Fun (and Frugal) Waterfall Card
Difficulty:Easy
Time:Less than one hour
Cost:Less than $2 including postage!
Hello!! Welcome Fall! It's that time of year where we start to think about all the people we want to keep in touch with and all correspondence we've been too busy to send. So today we're going to share with you a fun and frugal waterfall card!
What You'll Need:
-2 4x6 photo prints (divided into 2x3 photos)
-1 double-sided 6x6" scrapbook paper (for the waterfall) we used paper from Simple Stories, "Vintage Bliss")
-1 single-sided 6x6" scrapbook paper (to the matte the note)
-1 standard 8.5x11" cardstock (This will be the card base)
-1 piece plain paper (to write your note on)
Exacto knife/scissors
Ruler
Glue stick (or your favorite paper craft adhesive)
Marker and pencil
Bone folder (optional, but nice for scoring and creasing)
To start, you will need to choose 8 "landscape" oriented pictures (long ways, not tall ways). You ultimately want eight 2"x2.75" photos, and you can get 4 photos into a 4x6" image, you can do this for free by going to www.fotor.com and following the next 5 steps.
1. Once you are at www.fotor.com, click on "collage"
2. Select the layout with the 4 equal boxes (circled below in green)
3. Click the small lock icon to "unlock" the proportions and enter the values 1800 and 1200 and click "APPLY".
4. Using the "Import Photos" button, import the eight photos you want to use and move them onto the photo by dragging and dropping into the white boxes.
5. Once you have 4 pictures placed, you will want to save this image to your computer using the "save" feature. (repeat the drag and drop followed by saving for your second batch as well)
Use your favorite photo printing place, website, or home printer to obtain the physical photos (We use Walmart.com to order 1 hour prints for same day cards).
Cut the photos out, and crop each photo down to 2x2.75"
Now for the making of the card:
Cut a piece measuring 3.75"x3" out of your single sided scrapbook paper
And cut a piece measuring 3.5"x2.75" out of your printer paper
After writing your note on the blank white paper (always better to write before you glue in case you make a mistake on your note), use your glue stick to glue the note to the scrapbook paper (center the note in the scrpbook paper so there is an even border all the way around).
Now, cut your double sided cardstock into 3x3" squares (quarters)
And score each of the four pieces at 2.5" (if you have a design which needs to go a certain direction, pay attention to where your score is as the 1/2" flap will be the top edge.)
Your photos will go on the front and back of each of these pieces, so go ahead and plan the order before gluing. We enjoy telling a story with our photo cards, so we keep like photos together (remember, the photos that will be viewed together will be on the back of one piece and the front of the following piece).
Once you have your picture order planned out, go ahead and start gluing the photos onto the front and back of the small double-sided scrapbook paper pieces (Remember for the front picture, the flap will be at the top and for the back photo, the flap will be at the bottom).
Once you have all your photos glued on, go ahead and press them (put them under magazines or heavy books) while you make the card base.
To make the card base, cut your card stock to 3.5x11"
Once cut to size, use your bone folder to score your cardstock at 1"
and score at just a hair over 6"
Once you fold at the score marks, your card base will look like the picture below with the top flap fitting under the bottom flap.
On the top flap, make a mark 1" in from the left and right sides along the line created by the bottom flap.
These two marks will be the end points and guides to make the half-round tab which will secure your card.
With the card fully open (so you don't cut through any other layers) cut along your half-round guide for the securing tab.
When the card is folded back up, the securing tab should like something like the picture below.
At this point, you can decorate the front and add your sentiment. We like to treat these cards as a mini photo book and often title the card front accordingly.
Once your card base is ready, open it completely and grab your note. You will glue your note to the card, centering your note left and right. The top of the paper should line up with the edges of the securing tab, like the picture below.
Now, get your pictures and your ruler. 1/2" down from the center crease, make a mark 1/4" in from the right and left sides. These will serve as guides for attaching your first waterfall photo.
Now, line up your photos in the order in which they will be placed to visualize the layout. (Note, the picture below shows the back sides of the photo pieces which is why the photos are upside down)
Put glue on the flap of your first photo and place the flap (1/2" down from the crease in the middle of the card and on the 1/4" left and right marks).
Continue by gluing the flap of the second piece and placing it up against the first flap, like shown below.
Repeat two more times for the remaining two photo pieces.
Once your fourth and final photo piece is glued down, the photo part of your card should look something like this:
At this point you can add captions to the flaps between the photos and a short closing sentence or your regards underneath the last photo.
And that's it! You've just made a super personal, fun and inexpesive card that will also fit in a standard small envelope! You will need to add an additional ounce stamp to your forever stamp to mail it using USPS though! Happy Corresponding!
