Recycled Business Cards

recycled business cards with fabric

I have found I need just a few business cards with my blog address on them. I get chatting to people about the blog and then I'm scratting about for a piece for paper to write the name down for them - very unprofessional!

I already had a little stash of old business cards which were my husbands, from his old job. Completely useless as business cards but as they were blank on the back I have been using them for card making (matting & layering etc) They were perfect for a bit of a makeover.

I also have a large number of fabric scraps, those little bits that are too small for most things but too big to throw away. I was trying to use what I already had - I didn't want to be spending any money here. You could use any little bits of scrap book paper, magazine adverts, comic pages, washi tape, junk mail ..... ooooooh the possibilities are endless!

Business Card Makeover/Upcycle

(I was going to say re-purpose but actually it's exactly the same purpose!)

You will need:

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  • A bunch of old business cards (they do need to be blank on one side)

  • PVA glue, something really sticky - I assume Mod Podge would work

  • A paint brush

  • Old scraps of fabric or what else you have (see above)

  • Sharp fabric scissors

Paint a layer of glue onto the printed side of the card then press down firmly onto the fabric. Have some scrap paper underneath as the glue will probably seep through a little bit.

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I stuck a load down then put them between layers of scrap paper under a pile of books for about 1/2 hour until the glue dried.

Cut them out using the sharp scissors.

You might find that the old writing shows through a bit if the fabric is pale, not very patterned or very thin.

Now you just need to put something on the front.

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I practised a few ideas on scrap paper first. 

I already had the cute little stamp and it fitted perfectly on the cards if they were portrait. However the cards had to be landscape or the blog address wouldn't fit! In the end I just went with what I had.

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It was a little bit time consuming (I spent about an hour and made 20) but as I don't need loads it was pretty satisfying to not spend a penny!

Julie