CRAFT PROJECT - Limited edition Holiday Tree Card

I found this tree-shaped car air freshner on the street. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it, so I just hung it and let it stew.

Then one day my friend was getting rid of this paper that I really liked the texture of. He gave me the sheets and I took them home. I put it on the table and by chance, I accidently knocked down the tree air freshner that landed on the paper. And then something sparked in my head.

I went into my craft drawer and found some old tree shaped stamps that I had for awhile. It got me thinking about the deli down the street that had christmas trees for sale. All the trees were different, but had their own personality. And the light bulb finally flashed.

I cut down the paper to 4x6 sheets, traced the form from the car air freshner, cut out the form, and stamped each tree with a different combination of the tree rubber stamps that I had. I went to my local crafts store, bought a tri-color stamp pad for $6.50 and start stamping away. Luckily, I also had some sheets of those foil star stickers that school teachers use, and viola...a personalized christmas card for each of my friends.

Every tree has the same shape, but are slightly different and beautiful in their own way.

This is one sample of the one hundred cards I made. With a friend, I even laid out all 100 cards to make a forest of friends that you can see on my facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=364692&id=637585625&l=c4fe335458

And if you are curious how all 100 came out, with a scanner, we were able to do portraits shots of each tree that is in this photo gallery.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=365733&id=637585625&l=658d126851

So run-down of materials
- 1 used tree-shaped car air freshner
- Sheets of medium weight blotting paper cut down to 4x6
- scissors
- 3 tree rubber stamps
- Tri-color inkpad (main cost $6.50)
- gold/silver foil star stickers
- pen to sign card

It came down to less than a penny a card, but hours and hours of my time. Like a good conversation with a friend or family member.

Happy Holidays.