DIY Birthday Cards for everyone!

Every year my in laws send personalized birthday cards to all of their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, siblings, and close friends.

I've always thought this was not only really special -- but also seriously impressive. I'm lucky if I remember to send my brother or sister-in-laws a text when it's their/their children's birthdays.

But with our immediate family being spread out now across half a dozen different cities and multiple states, I decided that birthday greetings were something I wanted to me more intentional and personable about. We celebrate over 30 birthdays each year between our two families, so writing out cards every few weeks or even monthly just isn't realistically going to happen.

So, I spent the past few evenings making up 35 birthday cards (I made a few extra just in case...). Later this week I'll sign them, address them, and envelope them with the birthdate in the corner where I'll place the stamp (so I know when they need to go out).

This is exactly what my father-in-law does every year during the holidays, while he is enjoying his time off of work watching college football.

Then they will all be done and ready to send out as their date approaches!

How to make them

I've had these cards pinned on Pinterest for a few months. I love how simple and cute they look but needed to make mine less bulky since they'll be mailed and who knows how smooshed down they'll get...

What You'll Need:

• Blank cards (or card stock to cut to-size) 
• Scraps of various scrapbook paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Black pen
• Envelopes

That's it! I had some blank, colored cards & envelopes from last year when I first decided I wanted to make and send birthday cards... ehem. They are just a card (they don't open). 

First, I ran them through the printer to add "Happy Birthday!" You could easily write this on but my handwriting is weird.

Then, I cute up a million candle-sized strips from my scrapbook-paper-scraps.

Then I laid the candles out on each card, glued them in the order I liked, and drew a little wick on the top.

Ta-da! Seriously the "hardest" part was deciding what patterns to put the candles in... I should have just done them all the same, but nope, I didn't think about that until just now...

I can't wait to send theses out - they cost nothing to make, used up some materials I had laying around, and now that's one less thing on my "I wish I could..." list!

Thank you following along on our journey to simplicity & contentment. Please be sure to learn about our family, like our page on Facebook, and visit the right column to subscribe to future posts!

I shared this post at Simply Natural Saturdays & the Barn Hop!