How to Make Plantable Seed Cards

Your loved ones will enjoy the results after planting the seed cards you made.

Each year, Americans buy approximately 7 billion greeting cards, and most of these are thrown out, says Grinning Planet. Plantable seed cards are an eco-friendly alternative. Making and giving seed cards reduces landfill waste in two ways. Pieces of old greeting cards can be used to make the paper base for the seed cards, and recipients will not throw them out because they will eventually plant them to grow wildflowers. While making plantable seed cards, enjoy the freedom of choosing scrap paper with varied colors and textures.

Things You'll Need

• Wildflower seeds
• Scraps of paper
• Blender
• Fiberglass screen (old window or door screen)
• Wooden frame
• Push pins
• Felt (a piece slightly larger than the frame's surface area)
• Plastic basin (large enough to submerge frame)
• Sponge
• Liquid starch
• Cookie sheet
• Clothespins

Instructions

1. Construct a mold by stretching window screening over a wooden frame. Use a picture frame that is the same size that you would like the paper to be. Secure the screening tightly to the frame using push pins or a staple gun.

2. Collect pieces of scrap paper to create the card. Use old cards and scrap booking sheets to make high quality paper. Additionally use old magazines, egg cartons, newspapers, construction paper, tissue paper and computer paper to add different textures and colors to your homemade paper.

3. Rip paper scraps into small pieces. Add them to the blender up to the halfway mark. Fill the rest of the blender with warm water. Blend until the mixture has turned into a pulp. You should not be able to see any pieces of paper.

4. Add wildflower seeds and any other visual components you like, such as spearmint leaves, flower blossoms confetti or spices, to the blender. Pulse the blender once or twice, or stir in the seeds with a wooden spoon. Avoid over mixing so that the seeds are not chopped to bits.

5. Fill half of the plastic basin with water, add two to three blender loads of pulp and stir. Add approximately two tsp. of liquid starch to the basin and stir.

6. Submerge the frame in the basin. Smooth the pulp mixture over the screen’s surface. Carefully lift the frame out of the basin. Hold it level above the basin and allow excess water to pour through.

7. Place the frame carefully on the piece of felt so that the paper side is facing down. Press the screen with a sponge to collect all residual water from the paper.

8. Lift the frame, slowly, off the piece of felt. The paper should stay on the felt. If it still sticks to the frame, try lifting the frame more slowly or removing more water from the paper.

9. Place another piece of felt on top of the paper. Remove remaining water by placing a cookie sheet on top of the felt piece and pressing down. Allow the homemade paper to dry by hanging it on a clothesline or laying it flat on newspaper.

10. Provide growing instructions on your greeting card. Tell loved ones to plant the card under 1/4-inch of soil, either in a pot or flower bed, in a sunny place. Advise them to water the seeds regularly until they germinate. It may take six to eight weeks until germination occurs.

Tips & Warnings

• Instead of making the whole card plantable, consider using cookie cutters to make seed paper designs that you can attach to a greeting card.

References

• Grinning Planet: Congratulations! On Overpaying for the Greeting Card
• Pioneer Thinking: Making Handmade Paper in 10 Easy Steps
• Cut Card Stock: Happy Recycling! Paper Art by Martha Starke
• Botanical Paperworks: Paper That Grows Wildflowers