Make This: 5 DIY Ways to Embellish Notecards and Greeting Cards for Spring

With Easter and Mother’s Day coming up soon and a whole lot of thank you cards to write, I thought it would be fun to come up with some DIY ideas for cards. So I teamed up with The Paper Mill Store to bring you 5 do-it-yourself ideas for decorating and making cards for any occasion. Use them for holidays, birthdays, thank you cards, etc.

Supplies and Other Info: The main supplies I used consisted of standard sheets of paper, in various thicknesses and colors. All from The Paper Mill Store. If you don’t know about this online paper shop yet, they offer a huge variety of papers, card stock, envelopes, and more. Be sure to check out the site when you get a minute.

As far as folding techniques, for the most part, I used a combination of folding my paper once in half, like a hamburger, and folding it a second time in the opposite direction for the smaller cards (unless otherwise noted).

Tip: I’ve been using samples that I ordered so I could try out the papers in smaller quantities before buying a larger package for printing and craft projects. But if you want to buy more than a sample size right off the bat, my favorite from the ones I’ve tried is the Eames paper, it’s like canvas in a paper (and basically awesome).

Here are 5 DIY ideas for embellishing notecards and greeting cards in a hurry…

1. Hand Lettered DIY Cards: Grab a marker and some colorful paper, like BrightHue sea blue paper and Astrobrights purple paper. Then, hand letter a message on the front of your card and you’re done.

If you like the look of calligraphy, check out this tutorial for the quick and easy way to fake it.

2. DIY Ombre Spray Paint Cards: Create this set of ombre cards for any occasion with a can of spray paint and this Eames white paper (which has a little texture to it).

Fold the paper in half and focus your spray paint toward the bottom of the card. Continue building up the color at the bottom, while occasionally misting upward to bring more of the color upward. Wait for it to dry and you’re good to go.

3. Spotted + Dotted DIY Cards: Using basic circle stickers from an office supply store, you can create a fun card like what you see above with a simple peel and stick technique. So easy!

I used a thicker 160 lb Astrolite paper for these cards and just folded the paper in half, like a hamburger, and cut it down to a standard notecard size.

4. Gold Embossed DIY Cards: This one is super fun. I love embossing. The process is actually really easy. You can follow this tutorial from my embossed party bags for an in depth tutorial.

The only thing I did different was use a VersaMarker instead of a stamp. So I hand drew the elements that eventually became embossed. Other than that, it’s exactly the same process. I used a combination of royal fiber kraft paper, BrightHue sea blue paper, and 160 lb Astrolite paper for this set.

5. DIY Color Blocked Washi Tape Cards: And finally, color block a set of playful cards with a little bit of washi tape, applied in strips.

Next to #3, this is the easiest one of the five. I used the BrightHue sea blue paper and Astrobrights purple paper for this project.

So, that’s it! All five greeting card decorating projects.

Which one is your favorite? I’m curious to know which one you’d most like to try, if any.

Concept, photography, and styling by Brittni Mehlhoff

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This post is sponsored by The Paper Mill Store. All opinions and ideas are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible.