Balsa Wood Christmas Cards

Not liking the selection of Christmas cards this year? Want to make something by hand that will be sure to be remembered? Have a little bit of time and some craft supplies available?

Well here is your chance to make a personalized card for your loved ones for the holidays. Using balsa wood and a few other crafting supplies, I'll show you how to make two different cards that have a third dimension to them.

Step 1 Gathering Your Materials

We will need:

1 board of 1/8 inch thick balsa wood
1 board of 1/4 inch thick balsa wood. (If not available, the 1/8 in can be stacked 2 layers deep.)
A razor blade or utility knife to cut the wood with
Card stock
Colored construction paper (or any other colored paper
Paint and paintbrush
Scissors
Glue
A surface to cut on. (A couple layers of cardboard and an old catalog work fine.)

Comments

[PikminRed]

AWESOME I think I am going to do something similar this Christmas i had balsa wood and carving tools i didn't know how to use and this is so simple! i love how you did the snowy effect!

[thatshortkid17]

nice...im gonna use this for a mother's day gift

[explosivemaker]

very creative....thumbs up

[goodgnus]

Nice! Sandpaper and files shape soft woods very well, rounded corners would be a nice addition to the elements on the card. Also, for coloring, I'd think stains would work better (maybe made of diluted food coloring?), they would allow the natural properties of the wood to show through the color.

[shooby]

Might wanna use Basswood instead of Balsa. Balsa is a heavily endangered Amazonian tree, bass isn't. Also, balsa has those terrible frayed edges, bass cuts clean. Talk to people who make architectural models, they'll all tell you bass is better.

[jeff-o]

Foam board or foam sheets might also work, but they don't look nearly as nice as wood.

[cainunable]

I had even thought of using some types of cardboard early on, but yeah, there is just something about wood that makes it seem better.

[cainunable]

I might try that next time. I originally thought of balsa because it is light, easy to cut with just a blade (what I had available) and it is relatively cheap and easy to find. If I make these again (which is likely) I might try the Basswood and a rotary tool (as suggested by guitarman63mm)

[shooby]

well, you're right about balsa being easier to cut, but I cut bass by hand almost exclusively. 1/8" is cuttable using an X-acto, utility knife like what you're using, or anything similar. What works really well is the X-acto chisel blade made for the larger handle, pushes right through it.

[guitarman63mm]

I believe a router might be a more efficient/accurate solution to chisels and straight blades. Possibly a rotary tool. good job!

[cainunable]

Probably so. I had to use what I had available since my goal was to do this on the cheap though. :)

[niemieck]

really cool!

[janlyn]

Very Cool, Clint!