Cute Things You Can Make Without a Cricut—Using Affordable Tools

    Every once in a while I’ll have friends over for a visit, and they (and their children) are always immediately drawn to my craft table. I’m always willing to answer any questions they may have about what certain things are, how they work, and how much certain tools cost. But one of the most common statements I get from visitors is, “I wish I could make these cards, or these cupcakes toppers, but I don’t have a Cricut.” Every single time I heart that I’m not convinced, lol. I always say, “You don’t NEED a Cricut to do most of the things I make.” Sure the Cricut can make tons of things—but to be honest most of the time I only use my Cricut for printing out tags, and making Hello Kitty items. I love being hands on with every step of my craft—the items I create with tools and my hands always seem to come out better and I feel that they have more value.

What are those tools you ask? They’re craft punches! –Craft punches, high quality card stock, stamps, ink, glue, ribbon, imagination, love, etc. Here are some of the craft punches I use to create cupcake toppers, tags, cards, and embellishments.

Once I’ve punched out the shape I want, I just use some stamps to decorate the paper and these are some of the items I’ve made using these tools (without a Cricut).

Therefore, you can create some of these too. Perhaps with every paycheck you can buy a craft punch, some paper (when it’s on sale), and other needed tools—to start creating and sharing these things with the world.

Cute Gift Card Holder Idea for Cricut Users and Paper Crafters

Hello! I’m excited to be showing everyone how I go about making my gift card holders. I’ve been working on a lot of birthday cards, toppers, and many other things. So, I thought I’d share this cute idea with all my Cricut/paper-crafting friends. If you don’t have a Cricut or some of the tools I have, don’t worry. If you’re like me you’ll find a way around not having some of these tools.

Moving forward, the Cricut cartridge I’ll be using for the envelope is, “Just Because” Cards; and the paper I’m using for the envelope and card holder insert is the 70lb Kraft paper—my favorite paper!

After you’ve powered up your Cricut set the size to 4 inches, and select the ‘Canoe’ envelope feature and hit cut. Once that has been cut out, raise the size from 4 to 4 ½” inches, then click your shift button, and click <Pickle’s>. Then click cut. Once you’ve cut those out remove them from your mat, and score the envelope.

Next, pick your pattern paper! I love flipping through the pages of my paper stacks.

Once you’ve selected the paper you would like to use go ahead and choose a base color as well. I’m choosing pink as my base color. Remember to cut the base color smaller than the size of the envelope, that way you have a border; and do the same for the patterned paper as well (Make it smaller then base paper).

Then what you can do is use a brown chalk or ink around the edges to give it a vintage look (Optional).

Next I cut out a pretty shape that will be one of the main parts of the ‘Happy Birthday' Message. I cut these using my Cuttlebug.

Then I add a cute flower stamp with a very light pink color—for added cuteness.

Next I used a ‘Happy Birthday’ stamp with dark pink ink on a scrap piece of paper that is the same color as the base piece of paper (pink). Then hand cut that out and glue it to the shape stamped with a flower pattern like so:

Then what I like to do is use foam tape to add a 3D effect:

Then from this point, you can add a pretty ribbon or a cute hand-stamped message.

Then once you’ve decided to use the ribbon or the stamp go ahead and glue the entire piece onto your Kraft envelope.

Lastly, go ahead and cut some corners onto the insert so you can easily secure the gift card, then you’re done!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial! I know I had tons of fun making this for my shop; and if you like this cute gift card holder but would rather not make it, feel free to stop by my shop and buy one!