The #TGIF challenge this week is a project challenge to create a gift card holder. I have just finished purchasing a bunch of gift cards for teenager gifts next week and this challenge made me think of a great way to make them have a bit more impact--a gift card wallet!
If you have teenagers in your life you know the gift card conundrum: they are impossible to buy for and really are happy receiving gift cards so they can choose for themselves, but you feel bad that they won't have anything to "open" on Christmas Day. This gift card wallet is the perfect solution! It allows you to group your gift cards together into one fun, collective unit, and makes for a real wow. And you don't even have to measure anything!
Start with a piece of patterned paper that is pretty and non-directional on both sides, cut to 8" x 10.5". Fold it half side to side, and then in half again top to bottom. This will leave you with a folded rectangle 4" x 5.25" tall--the perfect size to hide inside a standard card base. I forgot to take pictures as I was creating my card today, so I've recreated it with a different piece of DSP to show you all the folds.
With the final fold at the bottom, you will be left with all the open "layers" at the top. Gently peel back each layer, which will form a triangle. The first layer should be folded back to be flush with the left-side, so that should leave about 1" of the paper showing at the bottom, allowing both sides of the paper to shine.
Tuck each flap behind the previous layer, and glue flat to the base. When all flaps have been glued down, it should look like this:
Then add adhesive to the left edge to create a "pocket".
Next you will add this cascading pocket to the inside of your card base (5.5" x 8.5" scored at 4.25"). Don't put adhesive on the entire piece! Leave a gap at the top so you can tuck a fourth card inside. People tend to get gift cards all year long now, so even if you don't fill the wallet at the time it is gifted, it makes the perfect storage spot for cards the recipient receives in the future too. No more scrambling to remember where you put those gift cards!
Now it's time to decorate the front of your card. I kept it simple with a 4" x 5.25" piece of the same Painted Christmas DSP I used to create the pocket, matted on a Real Red panel and then glued flat to my Early Espresso card base. Then I got to have some fun!
I decided to make this great belly band to keep the whole package neat and tidy. I used a 1" strip of the reverse side of the DSP, mounted to a slightly larger piece of Early Espresso cardstock. To hide the seam when I created the band I added a Champagne glitter paper label from the Stitched So Sweetly dies. I then added another label from that set, this one cut from Crumb Cake and embossed with the evergreen boughs in the Wintry 3D Embossing Folders set. You don't see a lot of it, but it adds so much texture to my card. My sentiment, from the Words of Cheer set, is stamped in Early Espresso ink and cut from another of the stacking dies from the Stitched So Sweetly set. I love that they layer but aren't exactly the same, so you get different shapes depending on the combination you use.
I die cut three pinecones from the Seasonal Labels die set in Crumb Cake and Early Espresso and added them just under the sentiment layer of my label on the right-hand side. And check out that amazing bow! I tried my hand at a #tammybow, still need some practice but I love this look! And of course I had to add a few rhinestones for some sparkle.
Pretty packaging always elevates a gift, but it is particularly impactful for gift cards, which can tend to feel less personal. Putting these extra efforts and touches into a gift card holder--or a wallet!--will make sure that the recipient feels special.
Thanks for stopping by today, if you have any questions about how to create this for yourself please comment below and I would be happy to help!
Happy crafting,
Barb
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