Mosaic card

What Mom wouldn’t like to receive this pretty mosaic for Mother’s Day? It’s fun and easy to make with just a few basic craft items and a little creativity!

Supplies:
Blank greeting card or sheet of cardstock
Colored or printed paper (optional)
Old magazines or junk mail
Pencil
Scissors
Hole punch
Toothpick (optional)
Permanent glue stick


Here’s How:
 1.) Purchase a blank greeting card, or create it by cutting and folding one from cardstock. If desired, cut a piece of colored or printed paper to cover the front of the card. (Otherwise, the mosaic can be applied directly to the front of the blank card.)
2.) Use a pencil to lightly draw a simple design, like a flower, onto the front of the card.
3.) Choose a color scheme, and then go “hunting” for one color at a time in magazine pictures. Use a hole punch to make dots of each desired color. 4.) Keep the dots of similar colors together, and avoid mixing them with contrasting colors. This part of the project can help kids learn the difference between “warm” (red, orange, yellow) and “cold” (gray, blue, green) colors.
4.) Then, coat one section of the design with the glue stick. Apply the dots to the sticky surface until the section is covered. (An easy way to adhere the dots is to slightly moisten a fingertip or toothpick to pick them up one at a time, and then press them onto the glue.)
5.) Repeat Step 4 one section at a time until the design is covered. Add a border of dots around the edge of the card if desired.
6.) Add a handwritten message inside and the card is ready to “wow” Mom! 


More ideas:
• Use tweezers to pick up and adhere the dots.
• If the magazine paper is too thin to punch correctly, double the thickness by folding the picture in half before punching it.
• Punch the dots from junk mail, catalogs or scraps of colored paper instead.
• Instead of a flower, create a different object, words or even a pretty pattern.
• For a simpler version, apply dots to only the outline of the drawing.
• Draw details on the mosaic with markers or colored pencils.
• Spell a message with the dots inside the card.
• Make several cards, tie them together with ribbon and present them as a gift of blank note cards.
• Make mosaics for other holiday cards or decorations.
• Adhere the mosaic to a square of cardboard and cover it with clear contact paper to make a cute coaster.
• Try this idea smaller to make mosaic pins or magnets.
• Make a large mosaic picture and frame the finished art.

Pamela Frye Hauer is an artist, author and mother of two busy little boys. Her craft and scrapbooking projects have appeared in numerous books and magazines. Her most recent book is “Memories in Miniature.”  Photo by Pamela Frye Hauer

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