Welcome back! If you missed Part 1,
you can catch up here. (Don't worry. It's not too long. :) )
Today we're going to talk about how you can get your own card-making
party started...For cheap!
First of all, if you don't know, I
love crafting AND saving random things, such as Christmas paper, so
we already had quite a few things to work with to begin with. But, I
also bought quite a few things too. However, they were not nearly as
expensive as I was afraid they were going to be. Like I said in the
first post, I wanted to make lots of cards, but I didn't want it to
cost an arm and a leg either! So here are my tips on where to get
supplies:
*Use what you
have. Who DOESN'T have some old wrapping paper laying around? Old
Christmas cards shoved away somewhere? Recycle them! Even paper bags
are fair game.
*The Dollar
Tree and Dollar Stores are your best friends! Who doesn't love
The Dollar Tree?! I can't remember what all I got from here, but I
know stickers and boxes of 20 or so Christmas cards were some of the
main items. I also found some really awesome rolls of tape with
holiday designs on them at the Dollar General store. This year, my
mother in-law found some really cute snowflakes for $1 at Walmart
that we were able to make, like, 10 cards with! Awesome!
*Look for
deals. I noticed the other day, while looking for something else,
Michael's had a deal on their cardstock: 3 for $10, which isn't bad
considering they are normally $4 each for 100 sheets, if I remember
correctly. Maybe it's just me, but that way you can stick to exactly
what you want too instead of settling for a multi-pack. I like to
stick with green, red, and blue, though I have made quite a few white
ones so far this year. :)
*Ask people for
their old stuff. Several of my family members were more than
willing to share some old Christmas stuff that they never used or was
just “junk”, such as leftover wrapping paper, old Christmas
cards, stickers, etc.
Still not quite
sure what to use for decorating your cards? Here are some ideas!
-wrapping paper
-paper bags
-aluminum foil
-stickers
-stamps
-decorative tape
-pictures cut out
from old Christmas cards
-ribbon
-old Christmas
fabric
-and the list goes
on! Seriously, get imaginative here, people!
Need some design
ideas? Here are some of the cards I have made and what materials I
used. (My #1 tip? Keep it simple!)
*Decorative tape
snowflakes (You could also try ribbon.)
*Decorative tape
trees
*Trees made from
old fabric
*Ornaments made
from old fabric and aluminum foil
*Gift boxes made
from paper bags and decorative tape and/or ribbon
*Trees made from
paper bags and decorated with markers
*Trees made from
old wrapping paper
*Ornaments made
from old wrapping paper and aluminum foil
*Decorative items
glued on the front
I wish I had
taken pictures of more of the cards I made last year, even if they
weren't my faves. I feel like I'm forgetting some ideas!
As far as the
inside goes, I chose to use a stamp (which my then 4 year old loved
helping with) and a few stickers (she liked that too) to decorate it
with, along with signing the card. Since we just dropped ours off at
the closest rehabilitative center closest to us last year and didn't
know any of the residents there, we just signed our cards “from the
Owen family”, but you can do yours however you want, obviously.
Well? What are
you waiting for? Time to get out there and get some card-making
supplies! :)
