Elf Door Gift Card Holder

I love the elf door ideas I'm seeing all over Pinterest which are basically a fun way to welcome your Elf on the Shelf back for the season. Since my kids have outgrown their elf, I came up with a fun twist on the tradition and made an elf door gift card holder. 

And best of all, this elf door craft can be made with no special tools or dies. All you need is a paper trimmer, a circle punch and some scissors. If you don't have a circle punch, you can even trace a bottle cap. I've made this Christmas in July craft super easy to achieve for anyone. 

Supplies:

• 1 sheet Red Devil Bazzill Cardstock
• 1/4 sheet Avalanche Bazzill Cardstock
• 1/4 sheet Bottle Green Bazzill Smoothies
• 1/4 sheet Silver Mirror Cardstock 
• Scrap of cardstock 2 1/4" x 4 1/4"
• Rose Mini Pearl Kit
• Dimensional Foam Dots
• White Nuvo Dots, Stickles or White Glue
• White Glitter
• 1 foot of ribbon (optional)
• 1 - 1 3/8" circle cutter or object to trace a small circle

How to Make a Cardstock Elf Door 

Begin by cutting all of your pieces..

• From red, cut a piece 11 1/2" x 3 1/2" and cut 5 rectangles 1/2" x 1 1/4". The cut just one of those small rectangles in half, so you have 2 smaller pieces measuring 1/2" x 3/4".
• From white, cut three rectangles 1/2" x 5 3/4"
• From green, punch out three circles around 1" in size.
• From silver, punch out one circle around 1" in size + cut a small circle with a hole punch or free hand (for the doorknob). You will also need a super small square about 1/4" to be the base plate of the door knob. 
• Cut a square measuring 2 1/4" x 4 1/4" from the scrap cardstock.

How to Assemble an Elf Door

1. Score the large red piece at the halfway point (5 3/4" the long way). Fold in half at score line. You've basically created a folded card at this point. 
2. Lay the rectangle piece of scrap cardstock lined up about 1/4" from the center score line of the red piece. Trace around the door very lightly with a pencil. You can also do this on the back side of the paper. This traced rectangle becomes the door that opens. 
3. From the front side of the cardstock, use a paper cutter or exacto knife to cut three sides of the traced rectangle. Think of this like a door and cut only the top, bottom and left side of the rectangle. Score along the right side of the rectangle to make a mini door. 
4. Next we are gong to fold the tag base together with the door on the front. You are basically making a card that is glued shut. The fold line should be at the bottom of the tag. Place adhesive along the left and right edges to seal the tag shut without glueing the door shut. 
5. Use foam dots to add the door panels to the front of the card as shown in the picture. 
6. Cut your silver circle in half, then cut one of the halves into three pieces like you are cutting a pie. Add these above your door using foam dots to resemble a window.  7. Adhere white strips along each edge of the tag and along the top. There will be some overhang on each side of the top piece and you can just trim that off. 
8. Attach the small silver square as the doorknob base plate, then add the small circle for the door knob.  9. Next let's work on the wreath. Snip into the punched circle and freehand cut around the edge of the circle to form a wreath. These can be wonky, because real wreaths are wonky. Do this with all three circles. Adhere the three wreath pieces to the front of the door, layering them so the cut part of the wreath is at the top. Use the pearls to cover the cut slit.  Bonus tip: To adhere the tiny pearls, dab a bit of liquid glue on a piece of scrap cardstock, then pick up the pearl with tweezers and carefully dip the back into the glue. This prevents you from getting too much glue on the backs of the mini pearls.  10. Finish off your card by adding white stickles or Nuvo drops to a few of the door pieces, the roof line and the bottom of the wreath. Sprinkle it with glitter while still wet.  11. If you'd like this to be a tag, attach ribbon to the back of the door tag. Use a glue dot to adhere a gift card to the inside of the door.
candle for a clever way to give a gift card for Christmas.  Hang your Elf Door Tag on a bottle of wine, a homemade goodie or a candle for a clever way to give a gift card for Christmas. 

-Michelle 

Here's another clever Christmas Tag Idea made from paper!