Make a fun sunburst greeting card by upcycling pages from old magazines.

It’s time for the Sustainable Craft Challenge when I join a group of creative crafty friends and we all create something to share with you that incorporates a sustainable, or eco friendly element. The aim to explore ways to craft in a more sustainable way, recycling, upcycling and using what we already have. This month our theme is SUNSHINE.

For my project I’m bringing you a simple card making idea made using pages from old magazines or junk mail.

Sunburst Greeting Cards made with Old Magazines

Materials needed:

Greeting card blank - mine are 5” x 7”
Pages of old magazines and junk mail
paper glue - I used a pritt glue stick
scissors
sunburst template
a stamped or printed sentiment
yellow felt pen
foam pads

Finding suitable magazine pages

Go through your old magazine pages and pull out pictures and adverts with yellows and oranges.

Prepare your template

Create a sunburst template or use the one I have made. My template measures just under 5” x 7” and is designed for a 5” x 7” card. You can size mine up or down to suit if you like too of course.

Cut out the shapes from your template and then use them to cut out the shapes from the yellow or orange elements of your magazine pages or junk mail.

To keep track of what I’d cut and what I’d not done yet I set up the design with the template pieces on my desk and then replaced each one as I cut it. It a very simple jigsaw but I can imagine it wouldn’t take much to get in a pickle and cut 2 the same or end up with pieces upside down!

Fixing the design to the card

Once you are happy with your cut out pieces simple glue them to the card one at a time. I found it easiest to start with the corners and then fill in the gaps, it made spacing the pieces out evenly much simpler.

Adding a sentiment

To finish off your card add a sentiment

I just used some stamps I happen to have in my stash.

Stamp the words onto card, cut them out and then use a colouring pen to edge them in a golden yellow.

Fix them to your card with foam pads.

Other ways to make sunburst cards

You don’t have to use old magazines and junk mail to make these cards, I just happen to have plenty. You could make similar cards using:

leftover scrapbook papers
wrapping paper
cut up old greeting cards
wall paper samples
colourful envelopes

I’ve done my sunbursts in traditional sunshine yellows and oranges but you could use any colour or use a whole rainbow of colours.

You could leave off the sentiment altogether or print out something bespoke on your computer. You could hand write a sentiment, maybe a chance to practice some fancy calligraphy? How about a sunshine sentiment like:

You are my sunshine
Stay close to people who feel like sunshine
Spread a little sunshine
Here comes the sun
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Friends are the sunshine of life

You could even frame your collage instead of turning it into a card or glue it to a wooden block to make cheerful sunny shelf art.

These cards were a lot of fun to make, cost next to nothing and used at least some of an old magazine which would have otherwise just ended up in the paper recycling bin.