Recycling Art Projects into Greeting Cards
Transform Paintings and Drawings into Birthday and Holiday Cards
Mar 10, 2009
When art projects don’t turn out the way you hoped they would, you probably used to throw them out. Instead, recycle the paper and the project as a greeting card. You don’t have to like the entire painting or drawing.
What You Need to Transform Art Projects into Greeting Cards
To mail your cards, you will need greeting card-sized envelopes that you can find with in craft and stationery stores. You will also need scissors, glue sticks, and pencil, pen or markers. Optional items include glitter glue, scrap paper, novelty scissors that cut decorative edges, sticker words or letters.
Cutting Your Card to Fit an Envelope
Lay the envelope over the artwork. Trace around the envelope with a pencil, keeping your lines light. If you are making a card that you’ll fold, set down two envelopes side-by-side and trace. When you cut out the shape, cut within the lines you drew. Check that the card fits the envelope. You may need to trim a little from the edges.
The Cut and Go Card
If your artwork is on sturdy paper, like watercolor paper, you can cut out a rectangle and write your message on the back. Cards don’t have to fold in half. If you want to create a card that opens, then cut out paper that is twice as large as the envelope. Fold the card in half and write your message inside.
The Framed Art Card
If you want to use a piece of artwork that would be too small for a card, cut out that section and then glue it onto another piece of artwork. If that looks too confusing, glue the small piece onto some scrap paper. Cut the scrap paper a little bit bigger than the artwork so it creates a frame. Glue this onto another piece of artwork that uses many of the same colors.
Whether you hold the card horizontally or vertically, place the framed art a little higher than perfect center so it looks more interesting. You can add some squiggles of glitter glue or marker around the artwork if you’d like.
The Collage Card
Cut apart a piece of artwork that you don’t like at all and collage it onto a card so all the pieces are in a jumble. Instead of seeing a picture of a horse in a field, people will focus on the colors you used.
The In and Out Card
If you have artwork that used lightweight paper, you can glue two pieces of artwork back-to-back. After the glue dries, cut the paper so it fits in the envelope and fold. If the artwork is too dark to see your greeting, write your message on a scrap of light-colored paper and then glue it inside the card.
The Inside of the Card
What about the spots of paint or fingerprint smudges on the back of your artwork – won’t people be able to see them if you turn your artwork into a card?
Some greeting cards have decorations on the inside of the card as well as on the outside. Take a pen and draw lines around the splotches so they’ll look like balloons or smiley faces, flowers or fish. You don’t need to outline the entire shape, just draw your shape within the blob of color.
Have fun discovering different ways to recycle your art projects. Keep your favorites in a safe place so you don’t cut them up by mistake. Greeting cards are a great way to share your artwork with family and friends while helping to save trees.
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