Last month I bought a handful of "special" holiday cards to accompany gift cards for my family members. When the cashier rang these cards up, I nearly fell over. I'd spent nearly $20 on greeting cards. Umph. I'm far too cheap for that. I vowed, "Never again!"So last week I was in Target. (That's TAR-GZEY in case you're sounding it out.) I found a package of 50 blank, brightly colored cards with matching envelopes for $14 and change. Now I can easily make cards, but I hate making envelopes. This packet was right up my alley.
To make the whole shooting match even thriftier, I decided to challenge myself. I decided I would only use materials from my "extra" stash box. (At least, I'd start with my extras and then add to them, as I needed more loot.) See, I keep a cheap plastic container on my scrapbooking table, and when I make an extra embellishment or cut too many letters or whatever, I toss the extra in my stash box.
Over the course of an hour, I was able to create 8 fun greeting cards using my
new blank cards and my "extras." Even more fun, because I'd challenged myself to start with the old homeless pieces, I had to really be creative. I had to look at all the old stuff with new eyes.The cards don't have sayings on the outside of most of them, but that's fantastic. I can customize them for whatever occasion comes up!
And not only do I now have a fun new set of cards, but I also cleared away some of my old odds and ends.
What do you think? How about challenging yourself? Use up your leftover materials and stretch your creative muscle.
