Most people who make their own cards have had the dreaded experience of spending an incredibly long time on a creation – say, the Mesozoic Era, give or take a couple of decades – only to have the beloved recipient glance the card over faster than you can say pterodactyl and toss it onto the table.  With this project, that will NEVER happen.  How do I know?  Because this card is a show stopper – and after a bit of computer and printer work, it’s  also quick to make!

Materials:

  • Brown paper grocery bag
  • Paper trimmer
  • Tall digi (like this one!)
  • Markers, colored pencils, or paints
  • Various paper scraps (optional)

 

1.  Cut off the top edge of your grocery bag.

 

2.  Using that nice straight edge you just made, cut a strip that is 3.75″ wide.

 

 

3.  Place the strip in your trimmer so that the edge with the fold in it is at 5.5″.  Cut.  Now you should have a piece that looks like this when it’s all stretched out.

 

 

4.  Carry that piece to the computer so you can print on it.   We’ll start with the front of the card.  If you’re using the “Whole Lot of Awesome” set, pull up the “Sentiment” file, then rotate it 180 degrees so that it’s upside down.  If you’re using another image, pull that up, and turn it upside down.

 

5.  Fold up your card and determine which side you want to be the front.  If it helps you feel confident, mark this with a little F in pencil in the lower right corner.

 

 

Now unfold the entire card.  The little F will be in the upper right corner, facing down as the paper goes into the printer.

 

 

Tell the printer you’re printing something that’s roughly 4×6: a card envelope, an index card, whatever.  Put the strip into position for printing, take a deep breath, and print!

 

 

So cool, right?!  You just printed on a grocery bag!

 

6.  Now we’ll print the inside of the card.  If you’re using the “Whole Lot of Awesome” set, open the “Giant” file and rotate it 180 degree so it’s upside down.  If you’re using another digi, turn it upside down.

 

 

7.  Take your card and open it up.   Again, if it helps you feel confident, you can print a tiny B in the lower right corner at the very bottom.   Now flip it over – the bottom coming up and over the top – so that the B lands face down in the upper right.

 

 

 

8.  Insert the card into the printer in this position, but this time, 1) adjust the image so that it is 11.75″ tall; 2) tell the printer to print “O” inches from the top and -0.5 from the left; and 3) tell the printer a white lie and say you are using Legal Paper.  Once you hit “Print,” it may pop up with a warning that there is a “Paper Mismatch,” or some such, but give it a lollipop (or whatever you need to do to make it print regardless), and you should be good!

 

 

 

9.  Now you can color!  My favorite part!

 

 

10.   Embellish as desired, fold it up, and give it to someone amazing!

 

 

The “Whole Lot of Awesome” stamp set is on sale for the next week, by the way, so grab it while the grabbing is good!

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ann

Ann D'Angelo is a dedicated drinker of diet Coke who has never spotted a thrift store she didn't want to visit or an item she didn't want to alter. Check out Ann's shop.

2 Comments

Danielle · June 25, 2012 at 12:08 pm

I absolutely love this idea! Thanks so much for sharing it…

    AnnDAngelo · June 25, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    Hooray! I'm so glad, Danielle!

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