1. So, the most confusing thing in this whole fascinating process is the drawing. To be honest, although I was ok with geometry at school, I only began to delve into all the intricacies of drawing in the second craft.
Let's start with a clean sheet) And for the box a sheet of thick A4 paper (300 g/m2) was used.
First of all, we take the deck of cards for which the box will be intended and take measurements from it) We will need its depth, height and length. Using a ruler, we set aside on one side of the sheet the lengths of its larger and smaller sides (in my case, the lengths of the large sides were 6.5 cm, the lengths of the short sides were 3 cm each) + we give a little margin from the short side for gluing the box around the perimeter ( in my case - 1.5 cm).
After we measured the height of the box, we need to add a few centimeters to this size on the bottom of the box (in my case I left 2 cm because the depth of the box is 3 cm and 1 cm for gluing, and it turns out that the bottom of the box will consist of flaps, 1.5 cm long)
Well, it’s also important, of course, to imagine which side the lid will be on - extend this side by the length of the depth of the box + 1.5 cm for the fastener.
2. Cut out what happened. This is how it turned out.
3. On the side of the workpiece, which is the bottom of the box, there are corners so that when gluing it would be more convenient to fold it.
4. Then, using a ballpoint pen that had run out of ink, our workpiece was pressed along the fold lines. It is advisable to use a ruler when drawing the line.
5. Voila! The preparation is ready!
The most important thing remains - to bend it along the bending lines, which is what we do
6. Apply a thin strip of glue (I used super-moment gel) on the bottom flaps (where they overlap each other), as well as on the piece of paper we prudently left on one of the narrow sides of the box. The box is ready!
7. To give it a nice finished look, I chose the paper I liked, cut strips of the appropriate length and covered them with double-sided tape on the wrong side.
8. Next, the edges of the paper were given a characteristic vintage yellowness using distress ink and a sponge.
9. We cover our craft with decorative paper...
... and we get an almost finished antique box
10.
There is one important point here - you need to think about what kind of clasp the box will have. I settled on a rubber band that would come out of the hole in the lid and would have to hook onto a large brad. To do this, the brad was secured in the center of the decorative ornament, previously secured with bulky tape.
For decoration, I used scraps of leftover paper and my favorite embossing and cutting machine))
11. Well, accordingly, in the lid, using a grommet installer, we make a hole in which we fasten a rubber cord (I attached the edge of the flagellum to the back side of the lid with the same super glue-gel)
The result is such a simple homemade antique box in warm colors for playing cards)
Maps are always better than purchased ones. And it's not just about style. Handmade cards have a special energy. It is believed that you can even tell fortunes using such a deck. Of course, we won’t tempt fate! Everything is very simple: select paper, find a template and print the finished deck.
How to make playing cards from paper: step 1
In order to make a good quality deck you need to choose the best paper. High-quality paper should be:
- Double sided;
- Dense;
- Especially for inkjet printing;
- Preferably waterproof (from an expensive price category).
How to make playing cards from paper: step 2
Select a printer for printing. It would seem, how can you choose a printer? In fact, the quality of the deck largely depends on the printer. It is clear that it is better to choose color printing. + the printer should not be from the budget category. Of course, if you want to get a deck of cards of excellent quality. By the way, a good printer can be found in any photo studio. True, you will have to overpay a little, but the result is worth it.
How to make playing cards from paper: step 3
Download the template. I offer the simplest option: classic playing cards. Format – specifically for editing in Photoshop. That is, you can “adjust” the cards to your taste. The quality is excellent, the format is pdf.
Download and print a paper playing cards template (422 kb.):
Let's sum it up
So, for a good homemade deck of cards you need high-quality paper, an excellent color printer and a ready-made template. + you can do lamination. Lamination will protect your cards from water and any dirt.
Mafia cards come in different varieties - humorous,. Therefore, first decide which format you like and download the template you like. Free, of course. All downloads on our website are free, especially for game fans.
What size?
How to make mafia cards from paper? The mafia role card that fell into your hands during the distribution should under no circumstances be seen by your neighbor. What am I talking about? It may be worth shrinking the template so that the card fits completely in the palm of your hand. However, it all depends on habit. Some people find it more convenient to hold “poker” cards in their hands, while others prefer “solitaire” cards.
Paper grade
In general, I would advise buying a mini-pack of photographic paper specifically for this task. The costs are small, but you will get dense, glossy cards straight from the printer. Almost like it came from a store. We separated the matrix with a clerical blade, and immediately received a deck ready for use.
How to make mafia cards from paper? You can also print cards on plain paper. Just to increase the strength and thickness, you will need to glue cardboard under the main sheets before cutting. And then put the cards under a press so that they don’t bend after drying, and wait about half an hour.
Decoupage cards are pictures for decoupage made on plain or rice paper with good typographic quality.
Such cards can be made at home completely independently if you have a computer and a printer.
As usual, I share my experience step by step.
First, we select the images we need on the Internet.
In Yandex, go to the tab: Pictures, type the keyword in the search bar and set two parameters in the left menu as shown by the red arrows: size - Big, type - Clipart.
We do this for two reasons.
We need a large size of pictures, because there is no direct correspondence between the size of what we see on the monitor and what will be displayed later on a sheet of paper. A picture that appears suitable to us on a monitor may turn out to be very tiny on a sheet of paper and unsuitable for our purposes.
For example, I can say that an A4 sheet is approximately 2500 pixels wide and approximately 3500 pixels long. Yandex marks such pictures as large. This is the calculation we should proceed from.
It should be remembered that we can always make small ones from large pictures, if necessary, but it is impossible to make large ones from small ones without losing quality.
