Always listen to your mother. That's what I took away from this little experiment. Last week, my mom came over and I showed her some of my favorite blogs and the next tutorial I was going to do. I told her it was going to be a Business Card Holder that you could just throw in your purse, or pocket and be on your way. One simple question she asked me: "Will the business cards fit?"
"Of course," I responded without even thinking about it. I had been planning this simple tutorial in my head for some time now and was just absolutely
sure about everything. I was getting excited to just go for it, document it, and type it up! And most of all- to use it for our new FlyChicks business cards...
Ummmmm... yeah.
However- I wanted to go ahead and use it for something, and I realized you could use it for anything that does fit! And it turns out, that's a lot! So I'm going to go ahead with this tutorial because the end product is super cute, fun, and can still fit in your purse or pocket.
First, the materials:
-Mod Podge (yea!)
-Tissue Paper (I used two different kinds; a solid, and a pattern)
-A Tin (you may be able to find one that does hold business cards!)
-Paintbrush
-Primer or Gesso (optional)
-Anything else you may want to use to embellish it
1) I used some of my gesso so I could have a white-ish base. Since tissue paper is somewhat transparent, I wanted to make sure I started off with a clean canvas:
I did two coats, then let dry.
2) Tear up your tissue paper into small-ish pieces. You are going to be layering them, so keep that in mind when tearing. You could cut with scissors, but I like the whole "torn edge" look:
3) Time to break out the Mod Podge... my favorite part!
I did the top and bottom separately so that it would be easier to handle- this gets messy:
I coated the top of the tin with some Mod Podge
(we established that us FlyChicks have some fat thumbs, in an earlier
tutorial- it just means we're creative!)
4) Then, I began adding the little torn pieces of tissue paper in no particular order, just arranged according to my liking. You will probably have to keep your brush in one hand while adding tissue with the other because each time you add a piece, you need to 'podge over it so that the other pieces will stick while layering:
You can use the straight-ish edges of the paper around the edges of the tins so it is easier. If not- don't worry, an exacto knife takes care of any stray paper once it is all dry!
You can use the bottom of your paintbrush to sort of "push in" the places where the paper needs to form to the ridges.
Don't fear the corners- you can just fold and press and 'podge:
5) Once you feel you are done layering, make sure you Mod Podge the whole lid and all the pieces you have adhered thus far. Then let it dry overnight. I did another coat on the lid after I did the bottom, and then once the bottom was dry, I did a second coat over that, too:
It looks all funky and paste-y when it's wet, but it dries clear- and awesome- trust me!
6) Once dry, you can use an exacto knife to cut off any unruly edges you may have:
I went ahead and did the bottom half the same way I did the top and ended up with a beautiful little carrying case:
However... I wanted it to have a little something more.
So I grabbed some metallic bronze (although it looks more like gold, to me) paint I had in my art cabinet and used it in two simple ways: opaque on the top lid edge, and transparent-ish (there's a lot of "ish" going on in this post!) using a dry brush technique:
close up of dry brush technique
(just dip your brush in the paint, then paint or dab most of it away/off on a scrap piece of paper before brushing onto the surface of what you are creating)
And now for a couple of uses:
holding little embellishments
holding art supplies for an on-the-go creativity set
I just thought of another one- a gift card holder!
So, go create, and have fun; let me know if you come up with any more uses or if you find a certain brand of tin that works for business cards!
