Halloween cards for kids

When I was a kid, I had a couple of aunts who faithfully sent my brothers and me cards for various holidays and our birthdays. When I became an aunt to several kiddos when J and I married (and now our family has grown even more) I wanted to be that aunt, too. So I made my cards for the kids in my family and a couple for friends’ kids.

I used three small stamps that I bought at Michaels for $1.50 each, and a tiny candy stamp that came in a set (and I don’t remember where I got it.) These are the stamps:

I used a black ink pad and when it didn’t work perfectly each time, I filled in the rest with an ultra-fine point black marker/pen. That was a huge pain and I have got to get better at stamping.

On the front of the card, I printed the words “Happy Halloween!” in orange ink. I searched the internet for “free Halloween fonts” and I recommend you do the same because there are a lot of good ones out there! On the inside, I used another stamp and wrote my message in orange and green for pumpkin colors. 

Lastly, on the back flap of the envelope, I drew a little orange and green pumpkin. That way the kids (and their parents) will have a hint about what the card is for!

Do you make cards for kids? What do your Halloween cards look like?

DIY Stationary Kits for Kids

I love writing notes, letters, and cards to my nieces. I got the idea from when I was a kid and would get cards from my faraway aunts for every single holiday. Well, thankfully, most of my young family members live in my town and I see them for many holidays and their birthdays. But what about cards just because? I have done that too. 

I have two nieces (sisters, ages almost-10 and almost-8) who have expressed great appreciation for my cards. Especially the 9 year old, but for this gift I decided to include both girls. 

Stationary Kits! 

    

I started with two gorgeous folders I received from a teacher friend getting rid of them. The sparkly one is the 9-year-old’s, and the flower one is for the 7-year-old. 

Inside I included tons of paper. I have a ton, and I needed to spread the wealth, you know?

10 sheets of pink, 10 sheets of blue, and 10 sheets of fish stationary. The pink and blue are from the reams of each we bought to print our wedding programs on. We have so much left. The fish stationary was a Christmas gift to me from when I was still a minor living with my mom. I have used a bunch… still have a bunch left. 

5 sheets of each decorative paper. 

Two pieces of pig stationary. I didn’t have much of this. It’s from my childhood.

A sample envelope (on a big notecard). On one side, there’s a generic form. On the back, there’s an example with their REAL name and address in the top left corner, and my real address in the mail-to section. I thought it might be easier that way, too. Of course I drew where the stamp should go. 

Their very own address book! Really just some papers stapled together more than a book. I included everyone’s addresses that I had that would be of interest to them. Including: their grandmas on both sides, their grandpa and nana on our side, all of their aunts and uncles on our side (mine is first, hehe), their dad, their half-sisters, and their great-grandma on our side. Their own address is at the top of each girl’s address book. I know they have more family, so I included a heart-shaped post-it note reading “Please add your own! I don’t have your whole family’s addresses!” and left lots of paper for however long they choose to keep this stuff. 

The only thing missing is envelopes and stamps. I am thinking of buying a book of stamps and tearing it in half so each girl gets her own, and I’m not going broke for something that may never get used. 

I originally included a couple of cards I’d love to get rid of, but I realized that the envelope is square, and that requires extra postage. Rather than trying to explain that to the girls AND making their mom buy more stamps, I removed the cards. 

Here’s the inside of one kit. 

I didn’t write anything on the folders in case they want to use them for school or something. I am positive they will be able to keep straight whose is whose since the folders are different, and well, just because I know them. 😉

I made these because they like getting cards from me, so I thought they might want to send some mail themselves. I hope to receive some of that mail! It would be a blast to get one of these pieces of stationary back with their name on the envelope. I’m also trying to encourage writing habits. The more you read and write, the better reader and writer you become. That’s important to me.

Let me know what you think in a comment below!

Even Easier DIY Holiday Notecards

In my previous post, Easy DIY Holiday Card (and the trick to mass production), I made 30+ cards for friends and family, including a letter and two pictures. I mailed or handed these out to my family members and close friends.

But here’s show another easy holiday card I made this year. This version will be put into the mailboxes at the elementary school where I work. It includes a short, personalized, hand-written note and of course a name; otherwise each card is pretty near identical.

