Wallet (money holder) cards!

Although everyone enjoys receiving money, checks or gift cards, the store offered money enclosure cards leaves a lot to be desired. To address this a few years ago I created my own wallet (money holder) cards.  These can be made for men, women and kids depending on the papers, embellishments and color schemes used.  The technique is fairly simple and the best template is your own wallet (or someone’s close to you).  Here are examples of a man's and woman's wallet.

Man’s style wallet card:

For the exterior I started with a simple bi-fold black 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card. I embossed two pieces of black paper with an alligator print pattern, cut them to size and adhered them to exterior of card. Next I cut out a ½” x 1” piece of gold paper, attached it to lower right corner of the front panel and added small sticker letters to create the recipient’s initials.

For the inside of the wallet cut a 2 ½” x 7 ½” piece of black paper, fold it up lengthwise ½” from the bottom and attach it across the top of the card (about two and half inches down) to create a money pocket. Next, cut out two more panels from black paper 3 ½” x 4” each. Turn one into a “driver’s license” holder by cutting it out to create a frame to hold a piece of white paper for the message. Cut out a slit 1/8” x 2 ½” about halfway down in the second panel to create a gift card holder. Attach both panels to the inside of the wallet covering the lower portion of the money pocket. Another little gold tag can be added for more initials.

Woman’s style wallet card:

For the exterior I started with a tri-fold 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card made from embossed football pattern 12” x 12” paper. Cut back the top layer to 1 ½” to create the top flap of the wallet. For this wallet I edged the top flap with a die-cut border that I mounted on gold paper first and then cut out.  Women like "bling" so I added four rhinestones. To keep the wallet closed use two small pieces of Velcro.

For the inside of the wallet create two pockets from strips of paper for the money and gift card pockets: the money pocket is a 2 ½” x 7 ½” piece paper, folded up lengthwise ½” from the bottom, while the gift card pocket is a 1 ½” x 4 ½” piece paper also folded up lengthwise ½” from the bottom. These are attached to the center portion of the wallet. On the lower portion create a “driver’s license” holder section lined with white paper for the message.

Both these cards will hold standard US currency, standard personal checks and standard sized gift cards.  Although there is a lot of layout and cutting involved, the end results are well worth it.  These are, of course, just two possibilities, I am sure you can all come up with your own ideas and designs. Think of all the fun you can have for kids! The nice thing about these wallet cards is they can be “re-gifted” by simply taking out the white inset on the inside of the card and replacing it with a new one (as well as the money, check or gift card of course!).