Week 30: New Way to Use Old Cards

I am well aware of the fact that I am supposed to be on week 32, but rest assured because I am determined to get all the way caught up before my classes start again on August 18th! This week though, I have something really cool to share with you :) Take a look!



The New:
I work with a gal who despises wasting anything: food, water, energy, styrofoam, and even old cards from games. She was working with the kids this last week on recycling things that seem like trash to most people, and she happened to have a stack of cards from an old Cranium game. Shortly after I discovered those cards, I grabbed a stack and became inspired to make a place-mat out of them. Here's how I did it:

In short:
I made four rows of seven cards, holding them together with packing tape. Then I taped them to each other one at a time and covered every last inch with packing tape (just to make it easier to wipe off, if it's ever necessary).

In detail:
1. Gather your materials (clear packing tape and old cards). Place a long piece of packing tape on your work surface, sticky side up. Carefully stick the top part of the cards to it. I used 7 cards in each row. Set it aside when you are done. Repeat this step four times (or more, if you want it to be longer). Don't worry about covering the cards in tape just yet; it will look better if you are able to use minimal amounts of tape, and when you tape the rows together, it will cover a good chunk of cards.
2. Tape the first two rows together, using long pieces that wrap around the back a little (as opposed to lots of short strips of tape). Continue taping the rows together using this same strategy.
3. When all of your rows are secured together, make sure you tape up any part of the cards that is still 'untaped'.

Note: There are surely many strategies to this whole taping thing. Find something that works for you and don't be afraid of messing it up. After all, this is supposed to be a fun HOMEMADE project, so perfection is by no means the main goal :)


The Evidence:

The Verdict:
This project was pretty simple and I would definitely do it again. Next time though, I might use playing cards for a different look. This way, one side of the place-mat would be all the same and the other side would show some more variety.
Also, I bet that self-laminating techniques would work well and leave behind fewer creases and lines.

If you've done something similar to this, I would love to hear about it in the comments :)