Chica and Jo Chica and Jo

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Paint Chip Greeting Cards

by: Chica
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Paint Chip Greeting Cards
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After they've done their part to help me choose a paint color, paint chips are incredibly versatile craft supplies to keep around. Every time I finish a painting project, I toss all my leftover paint chips into a box for later use. I love using paint chips to make mosaic crafts, such as the mosaic greeting cards I'm going to share with you today.

Oh the memories my collection of paint chips brings back! There are the numerous shades of tan that I went through when painting the kitchen. The blues and purples that I considered for the master bedroom and the greens we ended up with. And the rainbow samples from a toy chest project.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

When my collection started to outgrow its box, I decided to pull them out and make some greeting cards with them. To start out, I first cut some ordinary 8.5" x 11" white cardstock in half crosswise, then folded it. This created a great note card size that's a perfect fit for a standard A2 invitation envelope measuring 4-3/8" x 5-3/4".

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

Then I sorted my paint chips into color families and selected sets of coordinating chips for each card.

Card #1 - Blue square mosaic

For the square mosaic design, I grabbed a bunch of smoky blue paint chips and cut them into 1 inch squares. I used a ruler and craft knife to cut the squares, but it would have gone a LOT faster if I'd used a 1" square paper punch!

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

Once I had the squares cut, I just arranged them in a grid on the card and glued them in place.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

The finished card reminds me so much of the jeans quilt I made.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

Card #2 - Green vertical stripes

For the green card, I cut all my green paint chips into strips of random widths.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

Then I just lined them up on the card wherever they looked right and glued them down.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

This card was so fast and simple to make, but I just love the results.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

Card #3 - Orange and red diagonal stripes

For the orange card, I took the same strip idea but turned it on an angle. I started with two yellow squares in the middle, turned 45 degrees so they were diamond shaped.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

Then I added random strips of red, orange, and yellow in the background.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

Card #4 - Rainbow triangle mosaic

I spent a lot of time on the final card. I took all of my rainbow colors, two shades of each, and started cutting them into random triangle shapes.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

I added triangles to the card, starting with red on the left and worked my way across the card, gradually transitioning through the colors of the rainbow.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

I had to do a lot of cutting and trimming to fit the pieces together and fill the card completely with custom shapes.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

I absolutely love this card, but it took forever to make so I doubt I'll ever be able to give it away!

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

Of course, you could use this technique with any colored paper, but I just love the fact that they were made with paint chips that would otherwise be headed for the trash.

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

I am so in love with these cards!

Paint chip mosaic greeting cards

Paint Chip Greeting Cards
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50 comments so far:

  • 1
    Grace 04/19/2010 at 9:22 am

    Wow, I love this idea!

  • 2
    Kelli 04/19/2010 at 10:36 am

    These are SO gorgeous! But I would NEVER have the patience. (Which is weird, since I love Tetris...) ;)

  • 3
    Chica 04/19/2010 at 10:45 am

    Thanks Grace!

    Kelli, with the exception of the triangle mosaic, the cards only took a few minutes each to create. The green striped one was the easiest and could be done with a million different color combinations. (And I love Tetris too!)

  • 4
    Kelli 04/19/2010 at 12:30 pm

    Hmm, the possibilities are endless. You're right; I just might have to give this a try. :)

  • 5
    madebymegs 04/19/2010 at 4:20 pm

    What a terrific idea. Normally I do not keep paint chips...I guess i will start to now :)

  • 6
    karen 04/19/2010 at 9:54 pm

    awesome idea for the classroom! Students will love it and doesn't cost a ton!

  • 7
    Chica 04/20/2010 at 8:05 am

    karen, that's a great idea for a classroom activity. Kids can learn about colors and recycling at the same time :)

  • 8
    Vanessa 08/26/2010 at 10:08 am

    Wow! These look great!

  • 9
    Amy @ Positively Splendid 08/26/2010 at 12:40 pm

    I absolutely love these! What a fun idea!

  • 10
    Chica 08/26/2010 at 1:29 pm

    Thanks, ladies! It's a really easy idea, too, with unlimited possibilities :)

  • 11
    Polly @ Helping LIttle Hands 08/30/2010 at 11:35 am

    These look great! I'll hvae to start collecting paint chips.

  • 12
    Sudha 08/31/2010 at 9:32 am

    Lovely idea,I just love it.

  • 13
    FawnDear 08/31/2010 at 10:49 am

    Oh My Honk. How ubber talented you are. I'm loving the triangle card to pieces. What a fabulous job.
    Thank you so much for sharing your genius idea.

  • 14
    Chica 08/31/2010 at 11:09 am

    Polly, it only takes a few to make a card. :)

    FawnDear, thanks so much. That one is my favorite, too!

  • 15
    Katie 09/02/2010 at 5:26 pm

    What a great idea, it's so graphic and modern looking!

  • 16
    marlene 12/06/2010 at 11:02 pm

    Hi
    Great idea for paint swatches, I have been using my scrap paper to do this. but I like your idea because they are free and the paint swatches are thicker.
    thanks Marlene

  • 17
    Stacy Marie Wood 01/13/2011 at 4:35 pm

    I love this idea. I think I might make a few big one to hang on my wall for a "head board" effect!

    What about using the double stick tape (from your photo cube project) in place of glue? Is one more effective than the other?

  • 18
    Chica 01/13/2011 at 5:54 pm

    Stacy, if you ever make that headboard, we'd love to see it! You could certainly use double stick tape instead of glue. It's really up to personal preference and what you happen to have on hand.

