I have a birthday coming up, which means I’ll need to send out thank-you cards pretty soon. Those who’ve been reading this blog may have noticed I prefer to make my own cards– I just can’t stand to give someone a generic Hallmark card with a hokey saying on the inside.
These photo cards are great because you can make a large batch in a short period of time and for very little money. Each of these only cost 50 cents in materials!
To start, amass a collection of photos you’d like to have on the cards. I’ve found I have a lot of interesting photos that aren’t really appropriate for framing and hanging on a wall, but they’re perfect for the greeting card format.
Next, have the photos printed. Many online services, such as CVS Photos or Snapfish, will give you 50 free 4×6s for signing up. You can make a lot of cards out of those!
Once your photos have arrived, you can start making the cards. I went to Staples and purchased a pack of blank greeting cards and envelopes made from a nice textured paper. Of course, you could always cut your own cards out of cardstock too.
Next you’ll need to mount the photos to the front of the cards. I used a photo mounting product that I already had, but you could even use a regular glue stick for this. If you’re really particular about getting the photo centered, you might want to sketch out or print out a rectangle to show yourself where to place the photo. I just eyeballed it myself.
Finally, you might want to put a little logo on the back. My girlfriend had just bought me a little stamp kit from the dollar store, so I used that and wrote out an inscription by hand.
And that’s all there is to it! Now you’ll have no excuse not to send cards to your loved ones.
December 1, 2009 at 2:01 am
I love this idea, I really resent paying $5 or $6 for a card, and for some reason often the blank ones seem to be more expensive than the ones with the pre-written corny messages on them. I think I am going to be doing this from this point forwards.