Erinzam News

Yep. The newest issue of ReadyMade will soon appear on newsstands, so it’s about time I write a little bit about my contribution to their previous issue (Dec. 2007 / Jan. 2008), which is still available, if you are interested. Better late than never!

As usual, ReadyMade published a fantastic issue, including a selection of ideas for making your own holiday gifts. The ideas center around materials: paper, wood, plastic, fabric and metal. I contributed an idea to the paper section on how to make a note card set from repurposed materials.

Below are step-by-step instructions for how to make your own set of these note cards from file folders and other papers that you may already have.

You will need these materials and tools:

• Hanging file folders

• Miscellaneous papers (sheet music, ruled paper, graph paper, etc.)

• Glue stick

• Thick rubber band

• Ruler

• Olfa / X-acto knife

• Bone folder (optional)

• Paper clips

1. One regular file folder makes two cards. Open up a folder and cut it perpendicular to the center fold at 4 1/4 in. to the left of the fold. The center fold will serve as the fold for the cards. Cut the rest of the folder down to 11 in. x 12 3/4 in., then cut that in half lengthwise to form two 5 1/2 in. x 12 3/4 in. rectangles. Fold each piece into a tri-fold.

2. You can use any design on the front of the card. I chose monograms, so I printed out a large letter, paper clipped it to the center panel, and cut it out to create a hole.

3. Choose a paper to show through the cutout, and cut it down to the size of the center panel. Glue it under the hole, then fold the right (front) panel and glue it down to the back side of the center panel.

4. Carefully open up a standard A-2 envelope (4 3/8 in. x 5 3/4 in.) and paper clip it to your paper of choice.

5. Use the original envelope as a guide to cut your paper in the same shape.

6. Fold the new envelope paper along the original envelope’s folds.

7. Glue the bottom flap to the side flaps to complete your envelope.

8. Repeat until you have a set of cards and envelopes.

9. Wrap up your set with a rubber band and use one of the leftover cutout letters as a gift tag.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 8:52 pm and is filed under erinzam's Work, Tutorials and Tips, Earth-Friendly. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.