Pretty Paper: DIY Cards

One of the most dangerous stores for me to be in is Michaels.  Everything in the store brings out the inner Pinterest monster in me, and I think "oooh pretty," and "oooh, that would be a cool DIY!"  Then a week later the craft goodies just end up forgotten in a bag in the back of my closet, so as much as I love collecting aesthetically pleasing craft supplies, I try to resist the urge to purchase solely because something is pretty...  Operative word being "try" because as soon as I saw this craft paper set and white cutout cards I thought, "pretty!" and "must have." The patterns were just too charming to walk away from and they were on sale (Michaels + sale = wallet hazard), how could I say no?  Thankfully I was in actual need of greeting cards so I knew the paper and cards wouldn't go unused.

For this little project you will need:
Craft Paper
Plain White Cards
Fine Tip Liners
Ruler
Scissors
White Glue
Pencil

1) Choose a pattern and trace the outline of the card so it fits perfectly over the front cover of the card.
2) Cut out the rectangle and set it aside for now.

4) Pick a second pattern and slide the cutout window over the craft paper until you find a section you're happy with.
5) Cut out a small rectangle of the section you like, make sure it's large enough to cover the cutout window on the card. .
6) Take the small rectangle (pattern 2) and glue it face down over the cutout window on the front cover of your card.
7) Now take the large rectangle you cutout in Step 2 and glue it over the front cover.
When you open up the card you should see pattern 2 through the cutout window, and voila you're done.  All there is left is to write, doodle, and draw all over for an even more personal touch.

You can also reverse the cutout window so that the pattern comes through on the front cover of the card instead of the inside cover:


And instead of covering the front cover of the card, I covered the inside cover with plain brown craft paper.

I added on the polka dot and music patterns to one corner because the friend this particular card was intended for happened to love music, but you can leave it plain or add as many more patterns as you like.

I love doodling quotes and playing with fonts so I played around with a little word art to make the cards more fun and whimsical.  There really is no wrong or right way to personalizing the cards, it's all up you and that's what I liked most about this DIY.

♥ Jor