CHARISMA SHAH

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HANDMADE DIWALI CARDS

Call me old-fashioned but I'm not much of a fan of e-cards.  To me its just not personal enough for family.  Not to mention, why pass up an opportunity to craft something?  A couple years ago, while the HUBS and I were still dating, I had just moved away from my hometown and was really missing family so I handmade some Diwali cards.  They turned out so well that these are essentially round two!  

yes that is a football lotus diwali card for my brothers :)


HANDMADE DIY DIWALI CARD TUTORIAL


SUPPLIES NEEDED

  1. different colored tissue paper
  2. scissors/xacto knife
  3. cardstock/paper
  4. sharpie
  5. mod podge or glue

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Once you have determined the desired size of your card (when unfolded), cut your card stock.  My cards are 2.5" x 4" folded (so 5" x 8" unfolded).
  2. Designate an inside and outside of the card.  On the inside, draw the fold line (at the half way point).
  3. On the lower inside half, draw your Diwali design (Ganesha, Lotus, Candle, Diya, etc.)
  4. Cut out that design with your scissors or xacto knife.
  5. Now for the fun part, using whatever colors inspire you, tear/cut some tissue paper and start paper mache'ing it to the inside of the card.  You can use glue or mod podge to do this.  
  6. Finally, glue the top of the card to the inside.  Let dry.
  7. Once dry you can write Happy Diwali on the outside or back along with a note if you like!

These are the initial cards I made:

SUPPLIES

  1. cardstock (color of choice)
  2. printer
  3. xacto knife
  4. computer
  5. fabric swatches, scraps, or fabric fat quarters
  6. hole puncher
  7. ribbon

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Find some simple icons like elephants, divas, and/or candles online that would be easy to cut out.
  2. In powerpoint, create two rows of 5 boxes each.  All the boxes should be the same size and aligned with the box below it (see example below).
  3. Within the bottom row of boxes, place the icon or icons of choice.  Leave the top row empty: this will become the back of your tent cards.
  4. Write your greeting underneath.
  5. Print these cards on cardstock.
  6. Using the xacto knife, cut out your icon shapes.
  7. Cut a swatch of fabric to the same size as your card and put it in-between your tent card.  
  8. Punch a hole in the top center and tie some ribbon through.  

example of what the pdf should look like in PowerPoint

Since Diwali is such a colorful vibrant celebration, I liked using festive bright color combos like teal + orange  I also think this tutorial would be great for kids.  You could have kids color/finger paint on the inside of the card!