Work, Home and Family - Homemade Gifts Part 5: A Playing Card Scrapbook



So that's not the best photo ever, but I think it's enough to get the idea across.   And, yes, I totally stole this idea from somewhere on the internet and I don't have a clue where anymore.  If you know, please email me so I can give proper credit.

I'm a bit behind on posts this week - it's been quite the week and a half here - two ER trips, lots of medication, 12 inches of snow, and a variety of little things have left me with little time and feeling a bit like I'm getting pecked to death by hens!  A quiet evening yesterday made up for it so I'm hoping that for the rest of the week the "pecking" quiets down!  Lent starts next week and I'm hoping for a quiet and contemplative Lent rather than a rushed, hectic one.

This was one of John's Birthday gifts.  And I had the children make this with me.

I bought the deck of cards at the Dollar Store and used scrapbook paper we already had, ribbon we already had and three ball point pens to make this gift.

I cut the scrapbook paper to the size of the middle decoration on the cards using my paper cutter and then used scrapbook adhesive to adhere them to the cards.  Before I adhered them, I divided them between the children and myself and we each wrote down the things that we love and admire my husband.  We titled it "52 Things We Love About You" but you could change the title to fit your scrapbook.

It was great fun to see what the children had to say (so many things that I wouldn't think of!) and they had a blast making this!   After everything was adhered, I used a hand held paper punch to punch holes in the cards and then used the ribbon to tie them together in a "book".

Additional ideas for this book:  photos instead of sayings, write through the alphabet twice with a single word for each letter, thumb-print pictures (I need to try that one!), and favorite memories or events. 

Our children loved this so much, they each asked if we could make them one for their birthday! I think we'll do that - its was fun and easy and my husband loves reading it occasionally to remind him that we love him even on the tough days.

I'm thinking of having the children make these for their teachers this year at the end of the year with favorite memories and a couple of photos. 

Total Time: About forty-five minutes, including cutting the paper, writing the statements, and punching the holes.

 My Cost: $1.07 for the cards.  I had everything else on hand.

Your Cost: $1.00 plus tax (the $0.07 for us) and whatever the cost of other supplies are.  Plain typing or lined writing paper and cellophane or two-sided tape, a glue stick or craft glue would work just fine and you could use a piece of ribbon, a (clean) shoelace, a bit of rope for a more rustic look, etc. to tie this together. An awl or ice pick or craft punch would work for punching the holes too.  Wouldn't a heart shaped craft punch look great for Valentine's day?   A single hole in the corner rather than two across the top would work too.

What did you make this week?

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