DIY Birthday Bear Card

Since my boyfriend’s birthday is just around the corner, I decided to make him an extra special card that I know will make him smile!
I came up with this card myself, and I call call it…. The Birthday Bear!
This card is more on the difficult side, so make sure you have an hour or two so you can take your time and really enjoy it!

Pretty adorable huh?
If you’re interested in making this cutie here is what to do!

Here are the supplies that you will need:

– Brown and white card-stock paper
-Scissors
-Glue
-A fine line marker pen
-Pencil crayons

Start by:

Draw your outline of whatever animal you choose (things like bears, dogs, cats, bunnies should work well)
you should make the arms pretty fat and wide so that they can reach the middle (you may want to use a ruler to be safe) and long enough to cover a majority of the torso!
Then cut it out carefully.
(sorry about that white pencil, it isn’t used yet)
The white hat is the white paper cut to size and glued on.

Fold:

Fold in the arms very carefully right against the torso so when it’s closed it is flat along the sides.

Next:

Draw and color in the face
Make sure that his eyes are directly under the claws when they cover his face, you want his expression to be a surprise!
Make his face however you like! The funnier the better!
Also, color in the claws with white.

Add:

If there is a gap between the arms don’t fear!
Simply cut out 4 identical squares (2 for one gift bag) and 4 strips (2 for one gift bag)
Make sure each square fits from the crease of the arm and covers the open space!
Use your glue and sandwich the strips between the two square to make a gift bag shape!
Like so:

When the glue is dried, decorate and color the bags however you want with your fine liner pen and crayons!
Make sure you color both sides since both will be visible

Finally:

Now you can draw your birthday on the bear’s torso.
You want the greeting to be a surprise so make sure that it is hidden under the gift bags and arms!
And don’t forget to glue the bags down in his arms in the proper position!

Tadaa:

Here he is in my boyfriend’s gift! heheheh
Add any details you would like to add.
I added little hair marks with the fine liner marker
And if you want a longer birthday message or to say who it is from wright it on his back! That is where I wrote mine and It looked fine!
And if he isn’t closing his arms all the way just place something heavy on top of him for a couple hours.

That bear is pretty adorable and is guaranteed to make anybody smile!
He can be appreciated by children, or adults!
Also, he can be adjusted for get-well cards, invitations, valentine’s day cards, etc…
Hope you enjoyed my tutorial for the Birthday Bear Card!