A Fabric Scrap Buster and a Homemade Birthday Card

I am not a good birthday person. I forget about them…all the time.

I have learned over the years, though, that it is very important for some people to celebrate birthdays. Now. Don’t worry. My husband is not upset that I forget his birthday every other year. Nor is he upset that I have forgotten our anniversary.

Last year, on my birthday, we were on the road heading to visit my in-law’s house for the weekend. Around mid-morning, about half way there, I exclaimed, “Hey! It’s my birthday today!”

Some silence ensued as my husband pondered whether it really was indeed my birthday or not.

It didn’t bother me even a smidgeon that he had totally and completely and utterly forgotton my birthday.

Well folks, this year I remembered my husband’s birthday. I remembered it so well, I actually bought his gift almost two weeks early. 🙂

While gifts are always nice to give, my husband and I have learned that giving gifts is not something we need to give on a regular basis. We both value well thought out words and intentional acts of service a bit more than gifts. So…next on my to-do list was a homemade birthday card for my husband. (with some well thought out words of appreciation.)

If you have a little experience sewing, these cards are very simple to make.

Supplies:
Sewing machine
Thread
Fabric Scraps
Card Stock
Letter stamps or really good hand writing
Scissors

1. Take a piece of card stock and cut it in half.

Fold one of the half pieces in half. Using the center fold as a guide, draw an arc that meets up with the fold. One of our dinner plates worked perfectly. Draw lightly. The line will just act as a guide for sewing.

2. Using your fabric scraps, cut out some triangles. For this birthday card, I used three triangles. For the other cards pictured, I used four smaller triangles.

I also ironed over a small seam allowance for the triangles for my husband’s birthday card. On the other cards, I left the thread exposed (I think I like them better with the thread exposed).

3. Using the pencil arc as a guide, sew your little triangle bunting onto your card stock. I recommend securing your stitch at the start and end, or you could probably use a tiny dab of hot glue if you’d rather not backstitch.

Note that it appears I am sewing my triangles upside down in the below picture. These are the triangles that I ironed a small seam allowance on. After stitching them, I folded the triangles back down so they were hanging towards the words on the card.

4. Once again, it is optional if you’d like to glue on a little baker’s twice as I did below.

5. For my husband’s birthday card, I preprinted some text on the card stock. I enjoy the card below a bit better with the stamped lettering. I like the look of an imperfect homemade looking card.

Good job for all you folks out there who remember birthdays. Now, if you are ever in need of a cute birthday card for your friends or family, you have some good inspiration. 🙂