Advent Thank You Card Tutorial

My girls got chocolate advent calendars for Christmas, which they always look forward to opening each door, to see what surprise shape chocolate it held.  I reminded them how blessed they were to have their very own, as we (6 of us) all shared ONE calendar (one little chocolate every 6 days) when we were little--and I turned out just fine, right?  Maybe they're a bit spoiled ;).  Anyway, it got me thinking about how it would make for a fun thank you card, to have multiple little doors to open, each containing a little message or picture.  So we sent out a couple of these and it was more work for me, but nice and simple for the girls to add their messages.

What you'll need for another thrilling thank you:

• cardstock
• markers
• exact-o knife
• cardboard/cutting mat
• hole punch
• glue or double stick tape

Fold cardstock in half and let your child draw a piece of artwork on the front.  Pearl was an overachiever and wrapped her design around to the back, too ;)

Open it up and cut little doors, randomly on the top half, cutting 3 sides of each.

Using a straightedge, crease each door open.

Close card and trace each shape onto the other side, lightly with a pencil.

Open car again and let each child fill in one or more of the squares/rectangles (it's hard to see my pencil marks, but I promise they're there!)

I used a hole punch and punched just half a circle in each door to make it easy to open.

If you have double stick tape, that's the easiest to fasten the card shut, and then you don't have to wait for it to dry before getting it off in the mail, but regular glue will also do, just make sure you don't glue your little doors shut with seeping glue--that would be a surprise indeed!

I also made sure to give credit to the child who did the design on the outside.

Ta-da!  

Have a wonderful weekend!  I'm hoping for lots of sleep and maybe a bit of exercise (it's been a while, you know).  What are your plans?

Thrilling Thank Yous Tutorial

Hats off to you if you've already gotten your holiday thank yous written.  And if you've gotten your kids to write theirs, then I bow!  My parents were always very adamant about making sure we got our thank you notes written after each holiday and birthday, and I'm grateful for that because everyone likes to be thanked and acknowledged for something they've done or given.

But, getting 5 little girls to go through the list of friends and relatives who gave them gifts and thanking them all can sometimes be nigh unto torture for the mom.  I've been trying to come up with some different, fun, dare I say thrilling ways to help them get them finished and thought I'd share.  In fact, I enjoyed this so much it might become a series.  What do you think?

Ever since I was a little girl I've been enamored with interactive cards.  I used to sit down with a stack of paper and make all sorts of pop-up cards.  This is like the grown up version.

 Start with two photos of a wallet: one open, one closed, taking care to keep them the same size.  On the first photo carefully cut out all the sides except the hinged side, bend open using a ruler.

On the second photo cut out the whole thing and any openings you'd like to use on your card and bend in half.

Glue or use double stick tape on the first photo to some card stock.  Tape the inside of the wallet within the opening. If the inner wallet is bigger just trim it up to fit. Decorate any way you'd like.

Each child gets a "credit card" or "dollar bill" to write or draw a little thank you  without being overwhelmed with the whole card and we send one thrilling thank you to an unsuspecting papa Thom.

How do you get your kids to get their thank yous done?