  • 19
    Stacy Marie Wood 02/07/2011 at 2:50 pm

    Well I completed my "headboard" made out of paint chips. I have a king size bed so I took 1 piece of poster board and cut it in half so I ended up 2 pieces 28" long and 11" tall. I used a glue stick as the tape sheets are not very forgiving!! Once finished I did use the double stick tape sheets to hang on the wall then used my Japanese Washi masking tape as a border on the wall then used another wider tape as a "frame". I will post on your flicker group as soon as I figure out how to do that!!

  • 20
    Chica 02/07/2011 at 7:15 pm

    Stacy, congrats for finishing the headboard! We'd love to see a photo. If you have a hard time with Flickr, you can e-mail it to us and we'll post it for you :)

  • 21
    Jo 02/08/2011 at 10:18 am

    Stacy shared some photos of her paint chip headboard. It turned out so well! http://www.flickr.com/photos/59279321@N07/5428211698/in/pool-918858@N21/

  • 22
    Chica 02/08/2011 at 12:07 pm

    Oh my goodness, Stacy. I love that!

  • 23
    Allison 02/18/2011 at 9:14 am

    As a Feng Shui consultant I am working with color ALL of the time. Not only will this idea help me to recycle old paint chips it can be an amazing use of Feng Shui color to gift to people I care about!

  • 24
    Michele Glasnovic 03/04/2011 at 2:26 pm

    You know, using some shaped punches to make lots of interesting shapes in different colors could be also a fun way to approach this project.

  • 25
    Chica 03/05/2011 at 8:26 am

    That's a great idea, Michele!

  • 26
    Mary 03/27/2011 at 1:05 am

    Great idea!!!! And you can get paint chips anytime at most home stores!

  • 27
    Renorr 03/27/2011 at 2:28 pm

    Those look beautiful! I can't wait to give this a try.. going to have to be sneaky and get some paint chips :)
    What type of glue did you use?

  • 28
    Chica 03/27/2011 at 7:15 pm

    Renorr, I'm afraid I don't remember what glue I used, but you can use whatever adhesive you're comfortable with using :)

  • 29
    Amanda 03/27/2011 at 10:41 pm

    These are seriously awesome! What a great idea, and they are so colorful, love it!

  • 30
    Jo 03/27/2011 at 11:22 pm

    Thanks, Amanda, love your site!

  • 31
    kris 04/30/2011 at 7:23 pm

    I've been doing this for years! So glad to see others are too! Great for seasonal cards!!!!
    So many beautiful shades of colors... they don't mind me taking samples at the paint department of Lowe's and Home Depot!!! Haven't tried any other stores, though.

  • 32
    Jo 04/30/2011 at 9:17 pm

    Kris, would love to see some of your designs! You can email us or add them to our Flikr group.

  • 33
    Cori 05/05/2011 at 7:37 pm

    I was going to make a card like this for mothers day... Then I remembered my Mom threw away my paint chips while she was cleaning....

  • 34
    Melissa 06/14/2011 at 3:42 am

    What a wonderful idea!!

  • 35
    Kanishka 07/07/2011 at 5:03 pm

    Great idea! The best thing is that you could do it will all kinds of paper: Old Pictures, Old cards, Newspaper, Gift Bags, Scrapbooking leftovers!

  • 36
    Kate 07/09/2011 at 11:09 pm

    I LOVE this! Can't wait to rush out and get some paint chips to make these! I also just noticed that there is a flickr group for these cards and I'm going to check it out for inspiration! Thanks for sharing this great idea!

  • 37
    Kate 07/09/2011 at 11:11 pm

    Oops. Just noticed that the flickr group is for something else, but lots of inspiration there too!

  • 38
    Bibi 07/16/2011 at 4:52 pm

    I just stumbled on this project at StumbleUpon and I think it's fantastic. We have so many paint chips laying around the house because every time we visit hardware store my kids have the need to bring home full pockets.

  • 39
    Chica 07/17/2011 at 11:05 am

    Bibi, welcome to the site, and I hope you stick around! Maybe you can have your kids make their birthday cards for their friends with the paint chips they bring home :)

  • 40
    Aarathy 07/18/2011 at 4:03 am

    what a great idea! :)

  • 41
    Beth 09/09/2011 at 8:55 am

    I love these!! The triangle one is my favorite too, but they are all lovely!

  • 42
    Maree 10/01/2011 at 8:42 pm

    Yes - I too have kept them all - now to find the time!..........

  • 43
    hena tayeb 10/04/2011 at 3:04 pm

    I really like the triangle one.

  • 44
    Deebi27 11/12/2011 at 3:20 pm

    Wow, what a great idea and the color possibilities are endless...Thanks!

  • 45
    Hannah Grace 01/09/2012 at 12:58 am

    oh wow!!! So excited about trying this out! The possiblititys are ENDLESS!

  • 46
    Blablablablah 07/18/2012 at 5:41 am

    Good idea!LOVE the good idea!

  • 47
    Sandra Cherry Jones 08/01/2012 at 3:38 pm

    Great idea!

  • 48
    k8fearsnoart 03/30/2015 at 6:56 pm

    Wow, I LOVE the triangle ones! You certainly have an excellent eye for color, it shows in so many of the projects you've created! I found your site last night, there was a link to your DIY Kindle cover from Buzzfeed...and I've been browsing your crafts all afternoon. Thank you so much for detailing your ideas and efforts her; I can't wait to play around with the crafts! Have a great day!! <3, k8

  • 49
    Chica 04/15/2015 at 6:36 pm

    k8fearsnoart, we're so glad you found us!

  • 50
    Write My Coursework for Me 04/22/2015 at 8:00 am

    This is amazing and beautiful work

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