DIY Network

Holiday Accordion Banners From "DIY Crafts" episode DIC-165

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Give accordion cards to friends, who can use them as mantel decorations during the holidays. Figure A Figure B Figure C Figure D Figure E

Mary O'Neil, owner of Hot PotatoesB. Rubber Stamps, explains how to make a stamped accordion-style holiday banner that extends the length of a fireplace mantel. The banner is decorated using a frame-style stamp with glittering letters placed on each page. This special card forms a complete holiday greeting when fully extended.

Materials:
Hot Potatoes alphabet stamps
Hot Potatoes Harlequin frame stamp
Standard-size blank greeting cards, any color
ColorBoxB. inks
TinseletteB. embossing powder
Heat gun
Double-sided tape or roll-on adhesive

Note:

• Do all the stamping and embossing first, then assemble the card.

Determining the Required Number of Cards

Determine the number of cards needed by counting the number of letters in the holiday message. If the number of letters in the message is even, subtract one from the number to determine the number of blank cards needed. For example, the message Merry Christmas has 14 letters, so you'll need 13 cards. If the number of letters in the message is odd, you'll need as many cards as there are letters--so for Happy Holidays (13 letters) you'll need 13 cards.

Each card holds two letters of the holiday message, with the final card having only one letter if the number of letters in the message is odd. The remaining blank cards for the project are used to form the back side of the accordion. To determine which cards are used for the back of the accordion, divide the cards into two stacks, with one stack having one more card than the other. The stack with one extra card will be stamped. Set aside the other stack until you assemble the greeting.

Embossing

1. Fold the blank cards from the stack that has one extra card. For each card, emboss both inside pages with the Harlequin frame stamp, using ColorBox inks and a coordinating color of Tinselette embossing powder (figure A).

2. Each embossed frame has an empty space in the center. Use the alphabet stamps, ink and embossing powder to stamp out a holiday message. Stamp a letter in each frame, spelling out the message as you go (figure B).

3. Use a heat gun on the holiday message to make the embossed design pop out.

1. Stand each folded card up (as if to display it opened), with the stamped inside facing you. Line up the cards, edge to edge, in a mountain and valley pattern, spelling out the stamped message.

2. Fold the remaining blank cards in a V shape. Unfold them and let them lie flat, with the front and back outside of the card facing up.

3. For each blank card, apply double-sticking tape around the four edges of the outside front and around the four edges of the outside back. Carefully refold so that the taped sides are on the outside front and back of the card (figure C).

4. Stick the stamped cards together by gently pressing the cards with tape between each valley shape created at the back of the card assembly (figure D). The right side of the mountain-folded card will stick to the left side of the valley-folded card. Then the left side of the next mountain-folded card will stick to the right side of the same valley-folded card (figure E).

• If you're using cards that are colored on one side and white on the other, fold the blank assembly cards so the same color shows consistently across the banner.