Create your own DIY washi tape card for someone’s birthday.
Making custom birthday cards is really easy and fun if you just have some washi tape to play around with. And I love this idea of using washi tape to create tiny washi tape flags on a card or to use them to create a cool cut-out design. Here are two ways you can create your own DIY washi tape birthday card from scratch.
#1: Washi Tape Flags DIY Birthday Card
Customize and personalize this DIY washi tape flags card to suit the occasion and person it is for. Let’s take a look at how you can create this card yourself.
Supplies:
To create this washi tape flags card you will need:
- 1 sheet of white cardboard paper cut in two (then fold it to create a card)
- washi tape
- a pair of scissors
- a black marker
As you can see, this DIY doesn’t have a lot of supplies, and most of them you probably already have. Let’s see how you can create this washi tape flags birthday card from scratch.
Step 1: Draw a line to hang the flags on
The first thing you need to do is draw a curved line from the folded edge down. This line will become the flag line, so don’t make it too curved or low because that will make it more difficult to hang the flags on it without having to cut curves in the washi tape. Depending on how much you want to write down under the flag line, you could also draw multiple lines to fill the card up a bit more.
Step 2: Create DIY washi tape flags
After drawing the line, it is time to start cutting your first flag. Simply roll out about an inch of tape and snip it off. If you want you can make a triangle at the bottom to make it a different shape. Once you have cut out your first flag, it is time to start taping things down.
Try to find the middle of the line and tape down your first little washi tape flag. Now if you placed incorrectly, or you find the flag to be too long, you can just take it back off, that’s what’s so great about crafting with washi tape. Not only does washi tape come in fun colors and patterns, they are also not super sticky so you can easily correct your mistakes without ripping apart your birthday card.
Continue to cut out washi tape flags sticking them down. You can be pretty random with it and just correct it when necessary. The easiest way to keep the flags at an equal distance is to either use a ruler or to divide your flag line into 4 parts in your head and use that to place your washi tapes flags on the line.
I also like to stick to using 4 to 5 different colors of washi tape so that it doesn’t look super busy and because that way I can find patterns that kind of go together without putting in too much thought. So don’t overdo it with the washi tape.
Step 3: Finish the flag line
The last step for creating the flags is to stick down the flags on the outer edges. They will likely stick out a bit. You have a choice. You can either fold them inwards to the inside of the cards. Or you can snip the edges. I would suggest snipping the edges, because it just looks a lot cleaner than to have these tiny pieces of washi tape sitting on the inside.
So, now that the DIY washi tape flags are done. It’s time to write a message and finish it off completely.
Step 4: Write a message
The last step is to write down a message at the bottom of the DIY washi tape flags card. I wrote ‘Happy Birthday’, because I didn’t have a specific person in mind yet, so I wanted to keep it pretty generic.
You can just use normal hand lettering or use fake calligraphy, which is what I did. This means that with every downstroke, you have to thicken the line a bit. So first you simply write down your letters, then you go back in and add a thicker line to lines where your hand went down. This way you get the look of calligraphy without the effort or necessary materials.
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#2: DIY Washi Tape Cutout Birthday Card
Try out this fun DIY idea to make your own birthday card using a bunch of different washi tapes and colors. And have fun with the design. You can go with all sorts of different designs. This one here is just one of the many fun options.
Supplies:
To create this washi tape cutout card you will need:
- 1 sheet of white cardboard paper cut in two (then fold it to create a card)
- washi tape
- a pencil
- an X-acto knife
- a pair of scissors
- a ruler to keep your edges straight
- double-sided tape or a glue roller
Step 1: Create the washi tape pattern you like
The first thing you need to do is take a piece of cardboard paper and cut it down to size so that it will fit inside the card itself. Then you can start creating a pattern with your washi tape. I chose diagonal stripes, because this is probably the easiest pattern to make and quickest to do.
After placing the first stripe from corner to corner you can tape on the rest. Keep them as tightly together as you can. It’s better to let them overlap a bit than to have white gaps in between the lines. Also, try to keep similar tapes from ending up next to each other. Instead, try to spread them out a bit more.
Continue taping down all the washi tape until the entire piece of cardboard is covered. Don’t worry about overhanging edges for now, we are going to cut them all off in one go.
Turn your card around and snip off all the edges of the washi tape. By turning the card around you have a clear guide of where to cut. Take your time and slowly go along all of the edges to keep it as tight as possible. Now let’s move on to the cutout part of this DIY birthday card.
Step 2: Draw on the wanted cutout figure
This first step is the most important one. You should try to make sure that what you draw on it, you’ll actually be able to cut out. So don’t make it too narrow and make sure that the parts that need to stay on are connected to one another. For example, here I draw on the number 16, knowing that the inner part of the 6 will be taken out as well as it is no longer connected to the sides.
Step 3: Start cutting it out
Now comes the most dangerous part of this DIY. You need to use a knife or a tiny pair of scissors. I also placed a simple kitchen cutting board underneath to protect the table’s surface.
When you have straight lines, it is smart to use your ruler as a guide to be able to keep your edges as straight as possible. Go slow, because you need to be very precise and careful with this part.
Keep going until you have all of your figures cut out. If you have a lot of empty space, consider adding some triangles or shapes like I did. The triangles are really easy to cut out, no matter the size. So, don’t go for circles, because those are tricky to get even and perfectly round.
Step 4: Check if it fits and how it looks
A short step you need to do is check if it all fits. So put your washi tape card inside the card and fold closed to get an idea of how it will look and where you need to put down the glue in the next step. Make sure that there is no washi tape sticking out of the birthday card on the sides. And take a quick look at how the front of the washi tape cutout card looks. Add extra cut-outs if necessary when it looks a bit too empty because this is still possible at this stage.
Step 5: Glue it all together
The final step is to put the birthday card together. Use a glue roller or double-sided tape to put glue on the inside of the card. Don’t put any glue on the washi tape itself, because you don’t know where it will be covered exactly and it might peel the washi tape off of the paper.
Once you have it covered in glue, press it down onto the washi tape-covered card. Press down on the middle pieces to make sure that they stick together as well.
This last step is optional, but you can make it even sturdier by taping the edges on the inside of the card with one of the washi tapes. this way the edges are covered and you are sure that it will stick.
How much did it cost me to make these washi tape birthday cards?
Depending on the price of the washi tape this DIY birthday card can be really affordable. So it is up to you how expensive it’s going to be. I normally get my washi tape from the dollar store in sets. So for me, it was really cheap
How easy or difficult was it?
Well, both of them are pretty finicky and precise DIYs. So it’s definitely not the easiest or even doable for small kids. However, the fact that you use washi tape does allow for a lot more correcting of possible mistakes. You know how kids are, they don’t like the fiddly things (unlike me). So, depending on their age they might like this. I think this is primarily suited for teens and adults to make.
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