Handmade Thanks {from scraps}

This is a nice time of year for sending serendipitous thank you notes. And if you're a paper lover like myself, you probably have piles of small scraps laying around which make perfect embellishments for handmade notes. This is so simple, it hardly merits posting about, but it's a fun way to make custom cards without fancy photo-shop/graphic design skills. And did I mention that I love the idea of using scraps?

I try to have blank cards, envelopes and stamps on hand at all times - makes note-writing much likelier to get done. You can buy blank stationary sets at craft stores. I bought two 50-piece sets (with envelopes) last year for just over six dollars a piece - that's 100 card/envelope sets for about $13.00; pretty economical considering that last week I spent $8.00 on twenty two not-that-cute, pre-made cards (I had oodles of thank yous to write for all the help we received with our move.)

First, I print a page of text with an assortment of greetings:

T h a n k Y o u, L o v e N o t e, L o v e Y o u,

T h a n k s, T h i n k i n g O f Y o u, H a p p y D a y

Then I go to work creating little collages of prints, solids, and text.
I like to adhere the pieces with double stick photo-mounting squares. A glue stick works, too.

A little stack makes a nice gift - a ready supply of cute cards is such a handy thing to have around.

I've seen similarly collaged cards done with scraps of fabric. Instead of using glue as your adhesive, you'd want to use fusible webbing (an iron-on adhesive) to secure your fabric to the paper.

Love these whimsical ornaments:

And these apples are sweet and simple:

So, there you have it. A few simple ways to personalize a thank you note.
Whether you use fabric or paper, a store-bought stack, a handmade note or a 3x5 card - it really doesn't matter. The most important thing is the expression of thanks.

The thing I'd love most is for this post to inspire us all to take a minute to slow down and pen a few lines of thoughtful gratitude during the busy Holiday season; if you have fun prettying up the paper - well, that's just icing.

xo,
em

**Don't Forget: Tomorrow (Friday) is the deadline to submit items for the online auction for Benson & Claire. Please e.mail us photos of the item(s) you'd like to donate, a description,
and a starting bid. And please help us spread the word so we can have lots of
bidding here on the 10th.**