Plastic Gift Card Crafts

Exhausted gift cards can find new life in craft projects.

Once you've spent all the money on your gift card cards, give them new life by turning them into craft projects. The colors and designs that make the cards attractive to consumers in the first place add beauty to homemade jewelry, magnets or other useful items. You may need multiple gift cards for some projects, so save those cards instead of throwing them away.

Earrings

Decide on a shape for your earrings. Create a template by cutting it out on a thick piece of paper or cardstock. Use the template to cut out four identical shapes from one or more gift cards, depending on the size and shape. Glue two pieces of your cut card together, with the decorative side facing out on both pieces. Repeat with the remaining two pieces of plastic. Make a small hole near the top of each earring. There are hole punching devices specifically made for making jewelry. You can also use a hammer and nail or even a very narrow drill bit. Add a medium sized jump ring to each earring. Pry the ring apart with pliers to insert through the hole in the earrings. Separate the ends of the ring by prying them apart side by side, rather than stretching the ring out. Attach an earring wire and close the jump ring using pliers.

Pin/Magnet

Cut up multiple gift cards into geometric shapes of varying sizes. Ovals, triangles and circles work well for this project. Layer the pieces on top of each other with the decorative side facing up, like the layers made by the petals of a flower. Vary the direction of each petal and fill the space. Once you decide on a design, glue each piece in place. Add a magnet or pin backing.

For an easier magnet project, cut used gift cards into stars or circles. Take advantage of the design on the front of the card. Attach magnets to the back and display on the refrigerator.

Guitar Pick

A fast way to use exhausted plastic gift cards is to turn them into guitar picks. These items are easily lost or broken and made of plastic. Lay a guitar pick on a plastic gift card and trace its shape with a marker. Cut out the shape; your plastic gift card turned guitar pick is ready for use.

Checkerboard

If you have many old cards with two different colors, create your own chess or checkerboard. You need 64 equally sized squares for this project. Half the squares --32 -- need to be from similar card designs or color. The other half come from another kind of card. Size your squares based on the play pieces you intend to use. Pennies and dimes make for easy checker games. Cut out the squares and glue them to sturdy paper or cardboard, in an alternating pattern, eight squares across.

References

• Credit Cards: Eight Crafty Ways Recycle Reused Credit Cards
• Plastic Card House: Crafts with Gift Cards