This birthday card can be made in less than one hour using very inexpensive materials. Even if you have never made a greeting card before, you can achieve good results quickly and easily with this craft project.

Greeting cards are expensive and it takes some time to shop for an appropriate and attractive card. In the time that you would spend searching for a birthday card, you could make this card yourself.

You will need:

• 1 card blank (or card cut and folded to make a card)
• One or two pieces of paper for the background (optional)
• The letters, H, A, P, P, and Y in capitals cut out from a magazine or printed out from your computer
• The word “birthday” cut out from a magazine or printed out from your computer
• Small pieces of card in different colors
• Small lengths of ribbon in different colors
• 6 small sequins
• 1 or 2 other embellishments, such as hearts or flowers (optional)
• a glue pen
• sticky dots - these are available from your local craft store or online from eBay or other craft retailers

• 1. Glue the background paper to the front of the card.
  2. Tear off (or cut off with a wavy edge) a small amount of different paper in complementary colors and glue it across the centre of the card.
  3. If you wish, you can omit steps one and two and just have a plain background.
  4. Glue the letters, H, A, P, P, and Y onto different colored pieces of card.
  5. Cut out squares of card around the letters - the edges don't have to be straight, they can be slightly sloping.
  6. Glue a sequin to each letter in a different place.
  7. Cut five small lengths of ribbon and fold each in half.
  8. Peel off one side of a sticky dot and affix to the back of one of the letters, near the bottom.
  9. Peel off one side of another sticky dot and fix it to the unfolded end of the folded ribbon but do not cover all of the sticky dot with the ribbon, so that it will also stick to the card.
  10. Fix this sticky dot to the back of the letter, near to the top.
  11. Peel off the other side of the backing from both sticky dots and carefully affix to the middle of the card.
  12. Repeat steps 8 to 11 for each of the five letters.
  13. Stick the word “Birthday” to a piece of card and cut out a rectangle shape.
  14. Stick a sequin to the rectangle.
  15. Cut off two small lengths of ribbon and affix them to the back of the rectangle with a sticky dot (as above), so that the ribbon is just peeping out from side of the rectangle.
  16. Affix the whole of the rectangle to the bottom of the card with 3 or 4 sticky dots.
  17. Use sticky dots to affix other embellishments to the card, such as hearts or flowers, if you wish.

Your handmade card will be appreciated much more than a store-bought card. If you have enjoyed this craft project, why not start making cards for other occasions, such as weddings, the birth of a new baby, a new job, or an anniversary? Not only will you save money but you will enjoy creating unique cards which are sure to delight the recipients. 

 By Roz Andrews