cards Archives - Eco Thrifty Living

Homemade Mothers Day Card!

Zoe — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 10:56:00 +0000

I’m not into the commercial hype of Mothers Day but I do like to show my Mum some appreciation! One of the best ways to do this is with a homemade card.

For a gift I gave my Mum some lovely biscuits. A friend was giving them away on my Foodsharing Group.

Feeling slightly guilty about giving her free biscuits I decided that I would make her a card. I made the card with scraps from previous projects. I keep leftover bits of card in a wallet to craft with.

How to make a homemade mothers day card

To make the flowers you need to chop out the shapes pictured above and stick them on. To make them symmetrical, fold a piece of paper in half and draw half the flower on one side. Then cut the flower shape out, through to the other side and you should have a symmetrical template. I drew the letters freehand and cut them out.

I realised it’s best to draw the letters backwards so that the pen doesn’t show when you turn them over. It doesn’t matter at all if the flowers/ letters aren’t perfect – it adds character! After I made the card I needed to put it in an envelope. I hoard envelopes from letters we receive as I use them to make note pads for my fridge. I took one of the envelopes and then up-cycled it to fit the card as pictured below:

How to make an envelope

I put the card in the envelope and then folded the envelope at the edge of the card
That left a fold mark in the envelope which I cut down. I then folded over the envelope at the top at the other edge of the card
I cut the top layer of the fold I made in step 2 and laid it out.
Then I chopped it off at the side.
I shaped the top of the envelope to create a flap to seal down
I stuck scraps of yellow card around the edges and folded over to the back on the sides as one edge needed sealing. I put more card on the bottom as there were some numbers on it that needed covering up. I decided to match it up on the top as well.
Then I put my card in the envelope wrote on the address, stuck down the flap and popped it in the post. Hopefully it will get there in time!

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Birthday card for a 4 year old girl

Zoe — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:18:00 +0000

A while ago, I decided that rather than buying cards, which are often very overpriced I would make them or upcycle old cards. I really enjoy getting creative and find it quite satisfying to produce something from scratch. I have two boys and don’t get to make girly things very often, so I was quite pleased when my son got invited to a joint 4th birthday party for two girls from his nursery – a chance to make something pink!

I took a piece of pink A4 card folded it in half one way, opened it out and then folded it in half the other way. I cut it along the shorter crease, leaving me with two pieces of card with a crease down the middle. I took one card, drew the outline of a butterfly on one half, folded the card along the crease and cut out the butterfly shape and repeated the same for the other card. I then made up templates for a star, a heart and a number 4 drew around them and cut out the relevant pieces. I stuck them on with glue.

I also made an envelope to match from some pink paper. It didn’t take me long to do and probably cost at most 30p to make them both

I am in a bit of a dilemma at the moment about making cards though. I do enjoy it, but is it a bit wasteful as most likely they will end up in the recycling bin? I have been thinking about moving over to e-cards more, but am not sure if it is appropriate to send one to a child especially one whose parents I don’t know? The card I used, I bought a little while ago, so as I have it anyway and I am having fun, I will use it all up. However once it is gone I will have to decide whether to buy some recycled card or whether to give up physical cards altogether.

I would love to hear your opinions on this, so please feel free to comment with your thoughts below!

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Homemade 1st Birthday

Zoe — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0000

I have to admit that for my son’s first birthday last year, I got a little carried away making things (not quite as carried away as for my older son, but that post hasn’t been written yet – watch this space!). Birthdays have always been a big thing in my family and my mum threw some great parties for me when I was growing up. She made me the most amazing cakes, costumes and party props, which I will never forget. I want to do the same for my kids and so starting as I mean to go on, I decided to have a teddy bears picnic theme for my son’s first birthday.

I had quite a lot of felt lying around, which I had inherited from my mum and I decided to use it for the invitations. To design the teddy bear, I looked up pictures of teddy bears on the internet. I drew and drew (on scrap paper) until I came up with an outline I was happy with (there are probably easier ways than this though). Once I had my outline, I followed the following steps:

I folded the outline in half and then cut it out (folding the outline in half made sure the teddy was symmetrical).
I used the paper as a template and pinned it to the felt and cut around it. I repeated this for each teddy invite I needed.
I cut out the arm shapes and the number 1 shape, the nose/ mouth and the eyes.
I used the cut out shapes in step 3 as templates for the rest of the teddies and pinned and cut as before.
I then stuck all the pieces on with glue/ double sided sticky tape when I ran out of one of them (can’t remember which, but I do remember it was a painstaking slow process).
I made paper cut outs of the teddy bears from an old scrap book that I was no longer using and stuck the paper to the back of the teddies, with a printed message, which read as follows:

Dear party guest,

If you come down to

(address) on (date),

you’re in for a big surprise

as (birthday child’s name)

is turning 1 and you

and your teddy bear

are invited for a picnic

Start time (time)

End time (time)

Please R.S.V.P.

by (date) to (name)

on (tel) or

(email address)

As he was only going to be one, I didn’t think any party games would be needed, just the other kids bringing their teddies was enough.

