Make Eid Cards this year that you can plant

We’ve all tried, and many have succeeded, in making hand crafted Eid cards for our loved ones. Last year we saw how to wrap our Eid gifts in reused materials or better yet in reusable materials.

Here’s a neat … recipe for making this year’s Eid cards a bit more interesting. The folks at MakeAndTakes.com have put together an awesome walk through of the steps and ingredients needed to make a Blooming Greeting Card. Of course these are generic and can be made to congratulate whatever occasion you are calibrating. With Ramadan and Eid coming up, however, what better occasion to celebrate.

All you do is blend up some paper and water. Then you add your-or more appropriately your recipient’s-favorite flower seeds. Let the mush dry then mold into the shape of a flower. Paste onto a greeting card. Gift and repeat.

Now, I wouldn’t do this myself ( I like the idea of a flower, or tree :) but you could make the plantable  “mush” into a Masjid, a crescent, or whatever shape you feel represents your celebration. But ‘m not so sure you’ll get little mosques popping out of your garden, or cheese for that matter.

I need to point out a couple of things. Some people may choose to use fresh construction paper. Of course it will work, however a better approach would be to use some of your scrap pieces of arts and crafts, which you’ve been holding on to for a rainy day (haha it works ’cause we’re making mush).

Paper and Seed "Mush"

Also, as you will see from the instructions, you may choose to blend some colours to change the hue of the paper you are using. I found that I could throw in a small bit scrap paper that is a colour I would normally never use for a flower and the dominate colour will dye the other paper the same colour. Otherwise you will have some interesting affects if say you include some solid black with a majority of light yellow paper. Hay, you may wish to make a monarch butterfly.

Finally be wary of using bleached “Bright White” paper and similarly treated paper. Some of the chemicals in the paper may (although not tested) affect the growth of your precious flowers. I would also skip the button in the center and maybe go for a cutout of orange peal to add some scent to your greeting gift.

In the end, and in small script as if from a publishing company, include the following message or one like it “I hope you enjoyed this card and that you may cherish it forever. To trully enjoy this card to it’s fullest potential please throw it out in the back yard or in your planters and add water and watch it bloom into a beautiful bed of petunias“ Of course you would replace petunias with whatever flower you had chosen to include into the recipe.

Enjoy and have a blessed Ramada and a joyful floral Eid.

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