Mother’s Day is May 14th, which gives you plenty of time to make this gorgeous card! There are a lot of things to love about it, from the elegant sash to the fact that it doubles as chic artwork. Definitely give it a try!
Chances are high that you have an amazing mom in your life. Maybe she’s your mother, she could be your daughter, or perhaps she’s your friend. That woman deserves acknowledgement for the incredible job that she’s doing, and you can convey those feelings in this DIY Mother’s Day card! You’ll love making this card because it’s a low-maintenance project that will take around half an hour to create. She’ll love receiving this card because anything handmade is the best, and the piece doubles as a 5″x7″ frameable piece of artwork!
In the steps below, I’ll outline how to make this card. Feel free to modify the tutorial to suit your personal style and needs! This project is very versatile, and needn’t be taken too seriously.
I keep pre-folded blank watercolor cards on hand for projects like this one. The cards are size 5″ x 7″, perfect for many different card concepts (some of my favorites include the Citrus Watercolor Birthday Card and the Retro Floral Thank You Card). If you don’t have pre-folded watercolor cards, they’re easy to DIY! Simply cut out a piece of 10″ x 7″ (254 mm x 178 mm) watercolor paper, then fold it in half vertically (“hamburger fold”).
Once you have your watercolor card, get out a black gel pen. I like using a Pilot G2 05, but any similar pen will work!
Now, you’re going to use your pen to draw clusters of petals throughout the card. While the petals in each cluster will be a different size, the points of all petals will aim in the same general direction.
Each cluster should have anywhere between four and seven petals.
None of the clusters should form a complete circle. Limiting the amount of petals in each cluster will keep this DIY Mother’s Day card from looking overly floral.
If you’d like a printable — and traceable — reference for how to draw your petals, I made a scan of the card shown above. You can download it by clicking here.
For this step, you’ll need a paintbrush and a cup of water. I am using a size 3 paintbrush here, but any fairly small paintbrush will work!
Wet the brush, then touch it to to the outline on the inside of a petal. You’ll notice that the ink immediately starts to run to form a gorgeous, muted gray color!
Starting from the top left of the card (for right-handers) or the top right of the card (for left-handers), work your way down the petals with the water-saturated brush.
Once you finish, your card will look somewhat like the one below.
You can set it to the side to dry, though it won’t take long — just a couple of minutes! At this point, you’ll want to write a message inside the card.
Without a sash, this project wouldn’t be a Mother’s Day card! To make one, cut out a 1″ x 11″ (25 mm x 280 mm) piece of card stock. The card stock can be any color that you like!
Once you have cut the strip, fold the right side of it about 3″ (76 mm) to the left.
The strip should now look like this:
Now, slip the card against the crease that you just made. Use the left edge of the card to make a fold on the left of the paper strip.
Straighten out the strip, and write “Happy Mother’s Day” in the hand-lettering or calligraphy style of your choice. The style shown below is Kaitlin Style. If you aren’t into calligraphy, any of the fonts in the hand-lettering worksheet set would look great as well!
Wait for the ink to dry, then erase any pencil guidelines that you may have made. Wrap the sash around the card, then secure it in the back with glue or a piece of decorative tape.
Feel free to switch up the color of the sash and the calligraphy style/ink! I actually prefer a blue sash with white Flourish Formal calligraphy, pictured on the right below.
Once you put on the sash, your DIY Mother’s Day card is finished!
Even if the mom you made this card for only lives a couple of houses away, it’s a special treat to receive something in the mail. Try making an envelope for her that features the petal technique on the left side!
You can match the calligraphy or lettering style of the address to whatever you used on the sash, and finish the mail art with a collage of vintage postage stamps.
While this tutorial touts this project as a DIY Mother’s Day card, it can be a DIY anything card! I recently sent my father-in-law this same card for his birthday … except, obviously, it says “Happy Birthday” on the sash. He absolutely adores it and immediately put it on the “shelf of honor” in his living room. That made me realize that this concept is universally appealing — it strikes the perfect balance between feminine and masculine.
The really cool aspect of this card is its versatility. It seamlessly transitions from greeting card to chic artwork, and I think that any recipient will appreciate that! I actually ended up loving the concept so much that I made a card for myself and put it on framed display in my kitchen.
No matter who you end up making this card for, he or she will really appreciate that you were thinking of them. I will caution that once you make one of these, you’ll probably want to make another one … there’s something satisfying about teasing out the black gel ink to make colored petals! That said, there’s no disadvantage to having more than one card — I’m sure you know more than one mom. You can also pull a “Lindsey” and keep one for yourself!
I hope that you enjoyed today’s tutorial, and that you give this simple little project a try. Thanks very much for reading TPK, and have a fantastic weekend!
Warmly,
PS – If you aren’t feeling the look of today’s DIY Mother’s Day card tutorial, you may enjoy last year’s tutorial! You can check it out by clicking here.
*This post contains affiliate links to Amazon
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