Friday, May 7, 2010

Crafty Travel: Paper Wallet



My husband Dave and I took our kids to London a few months ago.

During this trip (and many of our other vacations), the kids collected a lot o crap, from candy wrappers ("Look, Mommy! Their Kit Kats have a different wrapper! Oh, can I keep it?" "What the heck is this candy? The wrapper looks so pretty, but it tastes gross!") and museum maps ("Why do I have to share my map? Get your own!") to business cards ("Why is the "th" pronounced like a "t"? That's weird.") and match boxes ("If you shake it, it sounds like maracas!").



In London, the kids collected a lot of certificates to declare their various accomplishments. For instance, there was the certificate from the Pool of London Explorer Kit . If you found all the buildings and historical sites on the provided map, then you would get a stamp on the certificate. Another example is the certificate below, from The Monument :






































On the back of this certificate, it states that "(fill in the blank) has climbed the 311 steps of the Monument." This is something to celebrate considering my crippling fear of heights. On the way up, I kept replaying that scene in "Vertigo" where Jimmy Stewart swoons on the circular staircase. On the way down, I had my body plastered against the wall and tried not to make eye contact with anyone. The things I do to make my kids happy.

Anyway, I digress.

This is how I made the wallet out of this certificate:



I covered both side of the paper with clear packing tape and cut off the excess tape on all four sides.




Then I took out a dollar bill to measure the width and height of the main wallet pocket. At the bottom, I scored the paper horizontally with a metal ruler and bone folder.

 

I cut a strip for the inside pockets and made slits wide enough to hold credit cards and IDs. With clear packing tape, I attached it to the main pocket of the wallet near the bottom fold.




I taped up the sides with clear packing tape and added a pair of Velcro tabs on the inside edges.




Voila!





Now I have a permanent --and useful--reminder of our little trip to London. And hopefully the last time I have to pay to climb 311 steps for leisure.

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