printable // floral watercolor cards

Need a last minute card for Mother's Day, but you'd like something more special than what you'd buy at Target? Or maybe you just can't handle paying the same amount for a piece of cardstock as you would for a Frapuccino? It's not that mom isn't worth it, but if you mom is like mine, she's rather have the coffee. Enter the DIY Floral Watercolor Card

It's part printable, part unique piece of art. Kids can even get involved with the painting!

Plus, the printable file includes a few other versions so you can make cards like this for other occasions too.



You will need:

A blank card - 4.25in x 5.5in when folded
Plain paper - 24lb. is best
Washi tape
Watercolor paint
Small to medium flower-shaped craft punch - any style works
Embroidery floss
Needle

Watercolor Flower Cards PDF



Print page one of the PDF on regular paper. This is the print guide. Tape the blank card within the lines on guide. You only need a few tabs, and it's most important to have them on the end where the paper feeds into the printer.



Send the page through the printer again, making sure that you have the page going the correct direction. Print the card page that you want.

Remove the card from the page, peeling the tape off carefully.

TIP: If you don't have blank cards, you can print page one on card stock, then run it through again for the printed message. Cut out the rectangle and fold it in half to create your own card.



Paint a page of regular paper with watercolors. It doesn't have to be anything special, just scribble some colors on there.

I made some blobs of color, then added rings around those, filled in areas, dotted some extra colors around, and just had fun. I think it helps to work with similar colors in groupings, blending the colors and creating a rainbow of sorts. You can also limit yourself to just 3 or 4 colors.

Let the page dry completely, or help it along with a hair dryer.

TIP: If you don't want to paint your own watercolor base, there are free resources for printable watercolor backgrounds online, such as these from Angie Makes.



Use the flower punch to make watercolor flowers. Slide the punch around to find a cropping that you like.




Sometimes the coloring you like won't be centered or it will be hard to reach. Grab a pair of scissors and trim down the edges so you can get the punch where you want it.



Make a bunch of flowers. You won't need all of them for one card, but having a good selection gives you options.



To give your flowers more dimension, you can fold them a little between the petals.



Now it's time to start arranging the flowers to find a layout you like. Try different colors, placements, and numbers of flowers?





I opted for the simplicity of just three flowers. I also wanted to make sure that none of the flowers go over the edges, as this card needs to fit in an envelope.

You may want to grab your phone and snap a photo of your layout before you start assembling.



Thread your needle with three strands of embroidery floss and knot the other end. Start stitching the flowers to the front of the card. Use straight stitches that meet in the middle to make a little star.

They don't need to be perfect for even! Just avoid making extra holes in the paper. And when you're done with one flower, tie it off with a knot and start the next.



If you're like me, you may want to add a little something extra to your flowers. Because a kawaii Mother's Day is a good thing.



Isn't that pretty...AND cute? All that's left now is to write a little note inside, wishing mom a happy Mother's Day and thanking her for all she does.



And since flowers this pretty aren't exclusive to moms, the PDF has "thank you" and "congrats" pages as well. And the best thing is, no two cards will ever be exactly the same!

Happy crafting!