The second parameter, clipart, determines the quality of the pictures. As a rule, these are images in PNG format with a transparent background, most suitable for design work. Although we can make a PNG format with a transparent background ourselves from almost any image, but that’s a completely different story.
The second parameter is not always necessary. It depends on what kind of image we want to display. For example, landscapes are usually saved in JPEG rather than PNG format and are rarely found among clipart.
So, we find and save the pictures we need.
Then we create a file in Photoshop with a resolution of A4 sheet and place the pictures we need on it. Save the file and output it to the printer for printing. We print the file on regular office paper.
The very first picture in this post is just such a file that I created for a decoupage card for decorating a cocoa jar.
On the Internet you can find a lot of discussions regarding which printer can be used for this purpose. Of course, if you have a laser printer, then this is an ideal option, but I don’t have such a printer, so I used an inkjet printer and will tell you about the quality of the decoupage cards obtained with its help.
I had clear tape and it's hard to see in the photo, but if you look closely you can see it.
Glue the tape very tightly and evenly and press it firmly to the surface of the paper sheet.
Then carefully peel off the tape from the paper, first from one edge:
Then carefully and evenly we continue to tear it off the sheet over the entire surface until it is completely detached from the paper. At the same time, we secure the peeled paper with our hands so that it does not tear:
Now we have a decoupage card separated from the bottom layer of paper, which remains on the tape:
I will focus on whether paint flows from a decoupage card made on an inkjet printer.
I specifically consider this issue using the example of decoupage on crackle, which is more difficult to glue an image.
As shown in the photo, I dip the image in water for just one second:
Then I lay it on the surface and start pressing it into the crackle cracks with my finger. Is the paint bleeding?
Yes, your finger gets a little dirty with paint, but, as you can see, this has virtually no effect on the image quality.
1) We drive the cat away and take a sheet of drawing paper (it’s good when it’s not just whatman paper, but paper with some kind of texture, for example watercolor). 
2) To make it convenient for us to draw, and for the pictures to be even and not warped, we stretch the paper onto the tablet. To do this, we soak it well with water, place it on the tablet and smooth it out so that there are no air bubbles left. 
3) Fold the edges of the paper and glue them to the tablet with PVA glue, Moment Crystal or Titanium. First glue one side, then the opposite side (pulling slightly). Then glue the remaining two sides one by one. 
4) We carefully bend the corners and glue them too. 
5) The tablet is stretched and now it needs to be tinted in a pleasant shade of antique parchment. 
6) To do this, we go to the bathroom so as not to spread dirt on the desktop. Again we kick out the cat, which managed to move there and is melting on the warm floor. 
7) Dilute a concentrated coffee solution in any container. The cheaper the coffee, the better (there is more dye))) 
8) We can take a sponge and gently soak all the paper with coffee, but we are real artists, so we just splash the coffee onto the paper and smear it with our hands. Doctor, in this spot I see... 
9) The paper on the tablet will appear in small waves, but don’t worry about it – they will smooth out after drying. Our coffee can flow into these waves, so periodically you need to tilt the tablet in different directions, dispersing these puddles. 
10) I was too lazy to do this, so the coffee dried out in streaks. Sometimes they are even beautiful, but this time I don’t need them and I smear them with a wet piece of cotton wool. 
11) Ha ha! Next, we draw the tablet into rectangles (I chose a size of 85x125 mm) and draw maps (for example, you can take real maps and draw from them, you still won’t get it exactly the same and will have your own author’s interpretation!) First, the most difficult thing - the pictures. We draw with black ink and pen, paint with pencils (or paints, as you prefer). You can use a white pencil to lighten some areas a little (it looks very advantageous on tinted paper). Draw freely and calmly, don’t be shy if you think you’re drawing some kind of nonsense. Believe me, carefully made, even cards will look good with ANY pictures, as long as the king can be distinguished from the queen))) Although in this case there is a letter designation in the corner of the card. 
12) In order not to suffer with the second half of the cards, I photographed them and printed them. Next, we transfer them to the tablet in a known way: we shade the reverse side of the picture with a soft pencil, and outline it on top with a pen. The pencil leaves an imprint. 
13) To make it even more impressive, draw a golden outline along the edge of the card (with acrylic paint, marker or gel pen). The pencil drawing MUST be fixed with a special aerosol varnish. 
14) After the varnish has completely dried, cut off the paper from the tablet. 
15) And the sheet turns out perfectly smooth! 
16) We pull the tablet again, we need to draw cards with numbers. I am sure that you have never paid attention to how the suit icons are arranged in tens, eights, sixes and other small fry))) We study this issue, draw diagrams for memory. 
17) We create a kind of modular grid to help ourselves. Here, by the way, all the peaks are drawn in the same direction and this is an error. One half of the spades should be turned in the opposite direction (crosses and hearts too, but with diamonds it’s all the same, they are symmetrical))). 
18) Again we take out black and (mmmmmm!) warm red carmine ink and draw all the digital maps. 
19) Next, using a knife and an iron ruler, we separate all the cards from each other. No matter how we measure, they will not turn out perfectly even, do not strive for this. 
20) For a card back, you can either draw a picture (then scan and reproduce it) or find a suitable one on the Internet. I found a suitable picture in the patterns on the wallpaper of my kitchen))) 
21) We print it on the printer in the amount of 36 pieces (four pieces fit per sheet). 
22) Let the size of the shirt be a little larger than the card itself - this way we can better glue the edges. It is convenient to glue with an adhesive stick. But it’s better to take glue from a more expensive brand, so that over time the glue doesn’t dry out and the backs of your cards don’t fly off like autumn leaves. Then we cut off the excess edges with scissors, at the same time rounding the corners of the cards. 
23) WE ALWAYS put our cards under the press. Preferably overnight. 
