There are about 7 billion greeting cards sold in the United States every year. Annually, retail sales of cards are over $7.5 billion. That’s really crazy if you think about it.

Anyway, now that the economics lesson is over for today, here is a way to save some money, reuse some stuff you already have, and make fancy-looking greeting cards that will show that you put a little effort into whatever holiday it is.

 

 

Supplies:

  • Toilet paper rolls (or scraps from other projects such as this)
  • Scissors
  • Paint and paintbrush
  • Hot glue gun and glue (can use white glue- gather clips/clothespins as well to hole while drying)
  • Decorative paper
  • White paper

 

Basic Steps:

 

Fold the paper in half to desired side.
Glue the white paper inside so you have a clean place to write. You can also get extra-fancy and crimp the edges of whatever if you would like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you have your card, design the cover with pieces of toilet paper rolls. (See below for how to make each piece.)

 

Paint the pieces if desired. For looser items like scrolls and hearts, you will most likely loose the shape of them while painting. You can just reform them after painting or choose to paint them first, then fold them accordingly.

 

When the paint is dry, hot glue the designs to the card.

 

The Decorating Process:

The design is up to you. Below is a quick tutorial on the basic elements: scrolls, hearts, and flowers. You can look online for more ideas. Just search “toilet paper roll art cards” and you’ll get tons of results from trees to wreaths to crosses. Your only limit is your imagination.

 

How to Make a Scroll:

 

1. Cut a thin piece from the roll and cut the loop so it form a strip. 

 

2. Wrap the strip around a pen/paintbrush. For small scrolls, wrap tightly. For larger scrolls, wrap more loosely.

 

3. Pull strip off of the paintbrush/pen and adjust to your liking.

 

How to Make a Heart:

 

1. Cut a thin strip from the roll, leaving it in loop-form.

 

2. Pinch the bottom crease closed, then push the upper crease inward. Adjust to form a heart-shape.

 

3. Unpinch and adjust as needed to form desired shape.

How to Make a Flower:

1. Cut several small loops from the roll. Crease to form petals

 

2. Begin to glue the bottom of the pieces together.

 

3. Continue all the way around to form a flower.

 

Making Smaller Hearts and Flowers:

 

1. Cut a loop from the roll.

 

2. Cut in half at the creases and trim as needed.

 

3. Using hot glue, attach the ends together to form a new, smaller loop.