Playing Cards: Personalized and Pocket-Sized

These cute little personalized cards are perfect to keep in your pocket or purse. Whether your flight was delayed or there’s a long wait at the doctor’s office, these playing cards can save you from hours of boredom!

Step 1: What You'll Need

-Computer
-Power Point (I use the 2010 version)
-3 pages of card stock (your choice of style)
-Printer

Step 2:

Begin with a blank presentation slide in Microsoft Power Point. Go to Insert/Shapes/Rectangle then click on the blank slide. This will give you a square. Go to the Format tab at the top of the screen and change the size of the rectangle/square to be 2” tall and 1.5” wide. Next double click the rectangle and at the top change the “Shape fill” to whatever color you wish your cards to be. Then change the “Shape outline” to whatever color you would like

Note : I recommend making the card a light color so it’s easy to see the graphics you use. I also recommend outlining the cards in a dark color such as black to make cutting easier.

Step 3:

Left-click the rectangle and hit “ctrl” and “c” to copy. Next, hit “ctrl” and “v” to paste. Do this 5 times (so you will have a total of 6 rectangles on the screen) and line the rectangles up side-by-side at the top of the page.

Hold “shift” and select all of the rectangles in the row you made. Follow the copy instructions from earlier to copy the row twice
Note: line up each row after copying it
This will give you a total of 18 rectangles.

Add 2 more slides to the presentation by clicking Home/New Slide/Blank

Go back to the first slide. On the far right of the screen when on the home tab is an option that says “Select”. Click it and then click “Select All”. This will select all of the rectangles on the page. Copy the rectangles then go to both of the other slides and paste them.

You now have 18 rectangles on each slide which gives you a total of 54 cards. This is perfect for the 52 regular cards and 2 Jokers that make up a deck.

Step 4:

Go to the “Insert” tab and click “WordArt”. Choose the style you want to use. Make 4 of each letter and number needed for a deck of cards (i.e. 4 Ks, 4 Qs, 4 Js, 4 As, and 4 of numbers 2-10). Place each letter or number in the top left corner of a card. I put my initials on the Joker cards but you can put whatever letter/number combination you would like. Feel free to give each suit its own style of lettering (we will cover making personalized suits later).

Note: You need to do the following part slide by slide.

Select all the letters on the page by holding the “shift” key and copy them. Paste the letters on the screen. While the new set of letters is still selected click Format/ Rotate/ Flip Vertical. Move the flipped letters to the bottom right hand corner of their respective cards.

Step 5:

Now it’s time to choose symbols to make your own suits! Choose from clip-art or pictures saved on your computer. Remember to include one of each card in each suit (except the jokers) and remember that the amount of symbols is the same as the number on the card (i.e. there are 4 symbols on the “4” card). Put pictures of your favorite celebrities or cartoon characters on the King, Queen, and Jack cards . Put whatever you want on the Joker cards.

Step 6:

Now it’s time to print! Print the pages on cardstock so your cards are nice and sturdy.
Note : Only put one page in at a time – this means you’ll have to print each slide individually.
Try using cardstock that has a design on one side and is blank on the other (can be found at your local craft store) to give the backs of your cards a cool look.
Note : If you use this kind of cardstock, make sure you put the paper in correctly so it doesn’t print on the side with the design.

Go to File/Print and change the Settings section to say “Slides: 1” to print the first slide and “Slides: 2” to print the second slide, etc.

Note : Depending on what printer you have, you may need to switch your printer settings to cardstock/specialty paper. If you have an HP printer like I do, follow these directions (and the picture included): Go to File/Print/Printer Properties/Features/Paper Type/More/Cardstock

Step 7:

Cut the cards apart and play your favorite card game with friends or a calming game of solitaire by yourself! The entire stack of cards is about the height of an average cell phone. I put my deck in a Sucrets box with paper stapled together to make a tiny notepad and a little stubby pencil so I can keep score for games I play with friends.

Other Ideas:
-Make themed sets for your favorite movies
-Laminate the cards for extra protection

I hope you enjoy making and using these personalized playing cards! If this instructable was helpful to you or you just think it’s a cool idea, please vote for me in the pocket-sized contest!