How to Make Your Own Birthday Card for Teens
A birthday card is a simple note telling someone you wish them happiness on the day they were born. While there are a wide array of birthday cards available for purchase, you may want to create your own birthday card for a more personal touch. Anyone can make a birthday card with a computer, printer and a simple image creation program. Birthday cards for teens may have a different tone than cards for children, letting the teen know you understand they are on their way to adulthood.
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Instructions
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Open an image creating program like Paint, which is installed on every operating system. Paint will be under the Accessories tab in the Start Menu for Windows Users. The Mac operating system has a program called Paintbrush and can be downloaded from the Mac website for free. Make the width of the paper longer than the height, using the small squares on the side of the image to adjust the height and width. Draw only on one half of the paper; this will be the front of your card.
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Use the tools given in the Paint or Paintbrush program to draw the front of the birthday card. You can use the paintbrush tool, pencil, or the pen tool with various line sizes. Ideas for the front of the birthday card could include a birthday cake, candles celebrating the age of the teen or a favorite animal or flower. The benefit of creating your own birthday card is that you can use personal things important to the teen. If you wish you can insert images rather than drawing them using the clip art tool. Choosing the "Clip Art" option will open a window where you can browse through the computer's generic images or upload a saved image from your hard drive. If you choose a computer image, try using the keyword box to search for images that relate to the word birthday.
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Create text using the "T" icon on the toolbar. Choose a font from the drop-down menu at the top, as well as a color. Be sure the color will show up on white paper, as lighter shades such as yellow will be more difficult to see. You can write "Happy Birthday," the teen's name, information about the birthday or zodiac sign -- anything you want to include on the front of the card. If you wish to hand write the card, wait until you print the card and use markers, pens or colored pencils to write a sentiment. Click "View" at the top of the program and choose "100%" on the menu. This will show you what the card will look like when printed out. When you are satisfied with the image click "Print." Once the picture is printed, fold the paper in half so the Paint picture is the cover.
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Write with pen or markers a special message for the teen on the inside of the card. This can include a song you both enjoy, a heartfelt message, a joke or a poem. Be sure not to use a writing utensil that will bleed through the paper and ruin your picture. If you do not want to hand write the card, you can reinsert the paper into the printer with the card front facing down and toward the top of the printer. Open a word processing program and type a message. You can adjust the text, size and font to fit the front of the card. Once you're finished, click "Print;" the message will be printed on the inside of the card.
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Think about adding embellishment with ribbon or glitter. You can cut two holes into the bottom and top of the crease in the card and tie ribbon to make a bow. Before putting the card into the envelope, add some glitter into the folded letter so when the teen opens it glitter falls everywhere. When you are finished, fold the card further if necessary to fit inside an envelope. Address the envelope to the teen.
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Tips & Warnings
Be sure you have colored ink in your printer if you wish to use colors in Paint.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit post-card with red car image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
