diy

There’s nothing like a handmade greeting card to make someone feel special. When I have nothing else to do I (let’s face it, I mean procrastination) I make cards and wait for an occasion to pop up where I can send one to somebody. Speaking of pop-up, these cards were inspired by a sweet little card I saw in a bookstore near Columbia University.

This is an easy DIY and it’s pretty much zero effort if you additionally have an electronic cutter. I recently got myself a Cricut machine and I’ve been going crazy with it. I’ve cut out about everything from all colors of paper – sue me.

Anywhoo, in this tutorial I’ve included some FREE printables that will help guide you if you do not have an electronic cutting machine. I’ll be showing you how to make a whopping TWO cards so Go on and get to creating!

What you need:

-Cardstock (preferably something with much more weight that ordinary paper)

-Exacto knife – you won’t be needing this if you have a cutting machine

-Glue

-Colorful gift tissue

-Large hole paper punch

-Gold paint

-Small paint brush

Step 1:

For card one (left in the image of the two cards), click here to download and print your free cutout file. This card is the pop-up card.

For card two (on the right), click here to download and print your free cutout file. This is the confetti filled-card.

Step 2: 

If you have an electronic cutter, go ahead and use to downloaded files to make cuts, no need to print.

If you don’t have a cutter, this is where your elbow grease will be required. With card 1, cut the entire ‘YAY’ shape out of your yardstick by following the outline. With card 2, cut ONLY the black lines printed on your cardstock. This is so that you have a foldable side on the bottom of the letters.

Step 3:

Get rid of unwanted pieces. Fold card 2 at the bottom of the letters (the area you left uncut) so that they pop out of the card

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The next few steps will be specific to only one of the cards so make sure you’re working on the write one – although there are pictures to guide you so you know.

Card 1:

• Put a small amount of gold paint on your brush and paint your pop-out letters in faint strokes. You want to leave some of the white areas showing for that “paintbrush effect”.
• Allow to dry for 10 mins and voila, you’re done!

Card 2:

• Punch out holes in your gift tissue with the hole punch.
• Write whatever message you want inside the card.
• Paint glue on the inside of the card as close to the edges as possible. Don’t use too much glue or you’ll create a mess when you seal the card!
• Place the confetti inside the card, avoiding the glue on the edges.
• Seal the card. You want the card recipient to have to rip the card open – this is what makes the confetti jump out at them!

Whether it’s for a birthday, to say congratulations or just because these cards make an excellent and thoughtful gift. I can’t wait to make more variations and send them to everyone I know! I might be listing these in my Etsy store also, depending on response so watch out for them.

Spread the confetti.

xoxo,

Essie