Card Keeper {Tutorial}

It's crafty-craft time, peeps. This was such an easy and sentimental craft. Josephine has received so many cards in her short life, and they are all so beautiful with thoughtful things written inside. There was no chance I was going to toss them, and I was having a hard time figuring out a way to keep them AND have them available for viewing. I knew a photo album wouldn't work, but I wanted something similar, and this is what I came up with.

This is super-simple, so no pictures with the directions. You all are smart enough to figure it out.

All I did was:

1. Cut the cards in half (so they open easier in the book -- obviously, this is optional if you feel too scared to cut the cards).

2. Punched two holes in each card. I found the tallest and shortest cards and then figured out where to make the holes so they would fit on the small cards but not be too close together on the large cards (for the teeny-tiny cards, I glued on a strip of cardstock to give me a larger surface to punch holes.)

3. Covered two pieces of cardstock (or posterboard, or pieces of a cardboard box you're going to recycle. Whatever.) a tiny bit larger than the largest card and punched holes in that too.

4. Ran some book rings through the holes (also -- I now know these are the exact same thing as shower curtain rings, so if you have extras lying around, use those!).

And, TA-DA!

I made one for the cards I/she got at my/her baby shower ...

And one for all the cards we/she got when she was born ...

Yes, Josephine has already gotten a hold of this one and mangled the corner a little. That'll happen. It has since been moved to a higher shelf.

I'm making one for her first birthday cards (I'm slacking a little on that one. It's not like it was months ago or anything.). I have also been collecting all the fun little cards she has gotten this past year and a half, like Valentine's Day cards and Halloween cards, so once I have a good chunk, I will make another.

I also have plans to do the same for the cards from our bridal shower and wedding (one of these days).

Simple and lovely, right?

Also, there are a million choices of how to make your cover. Originally, I thought I would add a picture in a plastic sleeve on the inside cover, and maybe even some writing on the outside, but I haven't gotten that far yet. I might never do it, but that's fine. You could cover them in lace or doilies, or add scrapbook embellishments. Go crazy!