For Easy Birthday Card Ideas...
Try this Birthday Collage Card!

I created this Birthday Collage Card in honor of the day and year she was born. I went online and found a lot of neat facts about my sister's birthday.

For instance, I already know she is a Scorpio, so that's easy. She was also born in the Chinese Year of the Monkey - which is a fun fact to include in the collage.

What I didn't know is that her birthday tree is a Walnut Tree and her birthday flower is a Chrysanthemum! My sister loves nature and flowers, so I was happy to learn this little facts - it definitely made the card more personal.

Think of birthday card ideas that really resonate with your birthday gal or guy -- they won't forget your thoughtfulness!

With all of these cool facts, I decided to make a collage to celebrate her birthday instead of just buying a generic or making a generic greeting card.

It is easy to find homemade birthday card ideas when you are close to the person and know a little bit about them.

• Does your birthday girl or boy enjoy any special hobbies? Shopping, cooking, sports, fishing -- these could be used to create a really cool collage, too!

• Do you know their favorite colors or flowers? Beautiful handmade cards can be made using different shades of colors highlighted with different flowers.

• Is music or movies a big part of their life? Homemade cards with a collage of musical notes or instruments or little pictures of their favorite movies (maybe with free movie tickets inside) could be a modern way to celebrating their favorites interests.

• Is your birthday guy or gal into something really radical - like bungee jumping or skydiving? This could definitely be a cool foundation for creating a really unique card.

Creative handmade cards are a very cool way to incorporate what you know and love about the person into a celebration of their birthday.

I will be listing the material that I used to make this card in particular. Your material will likely differ depending on what type of birthday card collage you have decided to make.

• Cardstock, for the actual card - I chose black.

• Scrap decorative paper - for the background of the card

• Pictures, magazine cut-outs, printed clip art to include in the collage

• Scrap cardstock to attached the collage pieces to (this will make the collage pieces thicker and more durable)

• Rubber cement and a glue runner - or adhesive of your choice

• Craft knife

• Steel Ruler

• Cutting mat

• Sketch paper or paper durable enough for watercolor paints,optional

  I printed out my collage pictures onto sketch paper so that I could add color with watercolor paints (if you have a color printer, you may choose just to print out your pictures in color instead)

• Watercolor paint, optional

• Self adhesive Foam Dots or Squares, optional for adding dimension to certain collage pieces

1. Find your collage pictures for your birthday card ideas.

   You can look anywhere: magazines, newspapers, old scrapbook paper, online, clip art on your computer, etc...

   I found my pictures online.

2. Cut out or print out your pictures.

   I printed out my pictures onto sketchpad paper so that I could paint them with watercolor paint to add color.

3. Prepare your collage pieces as desired.

   I used watercolor to paint the walnut tree and the chrysanthemum flower. I was going for an "antique" looking card and so I used very light colors.

4. Secure your collage pictures to scrap cardstock or scrap decorative paper.

   TIP: Choose to prepare your collage pieces to match your recipient or the theme of the card.

   I tore pieces of cardstock to create a frame around my walnut tree to emphasize the "antique" look I was going for.

   You can choose bright backgrounds to place your pieces on if the theme is more modern and colorful. Or even choose doilies or lace to frame your pieces. Anything goes!

5. Play with the arrangement of the scrap decorative pieces of paper as a background with the collage pieces.

   
   

   I played with the design of the pieces for a while before deciding on how to arrange the pieces.

6. Fold your cardstock to the desired size for the actual card

   TIP: After playing with the arrangement of the background paper and the collage pieces - you may decide that the birthday collage card would look better horizontal instead of vertical or even that a small square card may hold the pieces better.

7. Glue the decorative scrap paper to the front of the card in your desired arrangement

8. Start gluing your collage pieces to the card.

9. Optional: Complete the card by adding the collage pieces that will be attached with self-adhesive foam squares.

   TIP: If you are using self-adhesive foam dots for some collage pieces, then glue the pieces that will be flat against the surface of the card first.

Here's a Close up of the
Final Birthday Collage Card

My sister loves nature, so I think adding dimension to these key pieces made a lot of creative sense!