More Handmade Cards

I enjoy ever second I spend on making cards. It has been a great way to use my scrapbooking paper, stickers, and tools up. I love adding a little quilting into it as well. Not to mention the amount of money I have saved by using what I have.

The first card below, I made was for my mother's birthday back in October. I made a wall hanging for her, and wanted a card to match the theme and colors. The fabric in the wall hanging was floral and the theme was a vintage apron. She said she wanted an old vintage style apron, as a gift. Since I am not local and can not take measurements of my mother, I decided to add a little humor into my quilting and make a mini wall hanging of a vintage apron.

This is the cover of the card, its purple with a quilted floral diamond and gem style cover.

I used a bright colored floral paper for the inside. Using matching letters I added "Happy Birthday Mom!" I also have the press on/transfer quotes, and the one I added really went well.

The back, I used the diamond quilted paper pieces, and added my "handmade" touch.

Another card I enjoyed making was for a family friend having their very first baby (girl). I love anything baby! I enjoy making burp cloths, baby blankets, and baby pants/shorts. Anyways, I had a ton of really girly stickers and paper, so I cut a few onesies out, added a few stickers and ribbon, and of course a gem or two.

Yes I did cut those onesies out, no punch, they are not stickers, and I did not buy them.

The back of the card:

The inside, I added some very girly stickers, gems and a punch of color.

This last card was for another new mom, also having a girl. I had fun making her card, and tried my hand at a baby carriage. I also did a little tutorial on how I made it.

First thing I did was cut a circle the size I wanted the carriage to be. I need it to have a flat side, and also open like a card. I folded my paper in half, and placed my circle on the folded paper. I then slid my circle down slightly off the fold for the flat bottom of the carriage. Trace your circle and cut.

Once you have it cut, you need to measure out the opening of the carriage, or where the hood would end and the handle bars will be.

Trace and cut that window out.

I then placed my carriage on top of a white piece of scrap paper. I drew a pretty handle (you can do this as unique as you want).

Cut out two of those handles and glue one on the front and one on the back.

I then added wheels, detailed paper, and a few stickers. This is where you can have fun and add all the gems, colors, bows, ribbons, etc.

Once all the glue dried, I added a fun flower, and a few stickers.

Don't forget the inside, and that can be as simple as a little decorative paper.

Heres the back, with my handmade signature.

The finished baby quilt with the matching handmade carriage card.

If you are on a tight budget, and have a ton of stickers, or scrapbook paper available, this is a great way to use those items up, save you TONS of money, and say you care because you spent time MAKING their card!

I love when everyone says, "this card is so cute", "I love this card".... It makes it just that much more sweet, as you invested more time.

Give a Gift,
Sarah

Diaper Wreath

This another post from my sisters baby shower. If you recall the theme was Classic Storybook Baby Shower.

I saw a few ideas of Diaper Wreaths all over pinterest. However, some were so large that they were just ridiculous, and others were so plain and boring. I wanted something that welcomed guests to the party with a little baby inspired welcome. I didn't want it to be too much, or too heavy either; as I was going to hang mine on the front door. I eventually came up with this wreath:

At one point in time the blue bow at the top center was straight, oh well.

 To start out I made a circle about 12 inches wide. I then made another circle about 10 inches wide inside the 12 inch one, on cardboard. I then cut out around the 12 inch circle, and cut inside the 10 inch circle. The results are a cardboard wreath. You can purchase expensive ones, but this was way cheaper, and I had the cardboard on hand.

Now grab a few diapers. I had left over diapers from my son who recently grew out of size 3. I liked the colored prints on the size 3 diapers, plus they are larger then the newborn diapers, and cover more of the wreath. (Which is the look I was going for. I also used the leftover size 3 diapers in the diaper cake.) If you have a mommy-to-be who is going with cloth, another option is to use burp cloths, which I have a tutorial over HERE that you can check out and make! The Honest Company makes super cute designed diapers that would work great for any themed party!

I then opened the diaper, and placed the center of the diaper around the cardboard wreath cut out.

I had blue embroidery floss on hand (but you can purchase it at a local craft store for near to nothing), and I cut off about a 6-8 inch piece.

I then flattened the diaper, wrapped the blue floss around from the back to the front, double knotted it, and added a bow. You really don't need to, I just had extra floss. (I ended up turning the bow around to the back because I hated how it looked.)

I then added another diaper to the right of the first diaper, overlapping slightly to cover the cardboard, and flattened it.

I then again tied it to the cardboard wreath, using the blue dental floss, and finished it off with a bow.

I then added the last diaper and made sure all gaps or any cardboard was covered and filled in.

Add a long 10-12 inch piece of floss, wrapping around the cardboard wreath, to create a piece of floss to hang the wreath from. You can do this with pretty ribbon as well.

You now should have something like this:

I took a few extra minutes, and grabbed some scrapbook paper, stickers, and some pretty blue ribbon. I then traced out a banner onto the scrap book paper, and carefully cut it out. Finished off the details on the front with a very fine point sharpie. I added some cute baby shower 3-D like stickers, and a small blue ribbon bow on the top. I also turned all the blue floss bows to the back, as I ended up not liking them in the end.

The end result was exactly what I was expecting. Simple, elegant, and sticking to the storybook theme with Sesame Street! The wreath holders can be purchased at a craft store, or even at a hardware store. They usually are at an all time low, in price, right after the holidays. I always suggest grabbing a few different colors (or styles) to have on hand for all year round!

Now Bedazzle Your Door With a Cute Wreath,
Sarah