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Posts tagged ‘How To’

Feb 8

10.0 three assembled boxes

How to Turn Your Favorite Card into a Gift Box

Not sure what to do with a favorite card, especially a personalized card? Try this fun and easy way to turn your card into a gift box! It only takes a few minutes, and you can use items you most likely already have around the house.

Supplies Needed:

  • Favorite Card
  • Scissors
  • Glue (or double-sided tape)
  • Ruler

Got everything? Great! Let’s get started…

1. Cut the card in half along the fold.

1.0 card face down 246x300; How to Turn Your Favorite Card into a Gift Box  2.0 cut card in half 196x300; How to Turn Your Favorite Card into a Gift Box

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Trim 1/8th inch from along the side and edge of the back of the card

 3.0 trim edge off bottom 206x300; How to Turn Your Favorite Card into a Gift Box

3. Use your ruler to score a straight edge 1” from the edge of all four sides. See below as indicated with pencil, but you may not wish to write on your card, as it will show when the box is complete. Repeat for second half of the card.

 4.0 score 1 inch 300x234; How to Turn Your Favorite Card into a Gift Box

5. Fold along the scores, as shown below.

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6. Along the narrow edge of the card, make two small cuts, which will become the flaps. 5.0 cut flaps in narrow end1 300x225; How to Turn Your Favorite Card into a Gift Box

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Fold up the long edges, and apply glue (or 2-sided tape) to the flaps.

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8. Repeat on both ends of the card, and for both halves of the card. Let dry, and you’ve got a perfectly personalized gift box!

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We hope you had fun creating your gift boxes. Try it again and again with all of your favorite cards!

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Pictured Above: Four Happy Birthday Card, Viva La Cake Photo Birthday Card, and Make Your Own Blank Photo Card

Dec 16

how-to-new-years

How To: Throw a New Year’s Eve Party on a Time-Crunch

how to new years; How To: Throw a New Years Eve Party on a Time Crunch

You’re almost done with the holiday rush when you suddenly realize you agreed to throw this years New Year’s Eve party.  You’re already having to put in extra time at work for everything you missed during the holidays and now you have to take the time to throw a party, too?  Here are some ideas for hosting a great party with little time and effort:

  • Invite: Create a New Year’s invitation to invite your friends, Cardstore.com will stamp and send them for you.
  • Activity: Print out or make your own cards with fill in the blanks, such as “The skill I want to learn this year is ___” or  ”The good deed I want to do this year is ―――,” or get creative with other New Year’s resolution ideas.  Everyone can fill them out, then take turns reading them out loud and guess which one belongs to who.
  • Appetizers: Stick to finger foods.  Trader Jo’s and other grocery stores have a wide variety of hummus, dips, cheeses, crackers, nuts, and chips and you can even get pre-cut veggies.
  • Entrée: Your guests will already be full from appetizers and won’t want a huge dinner, so stick to something hearty, but bite-sized.
  • Dessert: Ask everyone to bring their favorite dessert. If you’d prefer to make it yourself, try making ice-cream sandwiches. Make your favorite cookie dough in advance when you have time, freeze it, and pull it out and put the cookies in the oven the day of.  Scoop some ice cream in a bowl, add a cookie on top, and you’ll have a delicious dessert.
  • Drinks: Provide the champagne then ask everyone to bring their own favorite drinks and mixes.
  • Music: Don’t forget to create a playlist in advance. Make one full of your favorite songs or one that’s New Year’s themed. If you’re not a huge music lover, ask that friend with the gigantic iTunes library to make one for you.
  • For more details and inspiration, check out Real Simple‘s tips on how to throw an easy New Year’s party.

Oct 14

how-to-coffee-grinds

How To: Reuse Coffee Grounds

how to coffee grinds; How To: Reuse Coffee Grounds

If you or anyone in your family is as big a coffee drinker as I am, then you’re in luck because there’s much more to coffee beans than a morning pick-me-up.  Stop throwing out your coffee grinds and put them to use with one or more of these resourceful ideas:

  • First, coffee grinds are a great soil for your garden.  Wait until they cool off, then spread them on top or mix in with the soil around all of your plants.
  • Still looking for a skin and hair treatment that won’t burn a hole in your pocket?  Coffee grinds are a great exfoliant and conditioner; massage your face and wet hair with the grinds to leave your skin and locks looking radiant.
  • Your pet’s fur could also use a coffee grind treatment.  A plus: it’s known to help get rid of fleas, too.
  • Unpleasant smell every time you open the fridge?  Coffee grinds work like baking soda; just put a cup in the fridge and it absorbs the smell.
  • There’s a lot of mess on you and your kitchen after preparing a huge meal; rub coffee grounds together or on surfaces to help get rid of the tough mess.
  • Boil a pot of water and seep the coffee grounds to make a brown die to use on fabrics or cover up wood scratches.

