DIY - Book of Cards
If you're like me (a slight hoarder), you have greeting cards collected from various holidays and occasions. For me, I have Christmas cards that friends have sent me in the past collected, and definitely a stack of birthday cards stored somewhere. You can finally put those hidden collections into better use, and turn them into coffee table reading material (or bedside, if they're private)
In April 2012, Jordan and I got married! I have saved all the cards we received regarding that huge life event. I've been meaning to do something with them, instead of keeping them locked away into storage. I loved this Book of Cards idea for these meaningful cards, as the presentation would be pretty
A photo of my finished product is at the end of the post.
Here are my instructions for making your own Book of Cards:
Items you will need:
- Greeting cards (think: Christmas cards collected year to year, children's or your own birthday cards saved through the years, wedding, engagement, baby showers, graduation, etc!)
- Single hole punch
- (2) Book rings (large enough to fit your stack of cards, I used 2", found at Michael's in the jewelry section)
- Hot glue gun & glue stick
- Ribbon
- Scissors
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To start, go through your pile of cards. My pile was HUGE. It was a mix of engagement, bridal shower and wedding day cards. I sorted the pile into two separate ones: Wedding and Engagement/showers. I will just be working with the wedding cards for this book.
Also while going through the cards, choose the order they will go in and choose the one you will want as the cover. For the cover, I chose one in black & white knowing it would compliment the black ribbon. I also chose it because the wording on the front said "Happy Wedding Day", and that would also serve as the title for the book. Others said "Congratulations", but I figured that may get confusing as a title page, as that could describe many occasions at first glance
Going through the cards, I also found a long lost gift card. Score!
Next, take each card individually, as punch holes for the book rings to go through. I chose to bind the book with two book rings. You can choose to use less or more. I wanted the book to be sturdy, but not difficult to look through
Make sure you line up the holes as you punch the next card. You want the holes to be evenly spaced on each card, so the book rings will fit through the entire book easily. For my method (not shown), I punched the very first card with a hole in each the upper and lower left, then I stacked the second card directly behind it. I placed the hole punch over each existing hole, and punched through the second card. I placed the first card aside, and repeated with the already-punched second card and third.
For cards that are too small to have both holes: I had about 6 or 7 cards that were too small, so I alternated each card - one card would fit in the upper half of the book with an upper left punch, and the next would fit in the lower half of the book with a lower left punch. I figured this would help keep the thickness of the book consistent.
Once all the cards are punched, place them on the book rings.
If your book is like mine, it's so big that the book rings can hardly contain it all. Your book may not stay closed on its own at this point. That's why we're adding ribbon! :) Not only does it add a pretty detail, but it helps keep the book closed & flat
You can get creative with this part. Depending on the occasion your book represents or the decor of your coffee table, you can choose a certain color of ribbon, or not go with ribbon at all. You can subsitute this material with twine, leather straps & a buckle, layers of string, fabric and a button. Go crazy!
To attach the ribbon, we will use the glue gun. I cut two long strips and glue them to each side of the back of the book. I folded each ribbon end over to give it a cleaner look on the back
To finish the book, turn the book face up and tie a bow. Adjust the bow so it's the size you would like, and trim the ribbon ends if needed.
I chose to use Fray-Check on the exposed ribbon ends to keep them from fraying.
And there you have it, it's completed. Place it on a table top and reminisce every once in a while.
Finished product: