DIY Vintage Postcards that Pop With Color

My favorite DIYs are those that cost little to throw together and just happen to land in your lap, like a gift. Which is why I was thrilled to stumble on a pack of black and white vintage French postcards at our local library’s book sale, priced at a thrilling dollar.

With a few streaks of my favorite coloring tools of choice, these postcards get a brand new look. I’ve been adding them to presents as gift tags, popping notes in the mail to faraway friends, and even clipped them to blank notecards to make my very own stationery set.

-Rebecca Pitts of Hudson + Daughter

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:

-Vintage Postcards
–Neon Gelly Sticks
–Gelly Roll Metallic Pens
–Muji Gel Ink Set

Optional:
-Heavy Cardstock paper
-Colored Paper Clips

What to do:

Work with what you’ve got. Each composition or postcard image will call for its own unique design. Here are a few ideas and tricks to get you going:

1. Geometric Details

Look for the white space and add color there. Stick to a limited palette (in this case, just 3 colors) and a few basic shapes like lines, dots, triangles, and half circles.

My 3 and half year old caught on to what I was up to so she helped me with the rest of these:

2. Black and White and Blue

Here, we used different media but kept to it limited to just one color. I love how my daughter has colored outside the lines, and how the detailed work I added contrasts with the large single layer of color on the man and his path.

3. Neon and Metallic

This one was done entirely by my daughter and it’s probably my favorite of the bunch because she can’t yet color in the lines perfectly so the layers she’s added are all abstract. Awesome, right? Also, because: I’m still loving the neon and metallic trend. My top two tricks for making art with kids are in action here: (1) restrict their color palette so you don’t end up with every color, i.e. brown and (2) when their work looks decent, move them on to the next one before it becomes a big undistinguished blob.

4. The Notecard

Fold your cardstock paper to create a notecard that is just slightly larger in size than the postcard. Add a ‘frame’ to the notecard paper and add matching paperclips.

Rebecca Pitts is a writer, crafter, and founder of the shop and blog, Hudson + Daughter.