DIY – Simple Sweet Handmade Greeting Cards

I was taken by surprise when my kid came home with a request to make Valentine’s day cards for his friends.
Weird? Cute? WHAT? Hmmmm….

On top of that, his specifications were loud and clear. No hearts. No pink. No flowers.
Boy, did that make things any simpler?

Since many cards had to be made, I ruminated over the quickest way to make them with minimal effort. And since the card giver had to be involved in card making, the design had to be simple. Complicated cards were out.

Rummaging through my stock of handmade papers yielded a lovely leafy green sheets of handmade paper and a hard white paper with very interesting texture. The combination was approved in a jiffy. I showed him a rough prototype of what the card would look like. He smiled.

Smile = Yes.

Here is the stuff that helped us make these cards:

• Love – Thats what this was all about
• Handmade papers in two colors (or as many as you like)
• Serrated Scissors – if you want an ornate cut
• Ribbons – for making bows
• Paper Punch – to make holes
• Ornate Punch – to punch out shapes likes stars, flowers, etc
• Pen/Pencil – to write your message
• Patience 🙂

Making cards is very easy and does not take much time. Having made many cards with recycled paper and handmade papers, it was easy to work with different textures. Here is how we made this green Valentine’s Day card:

1. Fold the paper as shown in the guide above
2. Write your loved one, a lovely message. Handwritten ones rule.
3. Punch two holes in the folded paper.
4. Tie a bow or a knot.
5. Embellish your card with any thing you want.

The best part about making this card was to do something different with my kid. To see him write small notes to each of his friends to icky-sticking small stars on the cards, it was more than endearing. Thanks to this Valentine’s Day and my little valentine, I felt so much love and happiness.

Indeed, this February is strong on love!