How do I Create a Free Printable Redneck Birthday Card?

Wish a redneck a happy birthday with a custom card.

Whether you've got a Southern friend about to experience turning a year older or you just want to kid someone about his redneck personality, it may be hard to capture that sentiment on a generic store-bought card. Instead, use your computer to make a birthday card that really hits home. Your computer may already have graphics programs installed on it you can use to make a birthday card and you can also experiment with downloading free software trials to make redneck cards without investing any money in software.

Things You'll Need

• Microsoft Publisher
• Adobe Photoshop
• Digital image
• Microsoft Word

Instructions

Using Publisher

1. Open Publisher or download a free trial and click the "Greeting Cards" button on the "Available Templates" section. Scroll through the birthday templates or double-click the "All Birthday" folder. There won't be any redneck cards, but you can change all of the text and images as you create the card. Double-click a card and it opens on the Publisher workspace.

2. Click into the text on the cover of the card; the words become highlighted. Type your new text directly over the top of the template words, such as "Hick... Hick... Hiccup!" Repeat this for the text inside the card, such as "I wouldn't call you a hick on your birthday! Only on the other 364 days a year. Happy birthday!"

3. Right-click a placeholder image on the card and select "Change Picture." Choose "Clip Art." Type a word or phrase, such as "tractor," "beer," "pick up truck" or "guitar" into the "Search for" box and click "Go." Other options include birthday words such as "cake," "balloons" or "presents." Scroll through the design images and double-click one, which appears in place on the card. Repeat for the other images on the card.

4. Click the "Page Design" tab at the top of the screen. Scroll through the color blocks and double-click one to instantly change the colors of the card to ones that would suit your friend's preferences. The card updates in the Publisher space.

5. Click the "File" menu, click "Save As," type a name for the card and save it to your computer.

Using Photoshop

1. Open Photoshop or download a free trial. Click "File" and select "New." Name the file "RedneckCard" and set dimensions of 4 in. by 6 in. for a photo card and click "OK."

2. Pull down the "File" menu again and select "Open." Browse to a photo, such as your friend's tractor, and double-click the file so it opens in the Photoshop workspace. Press and hold down the "Ctrl" key on the keyboard, then drag and drop the photo into the "RedneckCard" box. If it opens too large, click "Edit," select "Transform," click "Scale" and shrink the image into place on the card.

3. Click the "Type" tool, which looks like a "T" on the "Tools" palette. Select a font, color and size for the card's message and click the card.

4. Type the birthday greeting, such as "I was going to buy you a tractor for your birthday, but I just got you this card instead. Happy birthday!"

5. Click the "File" menu, select "Save As" and save the card to your computer.

Using Word

1. Open Word or download a free trial. Click the "File" menu and select "New." Click the "Greeting Cards" button under the "Office Templates" section and click the "Occasions and Events" folder. Scroll through the birthday card templates and double-click one to open it in a new Word window.

2. Highlight the placeholder greeting on the card and type over it with your own, such as "They don't make rednecks like you anymore." Repeat this to add more text to the card, such as "Thank goodness for that! Happy birthday, brother."

3. Click once on a placeholder image on the card and press the "Delete" key to remove it. Click the "Insert" tab. If you have your own image to use for the card, click the "Picture" button, browse to the image and double-click it to add it to the card. Otherwise, click "Clip Art" and type a word or phrase into the "Search for" box. Click "Go," scroll through the results and double-click an image to add it to the card.

4. Click the "Page Layout" tab on the ribbon. Click the "Page Color" button in the middle of the screen. Click a colored box to instantly give your card a background color, such as tractor green.

5. Click the "File" tab, select "Save As," type a name for the card and save it to your computer.

References

• In Pictures: Microsoft Publisher
• University of Washington: Photoshop Type Tool
• Baycon Group: Microsoft Word Tutorial

Resources

• Microsoft: Office Trial (Publisher/Word)
• Adobe: Photoshop Buy or Try