cardRecycled paper cards filled with seeds are presents in and of themselves.  If you love to garden and get the blues during the winter, here's a gardening inspired craft to keep you busy and create works of art for your friends.  Make several of these at a time, and you will have a handy stash for any occasion.  You can make the card paper and decorate for the occasions as they come up.

Supplies

Paper to recycle

Small seeds--marigolds and forget-me-not seeds work well

A screen

Rags

Blender

Flower petals

Water

Instructions

This is a MESSY process, so you are probably going to want to do it near or around a sink.

Tear the paper into small pieces and fill the blender halfway with paper and about 2 cups of water.  Blend to a pulp.  After the paper has blended, you can stir flower petals in for added "interest."  If you want to naturally color your paper, put the flower petals in with the paper before blending and blend the petals.  Pour out a bit of the mix onto the screen, and spread it out to the finished size you want.  Use the rags to press the water through the screen.  As soon as you have squeezed the water out, you can press seeds into the paper mix and carefully peel the paper off of the screen.  Leave the paper out to dry.

You can decorate the cards, cut them and shape them as you like once they are dry.  This is a fun way to make a gift tag as well.  Make sure you let the recipient know that he or she can tear up the card, scatter it in the garden and flowers will sprout.  It is a card and a gift, all at once!

Photo: Courtesy of Botanical PaperWorks