Making postcards from paper with your own hands

It is no coincidence that it is customary to give postcards for the holidays - you can write wishes and kind words in them, and a pleasant design will show a true attitude and cheer up. A postcard can be an addition to any gift or even replace it. Now it is fashionable to make them with your own hands - after all, this way you can create a unique, unusual craft with the help of improvised means.

The main advantage of a homemade postcard is that when creating it, you can focus on the birthday person - his character, habits, taste, sense of humor. In this case, you can use both ordinary paper and corrugated, velvet, shiny and even kraft paper. The main thing is that all the details fit into the chosen concept.

Postcards that transform into a volumetric figure look really impressive. A gift box design will be an ideal decoration for your birthday. A step-by-step manufacturing scheme will help in creating a postcard.

• The postcard will have two sheets. The color of the inner leaf can be identical to the outer or contrasting. It is necessary to apply a picture of a gift on it so that the two lower corners, located diagonally, fall on the fold. You can find the corresponding image on the Internet and print it on colored paper.
• Then, using a clerical knife, you need cut through all vertical lines on the box and cut out the bow.
• To make the gift box look three-dimensional - it is necessary to bend all horizontal edges and stick to the wrong side of the outer sheet, without touching the area with slots.

There is another simplified version that even children can quickly cope with.

• The inner sheet needs to be folded in half and draw halves of the gifts, where the upper ones should be one cm less than the lower ones. Thus, when spreading, you will get a stack of gift boxes.
• With scissors it is necessary cut through the horizontal lines.
• Wrap the resulting strips to the side to outline the lines of the side folds.... Unfold the sheet and bend the cut parts to the other side of the paper. Glue the sheets, bypassing the gift area, so that they unfold freely.

Pieces of fabric, ribbons and lace are great for decorating postcards, especially in scrapbooking. Such products look really gentle and at the same time exquisite. Even beginners can work with lace: you just need to fix a piece that is suitable for design on paper with colorless glue, turning the edges to the wrong side. And already this blank, in turn, should be glued to the cardboard base. Bows made of satin ribbons, flowers or appliqués in the form of butterflies go well with lace.

For girls and women of any age, it will be especially interesting to get a craft, decorated with a flirty dress. To do this, you need to cut out a cardboard base in the form of a dress silhouette and glue it with a suitable fabric. To make the craft neat, it is better to wrap the edges of the fabric dress on the wrong side of the base. If the skirt is supposed to be voluminous, this part is cut out of the fabric separately and not completely glued, leaving beautiful, fluffy folds or waves.

To make the card look unusual, it is enough to equip it with a shaker - an element with sprinkling multicolored confetti, beads or bright pieces of paper. So that the work does not drag out, all the tools and materials must be prepared in advance. The manufacturing instructions are quite long.

• You need to start with a shaker... A colored circle should be glued to a solid base - it will be the background for the confetti.
• The walls of the shaker will be a stack of 4-7 cardboard rings equal to the diameter of the background... They need to be carefully glued and fixed on the base. The height of the walls depends on the amount and size of the bulk material. After complete drying, confetti is poured inside the resulting depression.
• So that they do not crumble and are clearly visible, two more rings are needed, similar to those used for the walls. They need to be greased with glue and a transparent film should be placed between them. Carefully cut off the protruding edges of the film. Glue the resulting lid on the base with confetti.
• Shaker decorates the front of the postcard... To make it more convex, you can stick a couple of additional cardboard circles under it.

To make the card look more traditional, you can make a hole in the first page of the spread, glue a transparent film from the wrong side, and then a pocket with confetti or beads to it.

It is much more aesthetically pleasing to give money in a postcard in the form of an envelope. You can do it yourself.

• It is necessary to cut a triangle with sides of 28 cm from cardboard or thick paper.
• Turn it over with the wrong side up, then alternately bend the corners at the base to the center. To prevent the money from falling out, it is necessary to glue the lower cuts with narrow strips of double-sided tape.
• Then you should bend the top corner, completing the envelope. So that it does not open, you can glue a tape on top and on the back side, the free ends of which should be enough for a bow.

In order to express wishes, an insert is placed inside the envelope.

In addition to the usual envelope, you can provide various options for money pockets inside the postcard.To do this, when marking, you need to add an allowance to the side or bottom, bend it inward and glue the edges. Or make the pocket an invoice - glue the part on the base so that the bills do not fall out, but if necessary, they could be easily removed.

A craft with an umbrella hidden inside looks funny and positive, especially if the spread will decorate the plot drawing. Depending on your abilities, materials at hand and time, you can choose one of two ways. In the first case, for a standard-sized postcard, you will need a rectangular piece of colored paper about 10 cm wide and 15 cm long:

• it must be folded along the long side in the form of an accordion (alternately wrapping the folds on the front and back sides);
• bend the workpiece in two and glue the edges that are inside;
• Glue the resulting fan inside the postcard, carefully combining the folds.

Beautiful lace umbrellas are made from round napkins.

• A napkin or tissue paper circle must be folded in half three times to outline the folds. Thus, the circle should be divided into 8 parts. Then unfold, cut out one sector.
• We knead the two extreme folds up, all the rest down. Grease the extreme sectors with glue and glue them to the front of the postcard.
• While the workpiece is straightened, we apply glue to the four folds of the free part and alternately press it against the card, forming identical pockets. We glue the handle and the top of the umbrella.
• After drying in the pockets, you can insert artificial greens, flowers or bunches of berries.