Sep 23

bored_man

How To: Write an Interesting Letter

Receiving an utterly uninspired, boring letter is one of the biggest let downs. When someone takes the time to actually write a letter, you’d think it would at least be engaging and meaningful! But no, letters are too often sent off without a second thought and the idea of boring letters is further perpetuated. So what’s the trick to writing an interesting letter? Turns out not much (thank goodness)! This eHow article contains some excellent tips for making a letter so much more than dull. Turns out you should actually think about what you’re writing first to prevent the usual crossing out and almost total illegibility. My personal favorite tip is to keep the recipient in mind. If the person you’re writing to likes cooking, mention the food at a party, and if they like traveling mention a cool trip you’ve heard about. In other words, don’t write for yourself! Check out the rest of the tips for some extra help so your reader doesn’t end up looking like the man below.

bored man; How To: Write an Interesting Letter

Image from Psychology Today

Sep 16

da-vinci-backwards
1 Comment

How To: Make Your Letters Fun

I’ve found that letter-writing is more often than not seen as a chore. I know I’ve mentioned this time and again, but no matter what it seems this perception of letters holds on! Well, I think I’ve finally stumbled upon a letter idea that puts so much more fun into letter writing; but only if you’re the creative type! Everyone loves a well-written letter, so why not spice yours up by turning yours into a haiku? We all learned how to write these poems in 2nd or 3rd grade, so thank your teacher and put that skill to use in a creative and fun way! Or, for stationery you’re handwriting, why not take a page out of da Vinci’s playbook and write backwards? This would be such a fun way to make your recipient try to figure out what you’re writing! No one is ever going to want to read a boring letter again after getting some neat notes in these formats. I’ve never tried writing backwards, but that’s the goal for this weekend! Which method will you try to make your letters a little more exciting?

da vinci backwards 300x217; How To: Make Your Letters FunImage from Impromp2

Sep 9

424397178_05989fcfba_b

How To: Become an Expert Letter Writer

Inspired by a recent post from the ladies of The Love Letter Squad, our How To this week focuses on something that can be applied to any facet of life: How to become an expert. Like many people living in this age where letters just aren’t written very often, I don’t see myself as a good letter writer. Because of this, I do everything I can to avoid writing a letter. Instead, as The Love Letter Squad suggests, I should practice my writing to make it better. As they say, “Practice makes perfect!”. So, instead of shying away from that letter you have to write, why don’t you embrace it and see it as an opportunity to hone a skill that never goes out of fashion?

424397178 05989fcfba b 300x225; How To: Become an Expert Letter WriterImage from Flickr

Aug 5

miss-manners

How To: Write a Birth Announcement

This week, we’ll be continuing our How To column with some more help from Miss Manners. Today, she teaches us about the proper way to write a birth announcement. Now, for anyone who has ever read Miss Manners before, you’ll know she has VERY strong opinions. Her take on birth announcements is actually pretty hysterical and rather unique; I laughed throughout the whole thing!

Miss Manners states that she prefers birth announcements that are “written on a married couple’s engraved message card” (27). In other words, she likes a short note on their stationery announcing the birth. She writes that she hates when a baby’s weight is noted, “to show whether you have produced something substantial” (27). Personally, I have no problem about the weight of a baby being noted; I rather like it more! Throughout her instructions on birth announcements, Miss Manners sticks to the idea that they should be short, sweet, and to the point. Today we can include pictures in birth announcements, something Miss Manners did not talk about, but that I love to see. I wonder what she would think about that addition? For anyone looking to create a birth announcement even Miss Manners would approve of, with the added option of a picture, check out the selection of birth announcements at Cardstore.com. You can add as many details as you want, or keep it short like Miss Manners. Either way, family and friends will love to hear any news about your little one.

Above information from Miss Manners by Judith Martin, published by Warner Books, 1983

miss manners; How To: Write a Birth Announcement

Miss Manners Book from Flickr