28 August 2009

Punch & Bind

One lovely reader recently asked for help to transform her blah business card holder into a Tada!. And that's how the blah to Tada! challenge was born. If you need some Tada! solutions using everyday blah items, send me an e-mail and I'll try my best to help you out.

Maybe you also need help organizing your thick wad of business cards that you've collected recently? Here's a crafty idea:


Blah: Sheets of cardboard & an old J. Crew catalogue.

You'll need these materials, too: pencil, ruler, a pair of scissors,
puncher, glue, a computer/printer & a big binder ring.


Step 1: Measure the cardboard to the size of a standard business card and add a half-inch allowance to its height (portrait orientation).

Step 2: Cut the cardboard. Once cut, you must have a total of 26 cards corresponding to each letter of the alphabet.

Step 3: Punch a hole on the upper left side of each piece of cardboard.

Now the fun part!

Step 4: Decorate each piece of cardboard. I opted for a "summer" look using bathing suits cut out from a J. Crew catalogue. You can choose whatever theme you fancy -- shoes, bags, flowers, food, cartoon characters...

Step 5: Print out letters from the computer & stick one letter on each piece of cardboard.


Step 6: Take out your business cards and punch each at the top left corner (make sure not to punch out important details like phone numbers & e-mail addresses). Rotate the business card if necessary.

Step 7: Insert the decorated cardboard sheets and business cards (now organized alphabetically) onto the binder ring.

Tada! Not your usual business card holder
but
clean & compact just the same!

Note: You can easily add or remove a card by sliding the binder ring opening to the corresponding letter. Unlock the binder ring and attach or detach a card. Lock the binder ring once again.

Wishing you a Happy Tada! weekend!

23 comments:

  1. Very cool! I love your ideas! Very creative. :)

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  2. Glad you like it Simply Colette! Have a fun Friday!

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  3. Those bathing suits make your project even cooler than it already is, I think this idea is actually very practical as you can hang that from a hook in a home office and its always available! i think I am your bigest fan :) enjoy the weekend!

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  4. Awww, thanks Nuit!!! I chose the bathing suits so I'll have summer all year-round =) Have a great weekend!

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  5. Wonderful ideas!!! I LOVE all your "ta-das"!!!
    Blessings!
    Jill

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  6. Super cute and original! Have been wondering what to do with all those J. Crew catalogues!

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  7. Cute idea!! Love it, since business cards are usually soo boring. At least this way I might actually look at them! :)

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  8. Now that is cute...love it... and even I could do that! Thanks for sharing this...Happy weekend to you!

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  9. That's Awesome! Very very Clever!

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  10. I have awarded your creativity on my blog. Have a wonderful weekend! :)

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  11. Perfect, as usual! Thanks for sharing!

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  12. THANK YOU dear Perfect Palette, Jill, Leslie, Katie, Koralee, Jakki, Simply Colette (extra Thanks for the award!) and Ashlee! I love all your comments. Have a fun weekend =)

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  13. I was just about to do exactly this with the multitude of business cards lying around but you made it even better with the alphabet dividers - perfect!!!

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  14. Happy punching, decorating & organizing Catherine!

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  15. Super cute!!! I am loving your blog more and more every day :O)

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  16. Hello Mrs. Sunshine! Thanks for dropping by =)

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  17. These are AWESOME!! :) WOW!!!!!

    LOL!!

    Can you tell me what to do with old metal lids from glass jars? I have tons of them! (Okay, a big box at least! Mum says they're unusable for jams or such, so...??)

    They're partly covered with plastic (inside) so I hear they're not recyclable...? Help!

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  18. Thanks for visiting Layla! Metal lids -- hmmm, that's something to think about! I'll keep you posted =)

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  19. Thanks for considering it, Claire! :)

    If you do think of something, I'll be really most delighted!! :)

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  20. Hi Layla, I have a few ideas but I need to come up with a few more...I'll keep you posted =)

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Your comments are very much appreciated!