Birthday cards are traditionally decorated with a birthday cake. They are made in almost the same way as the "transformer" with gifts described above.

• In the first version, in order for the cake to be symmetrical, from the fold of the sheet folded in half, it is necessary to make transverse cuts... The lower two are the same, and each of the upper ones is one cm shorter. And then bend the resulting stripes to the inside. Their number will depend on the planned cake levels. It is better to cut the candles at the top completely with a clerical knife and on an unfolded sheet.

• Another way to make a postcard with a three-dimensional cake is the kirigami technique. As an example, you can take a diagram from the Internet or develop it yourself. In it, you need to carefully cut through the verticals, and then bend in places with horizontal lines. Postcards with complex patterns look impressive, even if they are made on one white sheet, but if you wish, you can decorate them in any way - by sticking colored details, lace or applying sparkles.

Valentine's Day is not complete without the gift of postcards decorated with appropriate symbols - all kinds of hearts. A symbolic design can be placed inside a postcard:

• cut a heart out of red paper and cut it like a spiral, starting from the bottom corner;
• grease two blanks with glue along the outer edge and place them on each page of the inner spread;
• glue the central parts of the hearts so that they remain connected when opened.

Making paper crafts using the quilling technique is perfect for creating delicate valentines. To do this, you need to prepare paper for quilling, a sheet for a postcard and another, in a contrasting color, for the base on which the blanks will be glued.

• You should start with the contour, for this you need to take a strip of red color, bend in half, then unfold in the opposite direction and secure with glue so that the heart holds its shape.
• Using a quilling tool or a thin rod, twist the strips, slightly loosen and fix the edge. We glue in random order, filling in the space inside the contour.

You can make a postcard with a secret in the form of a garland hidden inside.

• The sheet must be bent into three parts, the upper of which should be slightly narrower - its edge can be made wavy and decorated with hearts.
• Stick the hearts on the thread, placing them on both sides so that the garland looks neater.
• Inside the card, on the middle part, fasten the lower end of the thread, and on top - a paper pocket.

The spring holiday, March 8, cannot be ignored either. On this day, you can always find someone to congratulate - mom, grandmother, sister, teacher, colleague. And of course, the most safe design option is all kinds of flowers - tulips, roses, chrysanthemums, chamomile. Master classes on their creation are found freely available on the Internet. Here is one of them:

• fold a small square in half twice, and then diagonally;
• in the resulting triangle, you need to cut off the free edge in a semicircle so that when you turn, you get a blank with 8 petals, one of them must be cut out and glue the blank in the form of a funnel;
• flowers are not completely glued - for 2 or 3 petals, add twigs or leaves.

You can give the postcard the shape of a vase - then flowers made in any available way are best fixed on the second page. For wishes, a separate card is glued in. A skillfully created composition will decorate a room or a festive table.

Vytynanki with an openwork pattern in the form of butterflies, plants, female silhouettes look unusual. This almost forgotten technique is now gaining popularity again - especially since for creativity you need a couple of sheets of paper (white and colored), a stationery knife and a cutting pad. If a person does not have artistic ability, you can use ready-made templates.

Do not forget about fathers, brothers and grandfathers, especially those for whom Defender of the Fatherland Day is a professional holiday. Even a schoolboy can make a postcard with military equipment. Step-by-step instructions will help you with this.

• Fold the sheet in half, and then fold the first page back. Decorate it with the Russian tricolor and a laurel twig.
• Glue a green background on the inside. Bend a 6 cm wide strip of cardboard in half lengthwise and make 6 identical shallow cuts. Bend the cut parts to the other side to make voluminous coasters for the equipment, glue them in the middle of the postcard, aligning the folds.
• Stick figures of any military equipment on the ledges.

Another simple, but at the same time original version of congratulations is to attach it to a postcard with a ribbon. To do this, you need to cut out the silhouette of the plane, the propeller and stars for the wings. When all this is glued, you need to attach a 20-25 cm long satin ribbon on top.

Continuing the military theme, you can prepare for the next anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.... In principle, you can use the options described above by changing the greeting caption. Or decorate the postcard with traditional carnations and a St. George ribbon. Carnations and stems can be made using origami patterns. To make a stand for flowers, a folded sheet of a postcard must be cut across, jammed the lower part to one side, and then bend in the opposite direction. At the end, glue the back spread, decorate with tape and an inscription.

It is customary to present each other with all kinds of postcards with warm wishes on New Year's and Christmas holidays. Since there are many such cards, the most popular are quick cards, for example, those that can be cut out on a stencil and decorated with glitter on top.

There are also many options with voluminous Christmas trees that can be cut, folded or glued, you just have to show your imagination and stock up on the necessary materials.

Modern, stylish cards can be made on craft paper. Cut out the base 10 by 12 cm in size and decorate with inscriptions, cuttings, chipboards, cords, beads - everything that fits the general idea. To save time, drawings are best applied through stencils or stamps.

In preparation for Easter, it is imperative to include the creation of crafts, which can be started with the whole family. Preschoolers and elementary school children can make a postcard with weed glued around the edge, which neatly contains eggs cut from patterned paper or hand-painted.

For information on how to make a voluminous postcard with flowers with your own hands, see the next video.