Craft a Little Nothing

Have you seen the new Hallmark commercials? The ones with the "A Card. The biggest little thing you can do" tag line? I'm in LOVE with them. Hallmark may have borrowed my idea about focusing on the "little things," but I'm totally OK with that because they are SO right.

According to a press release, people understand the power of an unexpected gesture, which Hallmark believes is expressed through the exchange of their 99-cents greeting cards.

Although Hallmark's cards are wallet friendly (especially in the current economy), an even better way to make the same point is to hand-craft a card. All you need are some markers (or colored pens or pencils, or crayons), a piece of paper (or even a piece of a piece of paper), a magazine, some glue, and scissors.

Choose your recipient and create a personalized message. I usually choose a good friend who I have a bunch of inside jokes with so that the messages are sarcastic and personal at the same time. Using the magazine, cut out letters, words, and/or pictures for your message. Glue the cut-outs onto a piece of paper. Add smaller notes, punctuation, a few designs, and a greeting and closing with the markers (or writing utensil or choice). Voila! You have made a personalized card in no time.

Here's an example of a card I made for a friend that reads, " You're ugly (and so is your beard). But it's ok. I still love you!"


Another even simpler way to create a personalized "card" is color a picture straight out of a coloring book. All you need is a coloring book and crayons (both available at any local craft, convenience, dollar or grocery store). The added benefit of a coloring book is that you have a lot of options and you don't have to be super crafty to color. (Not to mention, you have tons of cards for the future).

Here's something I started coloring for another friend for Easter:


No matter what you choose, you'll be sure to (at least) brighten someone's day.