I did decide to make some going home presents and started making these lovely knitted teddies from some wool I had left over from another project (the inspiration for which came from a craft book). Their necks were pulled together with a bit of wool but could be loosened and the heads could be opened so that they could be stuffed with something and given as going home bags. Luckily I stopped at three, as by that time (having sent out most of the invitations), I realised none of the children I had invited were going to be able to make it to my son’s party (I had semi-anticipated that as a lot friends had babies very close to the birth date of my son).

We ended up just having a family party in the end, but I didn’t mind. I think it helped that I just enjoyed the process of making the invitations and didn’t get too hung up on how it all turned out on the day. I did have grand plans to make a teddy bear cake, but that didn’t happen in the end. As it happens my son is really into teddies, so I might try and do a teddy bear’s picnic party again for his second birthday and hope for second time lucky! I still have some of the teddy bear invitations and plan to frame them and hang them on my son’s wall.

Making invitations and going home presents from things I already had, saved me money and gave me an excuse to be creative. I also felt they were kinder to the environment than shop bought ones, which are likely to have been produced in factories and potentially transported long distances. Shop bought ones often end up in the rubbish bin fairly quickly, whereas hopefully these homemade versions will be kept for some time!

Just for the record though, I am not entirely anti-shop bought items as I’m sure there are likely to be eco friendly options out there and it is definitely worth bearing this in mind, if you are short on time and getting into a stress trying to take on too much (which I am often guilty of)!

Have you got any stories to share about homemade first birthday’s? I’d love to hear them!

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Gift tags made from upcycled materials

Zoe — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:07:00 +0000

During the holiday season there are so many presents to keep track of that gift tags are a must. There is absolutely no need to buy any though there are so many types of what would be waste paper/ card that can be easily turned into gift tags. All you need is a pair of scissors, a hole punch and a bit of ribbon or string and there is a veritable oasis of gift tags out there!

Packaging and boxes can be cut up into nice gift tags

Whenever you are given a gift with a gift tag, check to see if you can reuse it. Either you could put a sticker over the name or
you could cut the part off which has the name on it and punch a new hole.

I love wrapping up kids presents in old sticker books and have recently discovered that the pictures on the front covers of sticker books make great gift tags. I recently used a dinosaur sticker book to wrap up a gift and cut out a large picture of a dinosaur head to use as a gift tag.

Christmas cards/ greeting cards make great gift tags, especially when the cards are quite small.

Often when you buy or are given new clothes they have tags on them, which are quite attractive. By cutting off unwanted bits or sticking stickers in strategic places, it can be hard to tell they came with your new clothes.

I gave quite a few photos as presents this holiday season and I found myself trimming some of them to fit into certain frames. Some of the trimmings were quite attractive and cut in the right way, made lovely gift tags.

Scraps of wrapping paper stuck onto some cardboard from the recycling bin and then cut into circles or squares make very attractive gift tags and can be made to match any wrapping paper you might use.

Using would be waste materials to make attractive gift tags can be very satisfying and will save you money too. If you have young kids, making gift tags can be a fun and practical activity to do together.

If you want some ideas for how to wrap up your gifts the zero waste way, check out my post here: Eco Friendly Wrapping Paper Alternatives. Need some ideas for sustainable gifts? These ideas may help: Sustainable Gifts Your Friends and Family Will Love.

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Handmade cards and envelopes

Zoe — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:14:00 +0000

Have you ever made or received a personalised card? They have that extra special feel about them, that says someone really cares. There is a huge market these days for personalised cards with large card companies offering online card customisation and ordering.

Buying cards however can be an expensive exercise, especially when you add up all the cards you buy over a year. Some people choose to send e-cards, which saves money, paper and the environment. Sometimes though only an actual card will do.

Making your own cards at home adds a personal touch and saves you money. You could buy a card kit, which comes with pre-cut cards, envelopes and decorative items, or you could go it alone buying card, paper and accessories separately.

Here is an idea of how to make cards and envelopes for very little cost. If you hand deliver them next time you see the person, you wont need to pay for postage either. This method is particularly good for thank you cards after a party.

Step 1: Open any presents very carefully and keep the wrapping paper as smooth as possible.

Step 2: Save any cards given to you and cut them in half, keeping the front cover of the card (with the picture on). Put the written on section of the card in the recycle bin (unless there are any pictures on the back of the card which might be worth cutting out)

Step 3: Depending on the card you may just be able to write a message straight on the back of the picture half of the card. If the card says ‘Happy Birthday’ on it for example however, you could cut that bit off the card and just use the section with the picture on it.

Step 4: Lay your thank you card on the wrapping paper (wrong side up) that you have kept from the presents. Draw an envelope shape around it, making sure each section will be big enough to cover the card and then cut it out.

Step 5: Stick your envelope shape together either with glue or double sided sticky tape

Step 6: Put your card in your envelope and write on the name of the person who will be receiving the card (tip: if the wrapping paper is fairly busy, you could stick a plain white sticker on the front of the envelope so that the name shows up).

If you have any bits of card remaining, you could use them to accessorise another card.

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