Upcycled Playing Card Box

Have some playing cards that you’ve lost or damaged?  Here is a fun way to upcycle them. A unique way to present some money or tiny gifts to someone. I recently made this for my nephew who just turned 21. My husband took him to Las Vegas to celebrate his birthday, so this upcycle fit perfectly for the occasion. 

What you’ll need. 

-An old deck of cards (a great way to use up those old or missing cards) 

-glue (I used mod podge) 

-paint brush 

-pencil 

-X-Acto knife 

-cutting board 

Step 1: Decide what two cards you want to be visible from the top and inside. Set those two cards to the side.  (Do not cut them yet). I’m using an ace and a 10 because in blackjack they equal 21.  You’ll see the whole theme of this gift is 21.

Step 2: Gather about 40ish cards and starting cutting out the center with an X-Acto knife on a cutting board. (To note you can do this this scissors but you won’t get a clean cut line from them.) This is probably the most time consuming part. I started out with all of the face cards. These are easy to cut out because most likely they already have a frame around them. If your deck of cards doesn’t have that black frame around it, just draw one with a ruler. Then this will be your template to cut all others out. If you have access to tools a benchtop band saw would make this go much faster.  All you would have do is glue all the cards together and then saw out the middle. I didn’t have that so my steps will take a little longer.

Step 3: Take any of the face cards you just cut out and use that as a template to draw and cut out all the other cards. Tip: make sure you use a freshly sharpen pencil for the tracing. You want to draw as closely to the template as possible. This insures all the cuts are similar once you start stacking them to make the box. (Be sure to save the middle part you cut out, we’ll do something with those at the end.)

Step 4: Once you have about 40 cut out, now start gluing then all together. I used mod podge and they stuck together quickly. Make sure you are lining up your edges here as you have little time to make adjustments as it dries quickly. Also be sure to press down tightly after each card is glued. Be sure to also wipe off any excess glue with a damp towel as well. You’ll quickly see how the glued, stacked cards will look like. 

Step 5: Remember those two cards you put aside at the beginning? Decide which one you want visible as you open the box up. You’ll need to cut out the inside on just this one (do not cut the other you set aside) and glue it to the top. Save the part you cut out from the middle though!

Step 6: Now we need to make the bottom. Glue 5 cards together just as they are. You want to make the bottom a little strong so that’s why I suggest gluing 5 together. Now glue the middle cut out from step 5 to the center of those cards. Then glue the sides of the bottom to the main part of the ‘box’. See how the Ace card is visible from the top now on mine?

Step 7: Now let’s make the top. Remember that extra card you have set aside from step 1? Glue another 5 cards together just as they are. Then make sure you glue your card you set aside on the top. This is one that will be visible all the time. Now you could be finished here if you want. But if you want to add another step to secure the top a bit more: go to the next step.

Step 8: Glue together about 5 cards that you cut out from the center. Flip the top over and figure out where the middle is. You may need to trim a little off the sides here if you feel like the middle cards aren’t fitting properly on the inside. To find the middle I placed the cards inside the box. Added tape, then placed the top over so the tape would stick to the top. Then I traced an outline so I knew where to glue exactly. Once it’s glued you can now see how the top won’t slide off. This is probably the hardest part. As you want to make sure the cards are aligned properly, take your time with this step.

For extra presentation add the cards to the box and write a little message on the front.

If you don’t have a box you could also glue a little handle to the top with a pair of dice (or I should say die for one, I always think that sounds weird to say). How fun does this look!?

Now the gift receiver has some money and a fun box to display. Its almost like a little hidden space inside.  I’m happy to say my nephew enjoyed the gift.

More From This Category