Potato-Stamped Cards

With a few good-size potatoes and assorted miniature cookie cutters, you and your kids can make personalized cards for any occasion.

With a few good-size potatoes and assorted miniature cookie cutters, you and your kids can make personalized wrapping paper, cards, T-shirts, place mats, and napkins. Choose large potatoes that, when halved widthwise, have a surface wide enough to accommodate a cookie cutter. Place the cookie cutter on a table, cutting side up. Center the potato over the cutter and tap, pressing the cutter at least 1/2 inch into the potato. Using a sharp kitchen knife, cut the excess potato flesh away from the cookie cutter, making slices perpendicular to the cutter; this is a job only for adults. Once the excess potato is removed, pull out the cookie cutter.

To form the center of a flower or another design, hollow out with a melon baller. Potatoes bleed, so wipe each surface dry with a towel before inking and stamping. Make sure to use the proper ink; if you're working on paper, both pigment- and dye-based inks will work, while fabric requires dye-based ink. For paper designs, place a piece of felt beneath the piece of paper to cushion the surface; this will result in a crisp, even print.

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Floral-Cutout Cards & Wraps

Add a new dimension to gift wrap and cards with these floral cutouts.

Download the template and cut it out.

Using a pencil, trace the template onto the desired surface.

Carefully cut along traced lines with a craft knife, leaving gaps between petals.

For gifts, wrap item with paper in a contrasting color before covering with cutout layer.

For cards, attach a cutout card to a second card in a contrasting color using double-sided tape.

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Button Stamp

Button Stamp How-To


1. Select buttons with raised surfaces and distinct patterns -- fluted edges, stars, flowers, cat's eyes, and pinwheels. With white craft glue, mount buttons on wine or craft corks; if possible, use a cork narrower than the button so you can see to position the stamp accurately. Buy already inked stamp pads in several colors from your stationer. Uncoated papers are most receptive to the ink. Since buttons are rigid, you'll get the best image by laying paper over a piece of felt or a stack of folded paper towels before stamping. Press button into pad, then stamp, rocking it gently; this ensures a complete edge.



2. Wipe the stamp clean on a damp sponge between impressions. Try layering some of the simpler images for enhanced effect.

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Rosy Stationery

Leafy vegetables make great-tasting salads -- and sumptuous floral-shaped stamps, too.

Here, the end of a head of Treviso radicchio yields a roselike print.

Cut off stem end with a sharp knife, and stand stem on a paper towel, cut-side down, for 5 minutes to dry. Press cut side onto a large stamp pad, then onto cards, stationery, and more, blotting on paper towel between presses.

Vary stamp shapes with other vegetables, such as romaine lettuce stems or even brussels sprouts cut in half.

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Mechanical Dog Cards

If you're looking for a one-of-a-kind greeting card, try these mechanical dog cards with clever moving parts that are sure to charm the recipient.

Tools and Materials

Templates: Top of card ("Hap-pee Birthday," head shaking, or blank), middle (mechanical) pieces, bottom of card

Assembly guide

Printer

Cardstock

Photo of dog (optional)

Scissors

Craft knife

Paste

Ruler

Bone folder

Screw punch

Double-sided tape

Paper fasteners

Regular (one-sided) tape

Dog Cards How-To

1. Print templates for each of the 3 layers of the card -- top of card, middle (mechanics), and bottom -- and assembly instructions on card stock. To make a card featuring your own dog, print out the blank template and cut out and paste a photo of your dog that's about the same size and pose.

2. Starting with the bottom of the card, use a ruler and a bone folder to score along the dotted lines. Cut out the full piece on the solid lines. Punch the hole marked by a black dot with a screw punch. Fold up along the dotted lines along both edges.

3. Cut out the middle (mechanical) pieces on solid black lines. Score on dotted lines where marked. Punch holes where marked with a screw punch.

4. Attach folded pink "stop" piece to bottom of card with double-sided tape, as shown in the template.

5. Use paper fasteners to attach the moving pieces to each other. Insert paper fasteners from back to front so "wings" open onto front of tabs.

•Attach the yellow tab arm to the pull tab at point "A."

•Attach the green tab arm to the yellow tab arm at point "B."

•Attach the green tab arm to the bottom card piece at point "C."

6. Fold up the pair of leg/head "flanges" along dotted lines.

7. Cut out the top piece for the card, and cut out circle as marked. Lay the assembled bottom piece flat, fold the two long flaps in over the pull tab, and put double-sided tape along the two long flaps.

8. Lay the top edge of the front of the card over the tape on the top flap of the bottom of the card; press in place. Pull the leg/head flanges through the hole in the front of the card.

9. Attach the bottom edge of the front of card to the bottom flap.

10. Place a piece of tape on the back of each of the leg/head flanges so that sticky side extends past the flanges, facing up. With the pull tab pushed in, position the leg/head over the flanges (leg should cover the word "peee"). Press down firmly so the tape holds leg/head in place. Cut off excess tape with a craft knife.

11. Attach stand to back of card with double-sided tape.

Resources

Paper fasteners are available at office-supply stores. All other tools and materials are available from Martha Stewart Crafts. Special thanks to popular children's book author, Matthew Van Fleet, for sharing this craft. For more information about Matthew, visit dragonflys.com. Special thanks to Simon and Schuster for giving copies of Matthew's book, "Alphabet," to our studio audience.

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Message Cards

It's easy to express yourself with our fill-in-the-blank stationery. And you'll never have to make a last-minute dash to the store again. Choose from one of three patterns, then adhere a pretty calligraphed message to the front (we supply 10). No matter the occasion, you're guaranteed to have something sweet to say.


Message Card How-To

Heavy matte ink-jet paper yields the richest colors, but any card stock will do.

Download and print card template and cut out. Use a bone folder and a ruler to create a crease; fold. Download and print greetings onto clear matte self-adhesive label paper. Cut out greeting and adhere to card.

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