Welcome back to Make It Monday! Here is a great idea for a quick card, perfect for the guys. You will even have a built-in gift card holder using this method. Let’s get started!

Folded shirt card with gift card inside, on 5×7″ card base.

Please don’t let all the photos scare you. It won’t take you long! Instead of creating a video, I have taken still photos of the process.

Take a piece of patterned paper, 6 1/2″ x 9 1/2″.

Patterned paper, 6 1/2″ x 9 1/2″

Fold in half, lengthwise.

Fold in half lengthwise.

Flip the paper so you have the “valley fold” facing you, and fold the outer edge to the center fold.

Bring edge to center fold

Repeat, so that you have both outer edges meeting in the center.

Repeat, bringing other side to center fold.

Flip the paper over, and then fold about 1/2″ over on one of the short edges.

Flip over and fold half inch on top.

Flip the paper back over so that the loose edges are facing up again. To create the collar, bring the right top folded corner in to meet the center. Place the point about 1/2″ down from the top.

Create collar by folding edge toward center.

Repeat with the other corner, so the two corners meet along the center.

Repeat, bringing other corner to meet in the center.

Fold the bottom up, so that the edge will slip under the collar points, and will meet where the corners meet in the previous step. Crease the paper to make the bottom of the shirt.

Fold bottom up to tuck under collar.

Open the bottom flap back down. From the crease you just made, fold back the center edge of the paper, and fold out, making a triangle from the center fold to the outer fold.

Fold bottom back down and create triangle from center to edge.

Repeat on the other side.

Repeat on other side.

You now have an area where you can slide in a gift card.

Slide gift card in opening.

Slide card in above the fold.

Fold the bottom section back up, and tuck under the collar to secure!

Fold bottom back up and tuck under collar.

Did you realize you just created an origami shirt? Now you are ready to add any other details you’d like. I just added pen details to suggest buttons and the front edge of the shirt. I cut out a tiny pocket and sponged the edges before adhering with a dimensional glue dot.

Details added to shirt. embellish as desired!

You could stop here and just use this for a gift card, but I wanted to create a card. Using the paper sized here, it makes the shirt a bit too large for a standard 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ card base, so I opted to create a 5″x7″ card. If you want to use the smaller size card base, you could easily trim the sleeves a bit.

Card base of 4 1/4″ by 5 1/2″.

A 5×7 card will fit into an A7 size envelope, also known as an invitation envelope. Here is the final card, with sponged edges to grunge it up a bit. If you are using this for a gift card, be careful whether you add your adhesive on the shirt. You’ll want to leave the sleeves free, and don’t forget to let the person not a gift card is hidden in the shirt!

Folded shirt card with gift card inside, on 5×7″ card base.

MAKE IT MONDAY

Next up on the Make It Monday blog circle is Alice from Scrapbook Wonderland, showing us how to make Dad a mini album for Father’s Day, with tips to keep it simple and get it done quickly!

Have a great week, and be sure to share your projects with us on the Artful Adventures Facebook Group!

Cheers to YOUR Artful Adventures!