Never Go to Hallmark Again: Make Your Own Cards

I've been making my own greeting cards for a few years now. I just can't stand the thought of spending all that money for a piece of paper. I know some cards are really beautiful and you can find cards at the dollar store, but I like to make my own!

Whenever I have given my handmade cards to people they really seem to enjoy them and they like that I made it myself. Giving someone a homemade card is just a nice way to make someone feel extra special. Making your own cards is a fairly cheap and fun hobby if you have the time.

I just wanted to share with you a photo of my greeting cards. You'll see in the photo, I also make handmade gift tags.

Here are my suggestions to get started:

1) Save old magazines, old cards that you get, scraps of wrapping paper, old calendars, buttons and whatever else you can think of to glue on a card. It's a great way to recycle! I just collect all these things in a little craft storage box that I have, but you could use a shoe box or whatever you have around.

2) Invest in some simple supplies. You will probably need: a glue stick or rubber cement, paper to make your cards and envelopes out of, or you could buy pre-made blank cards and envelopes (I've seen these on clearance in the craft store from time to time), an ink pad and some stamps. (Do you know Michael's crafts has a whole bin of stamps that only cost a dollar? They have ones for all the greeting card occasions.)

I really like to use stamps for my card instead of those pre-made stickers and embellishments. The stamps I bought for $1.00 each have made so many cards compared to a one time use sticker!

3) Learn how to make an envelope out of paper for your cards. You can learn that here.

4) Have a storage box for your cards. At any point in time I can go to my card box and find cards that I've made for every occasion. It saves me time because I always have what I need, or I can just make one quickly.

5) Use the Internet for ideas and resources about card making. Here is a site with a gallery on handmade cards. I also like this site as well.

I hope you have enjoyed this post.