Tea Bag Holder Card Tutorial for The Kraft Journal

     It's my week to do a tutorial at The Kraft Journal and I'd like to share with you some instructions for making a tea bag holder card like the one you saw in my post last Friday.  You can find all different types and shapes of cards out there to give little gifts of yummy tea bags in.  For this particular shape I saw a couple of examples, but no measurements except the card base, so I decided to share all the measurements I used with you.  Of course these can be adjusted in any way you need.
     For my project I started with a base card cut from Brown Kraft Cover Weight cardstock at 7" x 8 1/2".  That piece is scored at 4" and 4 1/2" on the long side.  I also cut (4) mats from Buff Ivory Cover Weight cardstock at 3 7/8" x 6 7/8" and (3) at 2 7/8" x 2 5/8".  My designer paper mats were cut (4) at 3 5/8" x 6 5/8" and (3) at 2 3/4" x 2 1/2".  Just getting all these pieces cut covers probably more than half of the construction of this project.

     Here's the card base with the score lines marked.

     This is one of the pockets for the tea bags.  They are cut at 4" x 6 1/4" and get scored at 31/2" and then along each side at the 1/2" mark.

     Once you've burnished your score lines you can use a corner rounder to round off the ends of the flaps on the 3 1/2" section of the pocket.  Also use your scissors to cut a small vee out of the flaps up to the center score line.  This will cut down on bulk when folding up the pocket.

     Place some strong adhesive along the two bottom flaps.  When the bottom is folded up over the top, the flaps with adhesive will fold around to the back of the pocket.  If you will hold the center of your pocket down really well when folding those adhesed flaps over it will help keep your pocket from bulging out too badly.  When you burnish, you'll notice that your pocket might not fold exactly on the score line because of the bulk of the paper.

     These are the basic parts of the card.  Once you have all this done you're ready to decorate.  I've done a video tutorial you can watch here if you'd like to see how I attach the pockets to the card.  That would have been rather hard to photograph and explain. 
     Here's the front of my card.  I've used a digital Santa image from Isabella's Sketchbook and colored it with Prismacolor pencils on some Lunch Bag Kraft cardstock.  I've also used some Natural Twill Tying Tape and a Round Metal Edge Grungy Prim tag for the sentiment.

     And here's the inside.  On the first page I created a little pocket for a tag that was made using a Grungy Prim Tag.  I wrapped some Earthy Hemp Cord around the bottom of the tag and glued on an Epoxy Christmas brad that I popped the prongs off of.  The tag is inked with Vintage Photo Distress ink.  The second page has the three pockets decorated, stacked and full of tea bags.  I think this is such a fun little project and would make a great easy gift for the holidays--ANY holiday!  Instead of tea, you could make little pockets for those yummy Ghiradelli chocolate squares.  :-)

     Hope you liked the tutorial.  Have a wonderful week!

Kraft Outlet Supplies

• Brown Kraft Cover Weight cardstock
• Buff Ivory Cover Weight cardstock
• Natural Twill Tying Tape
• Round Metal Edge Grungy Prim tag
• Grungy Prim Tag
• Earthy Hemp Cord
• Epoxy Christmas Brad

Other Supplies

• Paper:  Making Memories
• Stamp:  Isabella's Sketchbook "Santa With Letter", Papertrey Ink "Mixed Messages", Inkadinkado "Ornate Christmas"
• Ink:  Prismacolor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, Versafine Vintage Sepia, Vintage Photo Distress ink, Versamark
• Tools:  Martha Stewart Snowflakes deep edge punch, snowflake and holly punches; EK Success corner rounder
• Miscellaneous:  Prima poinsettia, Recollections pearls, glass microbeads, Recollections brad, Zing Clear embossing powder