As an added bonus for me, I had all the materials I needed already in my house – kind of needing and waiting to be used. I don’t know what I would have done with this stuff otherwise.

4″ x 6″ index off-white index cards were the base. These cards are huge compared to regular index cards, and a lot of them didn’t have lines on either side, so I didn’t know what to use them for. I think colored cards of this size would be fun, too.

I made a very simple tree. I had 3″ x 3″ squares of green paper. They are the same size as Post-it notes, but did not have a sticky part, therefore I (again) had no idea what to use them for.

Because the slips of green paper were squares, I folded them diagonally and cut them apart to make two equal triangles.

I used a glue stick to paste the first triangle’s wide base parallel to the bottom, just below the center of the index card.

I glued the second triangle about 3/4″ above the first triangle. This way the whole top triangle was showing.

Last, I drew a trunk with brown marker. No need to be perfect.

I wrote the name of the receiver in cursive above the tree, at the top of the card, in red skinny marker, and the message in plain black pen. For my convenience I also wrote the full name of the receiver so it will be easier for me to find their mailboxes (which only contain last names).

My custom messages were short, and said things like “I love coming to your classroom”, “Thanks for always saying hi in the halls”, “Hope you have a wonderful break”, etc.

Dear readers, I hope your holidays are extra special, too!

 

Recent card projects

Traced and drew a tractor from an internet picture, colored with markers

the 24 is on a bunch of black rectangles for a 3D effect

INSIDE: “…You are a wonderful brother and person”.

 

Scoops are from poster paper; cone and cherry from glitter cardstock

Card organization and storage

I used to collect cards. Every one I got. Before I moved a couple of years ago, I looked through those cards (and notes!) and throw most away, as well as organize them by category – birthday, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, congratulations, prayers/good luck, etc. Each category was wrapped in a rubber band with a post-it on top saying what event it was. I stored them in this cookie tin:

I decided to go through them again recently. I’m trying to declutter and let’s be honest, there is a whole spare bedroom closet FULL of my “memories”.

So I threw away a lot of cards, but I kept some too.

Organized birthday by sender – parents, brothers, or friends. Then organized by date.

Kept some Valentines, a couple Christmas, some congrats and some prayers/encouragement. IMPORTANTLY, I did not always keep the whole card. I generally only care about what my family member or friend wrote. I didn’t have a huge problem with chopping the covers of many cards, so I did.

Also didn’t have a problem putting a couple of holes in each card and sticking them in a 3-ring binder for super-easy access to lots of reminders I am loved.

I alternated where the cards went in the binder – since many were small enough for only two holes, I put some in the top two holes and the next category in the bottom two holes, etc.

Birthday cards from parents

Christmas cards in bottom 2 holes, encouragement in top 2 holes

Even could include my favorite paper plate card from my brother when I turned 19

With some of the cards or the covers that I didn’t feel the urge to keep any longer, I chose a few to cut up (some more) and keep pieces for when I make my own cards, which I do.

I kept these intact.

These, I trimmed, or cut out the fun stuff.

Fun stuff

A bunch of “fun stuff” from only 2 cards, binder clipped together

This is my card organizer. The first half are blank note cards with my initial or something similar on the front, which I tend to use instead of stationary. I have a TON of thank-you cards (I do use them a lot.) I bought a bunch of “Just because” cards for my nieces that can read. I have a birthday card slot, and a slot for cards of every season. Christmas has its own section. The last two sections have the stuff I cut out today.

In each seasonal holiday I have a pink sticky note listing the holidays in that season (per month) that I tend to send out cards for.

WINTER: December (Christmas), January (New Year), February (Valentine’s Day)

SPRING: March (St. Patrick’s Day), April/May (Easter, Mother’s Day), June (Father’s Day)

SUMMER: June (above), July (Independence Day), August

FALL: September, October (Halloween), November (Thanksgiving)

 

 

 

Update – 7/20/13,

Cut apart some file folders that I was not going to use since I’ve switched to a binder and accordion folder system, slapped some cut-up sticky note labels on them, and now I’ve got dividers!

Comment and let me know if you are a card hoarder – or just used to be one, like me!

Next I’ll tackle the cards my husband has given me over the past 4+ years…