{ vintage-y birthday card }

...a birthday card inspired by vintage food labels....

(As you can see, I made this one for my mom.)

I found an amazing sheet of scrapbook paper that had old food labels on it, so I cut one out and used it as the centerpiece. Slowly but surely, the card took its shape...

First, I made a "border" for the label using a piece of patterned card stock. Next, I cut out the main body of the card, using some Jenni Bowlin packaging as a stencil. (I loved the "scrolly" square shape of it, and it was made out of really thick cardboard, so I figured I'd save it. Turned out to come in handy!)

Then came the more time-consuming part: the paper flower. I made this by punching out a billion—ok, maybe 30ish—pear shapes, then glueing them together, one by one, in a spiral pattern, starting from the center. As the shapes fanned out and created more layers, I got a wonderful paper rose! (I used a nifty little nob tool to curve the paper and give the petals shape.)

After taking a look at my supplies, I found a strip of the card stock that I used to punch out the pears, and stuck that on, too. (I often find ideas just by rummaging through my scraps.)

Next, I placed a piece of blue adhesive paper ribbon (my favorite!) near the top to give it some texture. Then I threaded some blue ribbon through 2 Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons—the ones that came in that package—and glued them to the bottom corner. Finally, I punched the holes near the bottom and used a couple cute gator clips to hang a "cork* birthday sign."

ta.DA.

*I love cork paper. You can find it here!