-line note and a signature inside.

I make these for most of my gifts, and I think you’ll find that they make a nice addition to any gift.

Here’s what you need:
+ writing paper
+ decorative paper
+ scissors
+ stapler
+ hole punch

First, gather up some writing paper. You can use anything, but I use 25% cotton paper. It has a good, sturdy texture and looks nice.
Second, find some decorative paper.

The paper above is decorative paper. Usually, arts and crafts stores sell them by the sheet. But, there are a ton of other places to find beautiful papers.

Places to find great paper:
+ Buy some nice wrapping papers. I like the non-glossy kind. You’ll be able to make use of your scraps for these little cards
+ Go to the scrapbook store; there are a ton of papers to choose from there
+ Brown paper bag makes a beautiful outer paper; the texture is lovely. And don’t worry about any seams, that adds to the look and feel.
+ Letterhead or resume paper
+ Pages from an old book

So, cut the paper into rectangle. This is not a science at all. I usually make mine as big as I feel like.

I like them small (you have to write less!); you can see it fits in the palm of my hand. I used an embossed paper for this one. How pretty is that? I found this at Michaels for about 25 cents. I got about 8 cards out of a single sheet of this paper. Not to shabby!

So, after you cut down your outer decorative paper, cut your inner paper down. Make it so you have a border like above. Fold it in half so you can have a line to go by for stapling.

Then staple that sucker in the middle. {If you want to be really fancy, you can stitch it together with a coordinating piece of embroidery floss.}

And when it’s opened, it will look like this:

You likey?