Craft for Kids: Handmade Cards

Here are two ideas or patterns you and your kids can use to make some handmade cards.  You can use these immediately as invitations to a party or keep them on hand for future use as thank you or thinking of you type cards.

This idea is fun for little kids because they can make the bottom of the cupcake and help select the color combinations.  Simply cut paper to the size of card you want and folded it in half.  Then draw a pattern on thick paper for the three parts of the cupcake – the dot on top, the icing on top, and the bottom portion.  Cut out pattern pieces and trace around the bottom pattern and the dot pattern many times on a sheet of watercolor paper.  Then, let your child practice his or her watercolor skills and paint the cups and dots.  It wont matter if they stay in the lines, because you are going to cut them out when the paint dries.  You can use whatever you have lying around for the tops.  I used some fancy patterned paper I had for the icing tops, but you could just as easily use watercolor.  Once you get everything cut out and ready to assemble, your child can help put together the color combinations.  Be sure to use rubber cement to glue the pieces onto your cards and not regular glue.  You don’t want your hard work wrinkling or shriveling as it dries.  You could probably also use glue dots.   That’s it.  Easy peasy and lots of fun.

Here’s another idea.  It takes a little longer and requires a lot more cutting.

Again, make a pattern for each part – each rainbow color and the cloud.  Trace your patterns on the appropriate color paper.  This is a lightweight card stock.  Glue your rainbow together before you glue it to your card, because you might have to cut some extra paper out of the arch in the center.  Once your arch is clear, glue your rainbow to the card and cut any excess rainbow parts off around the edges.  Again, use rubber cement instead of glue.  You could use a glue dot for the cloud.  These cards were used as invitations to a party, but you could write anything  you wanted on the cloud such as, “thank you” or “thinking of you.”

Both of these ideas are fun and easy and something you can get your kids to help with.  Stock up or use immediately.  They could also make great Mother’s Day cards.

Here’s another fun idea you can do with kids.  Check out these handmade goody bags.