Know someone with little hands, old hands, achey hands, shakey hands…. you get the idea. Gifting them this simple scrap wood playing card holder can help bring the fun back into games and it only takes minutes to make!
Good morning everyone!
We had an awesome weekend here in SW Ontario – Sunday brought freezing rain all day and then Monday we received a light coating of snow overtop. Dangling icicles from evergreens with just a frosting of snow – magical. Treacherous for driving and damage from falling branches that are now too heavy – but beautiful to look at from the warmth of inside.
If you can see outside…
My friend Dayna approached me and asked if I could help her out with a simple project – and since I love both Dayna and simple projects, I couldn’t help but say yes. What she wanted was a playing card holder to give as a gift…. but with special wording on the front.
Both of these playing card holders came from one 2″ x 4″, ripped in half (or you could use a 2″ x 2″ if that’s easier).
Since I have a ridiculous amount of scrap wood, I used a 2″ x 4″ and cut it to 12″ long.
I set my table saw blade height at ½” and the rip fence at ½” and ran the board over the blade to create a crevice.
I reset the blade height to ¾” and set the rip fence at 1″ and ran the board over the blade again. (Please be careful folks)
Third run through the blade height was set to 1″ and the rip fence moved to 1 ½”.
I actually have the cards inserted in the wrong direction in the above photo – the deepest crevice should hold the front cards so that as you get further back the other rows sit a bit higher…. like movie theatre seating.
Regardless, you get the idea.
Once all of the grooves were cut for the playing card holder, I ripped the 2″ x 4″ in half – with the rip fence set at 1 5/8″.
A bit of stain and then a special label for the front:
I love this.
The idea of living your best life (like playing cards with friends) in spite of challenges. I especially love the idea that Dayna wanted to gift this to a friend – which leads me to believe they are card-playing buddies.
After all – what is ms when it comes to winning a huge pot at Texas Hold’em? Background noise to the Cha-ching!
I’ve seen DIY playing card holders for children – in fact I made one for my girls out of egg cartons years ago – so this can come in handy for little hands, old hands, aching hands, shaking hands – and, quite frankly, for my lazy brain that needs to see everything all spread out neatly.
The lettering on the playing card holders is adhesive vinyl that I put through my Silhouette Cameo. You could change it up and personalize it for each child, grandchild, grandparent… or Uber-competitive Mom. Mine should read “Champ” and I’ll put “why even bother” on ones for my kids. lol
12″ of scrap wood folks and a few minutes of your time. Might make a nice gift – attached to a package of playing cards – to drop off at nursing homes or hospitals?
Maybe don’t put “why even bother” on those ones though.
Easy-peasy and in plenty of time for the Holidays.
I’m including some (affiliate) links below just in case you run out of time to DIY before the Holidays. For full Amazon affiliate disclosure, please see sidebar and/or the bottom of this page.
Have a great one!
