Do you think that homemade birthday cards are only appropriate when coming from a young child, think again! Homemade birthday cards are a great way for adults to express their creativity and add a special touch to a gift, whether it be for their significant other, friend, family member, or colleague.
The best news is that you don’t need to get a professional artist in order to produce cards that are Hallmark quality. If you follow the tutorials outlined below, you can end up with a wonderful greeting that is sure to quickly become a keepsake for its recipient!
Washi Tape Birthday Card Ideas
Washi tape is a type of decorative tape that is often used in scrapbooking and bullet journaling. However, when you think outside of the box, washi tape can make wonderful greeting cards!
Washi Tape Presents
We love the way that this example from Vintage Page Designs shows how you can use washi tape to make the shapes of presents on a birthday card! Add a small ribbon and a piece of scrapbooking paper, and you have yourself a unique and textured birthday card that looks like it came from a high-end boutique.
Washi Tape Candles
Here is another example of using washi tape to create objects, except in this case it’s birthday candles! There is really no end to the options of items that you can create, and it is much easier to use washi tape than it is to draw it freehand, as even one off-kilter rectangle can cause a card to look less professional. Get the details at Pink Bows and Twinkle Toes.
Washi Tape Birthday Cake
If you have scraps of washi tape sitting around that you are unsure what to do with, you may be able to combine them into a beautiful-looking birthday cake or cupcake. Find out how from Omiyage.
Washi Tape Flowers
You can use these washi tape flower cards from Glued to My Crafts for a variety of occasions, but they certainly work well as a birthday greeting. This is especially true if your special someone is celebrating their birthday in the spring or summer months!
DIY Pop-Up Birthday Cards
The idea of making a 3-dimensional birthday card may be intimidating if you’re new to it, but once you know what you are doing they are actually quite easy to make. Plus, you can make them at home at the fraction of how much it would buy one in a store.
Pop-Up Birthday Cake
This tutorial from the Crafty Daily YouTube channel will show you how to make this colorful, one-of-a-kind pop up birthday cake card! It is sure to surprise any gift receiver who is opening the card and expecting a regular greeting.
Pop-Up Flower Bouquet
The next best thing to giving somebody a bouquet of flowers is giving them a pop-up card full of beautiful crafty flowers! Actually, maybe this is actually better than receiving real flowers in some ways, since you do not have to actually take care of these, and you do not have to put them in a vase! Get the look from Abbi Kirsten Collections.
DIY Watercolor Birthday Cards
We talk about watercolors a lot on here, and it’s mostly because they make a great medium for artists of all levels! Even if you are not familiar with using watercolors, by following a tutorial you can still receive mind blowing results. Plus, a watercolor kit is inexpensive to purchase.
Classic Floral Watercolor Card
This page from Tombow shows a few different ways that you can use watercolors to create a beautiful birthday card greeting. Our personal favorite are the ones that incorporate flowers that are painted with soft, blush hues and feature a calligraphy message on the inside.
Simple Bouquet Watercolor
We are going to let you into a little watercolor secret. If you do not feel confident in your ability to freestyle an entire scene, you can simply straw shapes of items with a black fine tip pen before adding splashes of colors to them with your watercolors. See an example of how wonderful that can look here at Kristina Werner!
Watercolor Balloons
The end result of this watercolor tutorial from Lime Doodle Design is simply exquisite! We would have never thought of adding a little bit of texture with the jewels if we were creating this card from scratch ourselves. If you are looking to take on a project that is sure to blow the person that you are giving a card to away, then this would be the tutorial to follow.
Punny DIY Birthday Cards
Who doesn’t love a good joke? Who especially doesn’t love a good joke when it is on a greeting card? Making your own “punny” birthday greetings gives you an opportunity to personalize the card to include an inside joke that you and the gift recipient have together! Or, you can go with some of our favorite ready-made jokes that are outlined below.
To My Significant Otter
Who says that lovey-dovey cards should only be reserved for Valentine’s Day? If you are making a birthday card for your boyfriend or girlfriend, why not let them know how you feel about them with an adorable pun featuring otters?
Have an Eggcellent Birthday
Even if the birthday boy or girl does not care much for eggs, it doesn’t mean that they won’t care for egg-related puns! Who knew that a fried egg could be so cute? Turns out it can be when used in an incredibly cute greeting card.
You Leveled Up
Here is a wonderful idea for the video game lover in your life! Comparing somebody’s birthday to “leveling up” is surely a positive take on birthdays that is sure to be refreshing to anyone who is starting to feel the years tack on.
DIY Birthday Cards With Found Objects
“Found object” art refers to art that can be made using a variety of odds and ends that you already have around the house! Not only is this an environmentally friendly way to approach a craft, but it also means that you have to put less effort in from the artistic end.
Birthday Card With Real Candles
If you are apprehensive about drawing birthday candles for your card, why not use the real thing instead? Yes, we mean using actual birthday candles! The main consideration to have is that doing this can get quite heavy, so it might be best if you stick to one candle on the card. We love the way that this idea made the candle act as the “i” in “wish”.
Playing Card Birthday Card
Who doesn’t have an old deck of cards laying around? If you have a deck that is missing cards and is no longer of practical use to you, it may make sense to use one of the deck’s cards in a birthday greeting. Check out this creative idea that makes use of a king!
Animal DIY Birthday Cards
Who doesn’t love animals? On that note, who doesn’t love animals on their greeting cards? Here are some of our favorite selections that are easy to DIY.
Zebra DIY Greeting
As many animal birthday greetings feature your standard dogs and cats, we thought that we would change it up a bit by featuring a zebra as our first selection. Actually, this DIY card idea features many of the exact things that we love in a do-it-yourself greeting card: cute text, splashes of colors, and an adorable animal!
Adorable Koalas
The koala bear is one of the most beloved animals in its native Australia as well as around the world! Brighten up the birthday celebrator’s day by making them a homemade birthday card that features koalas holding balloons. Bonus: these guys are actually pretty easy to draw!
Cat With Ball and Yarn
Cats are the most popular house pets in the United States, and although there is no shortage of feline-themed apparel and stationary on the market, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t attempt to make a card of your own. Follow these clear instructions from Makezine to see how you can make a super cute card that shows a cat with a ball of yarn.
Birthdays are special occasions, and one of the ways that you can make sure that they feel special to the person celebrating is by taking the time to make them a homemade birthday card that shows a touch of your personality! Even after the candles have been blown out, it is sure to remain a keepsake for them for years to come.