Made from a pretty card.
I hate throwing away the cards that I deem special... cards that I can recycle... or repurpose... or even just clip out a centre or a verse or pieces of trim.. to use in other little projects or just to save for who-knows-what.. or for some day... when I find a use for it.
They only take up a small box and I have storage room for that.. so I ain't tossin'.
If anybody is interested, and you haven't already turfed all the beautiful cards..here is the method.
Carefully tear or cut the card in two at the fold.
With a firm straight edge... line it up to corners diagonal from each other, and draw a light pencil line near the middle of the card ... about an inch long to make sure the other line finds it.
You can later erase this X....
Line up the other two diagonal corners and draw the other little pencil line.
Fold the long sides up to the center of the X and make a nice crease..run your straight edge ruler along it if necessary. Some card stock is stiffer than others...and some is just too stiff to make a nice edge at all.
Then, fold over the short edges to the center of the X as well. Now, you will have folds on all four edges that meet ...
Cut, with scissors, in along the longest fold to where it meets the short fold...
hmmm... that was almost easier to see than to explain..but, I hope you get my drift...
Now, you have the two short ends to slot one over the other as you bring up the long sides..
The middle tongue of the short side becomes the outside piece and is a bit longer so that it actually folds over the two shorter pieces. You can tape or glue it down and they all stay together nicely.
If it is an especially nice card...and the writing is .. uhm... everywhere... you can always glue a light weight piece of coloured or patterned paper over the whole inside of the card before you begin cutting.. so it will become a very special box.
If there is no writing near the greeting... it is sometimes nice to see it on the inside of the bottom of the box. Again... you could always glue on some paper in a matching or complementary colour to cover the whole inside of the bottom of the box and make it look special. If you leave it... just erase the cross you made with the pencil.... and enjoy your simple but fun, little repurposed box. For today...I thought I would just show the folding part.... hopefully before you threw out all the cards.
It's like a little wrapped canvas painting.... and recipients always seem quite taken with them. The perfect size for a tiny needlefelted bear... or some handmade earrings..or a brooch... or.. well, ..sky is the limit for us crafters isn't it?....
Hope you try a few....
A Very Happy New Year to you all ... here's to more fun in 2010 !!!
7 comments:
What a clever thing to do with pretty cards. And they would be small enough to use as ornaments on a tree. Great idea, Vee!
I put some of the smaller ones in a sleigh along with some greenery and some of my mid sized bears....
I'll post a photo or two today of just the front of some of my past cards that I have kept...and display inside the branches of my trees over the years...
only our imagination, or lack of, is usually the limit isn't it? ....
anybody think of any more uses for the cards? and/or the boxes? I guess you could use some on a wreath too.... there are all sizes .....
This is a very good idea. I used it many, many times when I didn't want to give a present but money for a birthday or other occasion. It is so much nicer than an envelope :)
Happy new year!
Hey, what a good idea! I must try that. I sometimes cut the fronts off the cards I really like and use them inside jewel cases that hold home-recorded CDs.
Hallo and Happy New Year ! I love your little boxes. I`m certainly going to try to make some. Nice of you to put out some instructions :)
You make such wonderful photos of your cards on the tree.
I myself are playing with animation. It`s really fun !
A perfect way to recycle cards...thanks for the excellent tutorial, Vee!
So crafty and clever! I love it! I like that it reuses the cards too, I'm all for anything that doesn't kill more trees! :oD
Post a Comment