Photo Cards

Here is an idea for using some of the pictures you have stored away.

The great part about making these cards is that if you do any type of scrapbooking or other craft, you can use supplies you already have.  I usually use pictures of flowers and landscapes, but pictures of people would work well.  Send pictures of kids to their grandparents, or use pictures from Christmas or a birthday party as thank yous!

You will need pictures, cardstock, a paper cutter, and adhesive.  Photocorners or glue sticks will work quite nicely.  I like pre-cut matting paper to mat the photos as well.  

This is all you need to make a basic card.  If you want to be more elaborate, try ribbon, buttons, brads, or eyelets.

To begin, select your picture and coordinating papers.

Attach your picture to the mat using photo corners or glue.

Take a large piece of cardstock (which will be your actual card) and fold it in half.

Use photocorners or glue to attach the matted photo to the card.  Position the photo in one corner of the card.

Trim the edges of the card so that the mat has an equal border on all sides.

You now have a one-of-a-kind greeting card!  You can stop here, or add embellishments for a fancier look.

You could snip some pieces of ribbon that coordinate with your card, and slide them under one side of the photo.  I have used two pieces in a V shape, or even three pieces as stripes.

If you use a dark color for the card, you can either write with a white pen on the inside, or you can use an extra piece of matting paper on the inside.  This adds a nice touch.

Another way to embellish your card is to use an exacto knife to cut out a design in your matting paper.

Tuck your photo behind the cut-out for a fancy corner, and then mount the matted page to your card as in the other examples.

Last, you might try adding brads or eyelets to the corners.  I use these to give my cards a polished look.  If you don't already have these supplies but want to add to your collection, brads are easier to use than eyelets, and they can be attached to your cards using only a very small gauge hole-punch.  Eyelets require a special tool set.  This example uses brads.

After you have matted your photo, punch holes in the corners of your matted photo.  Be careful not to get too close to the edge.

Insert brads into the corners, and fold the arms of each brad out to secure them.

Then, mount the photo to the card as before.

The finished products: