Craft Monday and DiGiorno winner

Crafty Monday is my time to share a craft with readers. This column started in January 2011.

Birthday cards for my nephews

I started by making creases in blank cards.

put a crease in blank cards
Put a crease in the blank cards

I decided on a watercolor wash for a background. I prefer non-white backgrounds for most cards, yet need the white so I can write on the interior. I went with a monochromatic look — orange for one card and brown for the other.

watercolor wash on cards
Wet the card, then add watercolor

After the background dried, I mixed acrylic paint to stay with the monochromatic look, then brushed it on foam stamps — 13 and 15 for my nephews’ ages.

applying paint to the foam stamp
Brushing paint on the foam stamp
Applying the stamp to the card
Applying the stamp to the card

The next step was to make paper “ribbon” using the font Eras Demi ITC. I typed a line’s worth of “:: HAPPY BIRTHDAY” in MSWord, printed a hardcopy, then cut and adhered the “ribbon” in place. The card is finished by trimming the excess away.

paper ribbon on the cards
I'll need to trim the ends of the ribbon

Lastly, the cards can be flattened by pressing with an iron (faster) or heavy books (slower). I didn’t start in time to flatten my cards before the birthday party.

finished birthday cards
Finished birthday cards

The DiGiorno giveaway winner…

…was entrant #2 — 1PopstarPrincess, you can send a mailing address to me through the Contact Me form or wait for my email. Two $4 DiGiorno coupons, a hot pad holder, and magnet clip will be at your house soon! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PLAYED.