I’ve been creating things with paper for over eight years.  I wish I had some of the first things I made. I didn’t make this card, but I’ve had it for several years.  My friend Jen made it as an invitation for her niece’s birthday.  I call this card  my “step-it-up” card.  When I saw it, I knew I needed to expand  my creativity beyond just stamping an image directly onto cardstock, adding some glitter, and thinking I was fabulous.

You can “step-up” your creations by adding simple embellishments.  I love how Jen added small beads to the ends of the twine.  Nice touch!

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To make the tie, first thread the twine through the button holes, leaving two long tails hanging.

Keeping the two hanging tails together, wrap them around the back of the card.

Now wrap the tails around the button.  You’re done!

While you are out shopping for school supplies, buy a bunch of two-pocket folders.  You know, the ones that are on sale this time of year for ten cents.  Buy lots of them in lots of different colors!  Look at what you can make!  (Although I made the folder shown here, the idea for this is not my original idea.  I found it online a few years ago and adapted the theme.  If it’s yours, please send an email to [email protected] so I can link to your blog.)

All you need to do is make two score lines, fold, and decorate.  There is already a score line down the center, so just add a score line down the middle of the front of the folder and another score line down the middle of the back of the folder (see black arrows on the photo below.)  Once you’ve made the score lines, fan-fold the folder as shown. 

Now all you have to do is decorate and label each section of the folder.  The folder I made is great for planning a party.  The different pockets keep everything organized.

Inside left, above.  Inside right, below.

Back view.

Now you try it!

Two years ago I was blessed with the task of creating invitations for our family reunion.  Six generations of my mom’s family were going to gather at the homestead that my great-grandfather built in 1898.  Talk about pressure!  I was honored to accept the task.  There were so many elements that I wanted to include in the invitation to ensure that the recipients would be filled with nostalgia and be excited to attend.

Here is the finished product.  You can easily create the same type of invitation, and you probably already have all of the supplies that you’ll need.

Supplies:

Two different colors of cardstock, brads, brown ink (or any dark color that coordinates with the cardstock you’re using,) hole punch (for the brads,) corner-rounder

I used a two-column word doc to create the photo and wording of the invitation, and then I printed them onto Very Vanilla cardstock.  The photo I used is an actual photo of my great-grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and grandfather in front of the house that my great-grandfather built (and where we had the reunion.)  I’ll bet when they posed for this photo they had NO IDEA that it would one day end up on the worldwide web.  (By the way, that’s a baby goat in the photo.)

Try to gather a photo that includes as many generations as possible.  I think it adds a nice touch.

Here’s the wording I used and you can use, too, since most family reunions include the same type of stuff, right?  Food, music, fun, and games! 

Now, to create a vintage look, there are three things you can do.  First, before you attach the two pieces of cardstock together with the brads, scrape the sides of the cardstock directly against the ink pad.  This will put ink along all of the edges.  Then take the ink pad and randomly and lightly blot some ink directly onto the paper.

Second, add the brads to fasten the two pieces of cardstock together.  After you add the brads, use a hammer and bang them flat.  Finally, rub the sides of the cardstock against a metal edge (like a metal ruler or a pair of scissors,) to make the sides wrinkly.  Don’t worry if you make some little tears; it looks better that way!

That’s all there is to it!  The only difficult part of this project was creating the word doc.  I always go crazy when I have to center things in columns, etc. 

Have fun making the invitations for your family reunion.  😉