Woodland Card Holder / Luggage Tag

Let's use scraps of wood, leather, and fabric to make a foxy card holder that can double as a keyring, luggage tag or conference badge. This is a fun project that can be completed in an afternoon. It will need adult supervision, as sharp objects are involved.

To complete this Instructable, you will need:

• Scraps of:
  • Leather (I am using leftovers from bookbinding supplies)
  • Laminate wood sheets
  • A light fabric
  • Felt
  • Wooden beads curtain
  • Transparent window protection film
• Thread to match your leather colour (with scissors, and sewing machine or needle)
• Glue (all materials)
• Stanley knife
• Sand paper
• A card (the size of a standard credit card) to use as a template
• Paper
• Marker

Using the card as a guide, draw the outline on a piece of paper.

We will be making a holder with 3 card slots, so shift the card up from the outline and mark the top and bottom twice, making sure you're happy with the height.

Draw a woodland creature (e.g. a fox, a hedgehog, a squirrel,...) that is big enough to cover the card template. It might take a few tries before you're happy with the shape.

Once you're satisfied with your template, trace only the outline on a piece of paper and add the markings for the card slots.

Cut the paper around the outline.

Place your template on the wrong side of the leather and cut around the outline.

Cut a straight line for each card slot and add a slit at the top for the keyring/lanyard.

Make sure your card fits into all the slots.

With the card in place in the bottom slot, mark a window of 1cm inside the card area.

Cut the leather.

Cut the scraps of transparent plastic to the size of the card, and place on top of the hole, on the wrong siaddde of the leather piece.

We will be sewing a border around the left, top and right sides later, to keep the leather and plastic together.

[Note: if your plastic is sticky on one side, you will want to cut an extra, smaller window for the right side of the leather and place the sticky sides together.]

Cut the outline of your shape in felt.

In the light fabric, cut 2 strips slightly wider than your card, and twice as long.

[Note: at this point, if you wanted to avoid "card clash" from various contactless cards, you could line the light fabric with aluminium foil.]

Starting from the second card slot, lay one of the fabric strips, place the card into the slot, and fold so that the fabric allows the card to stick out slightly. Cut the excess fabric.

Sew the fabric first between the first and second slot, and after folding, between the second and third slot.

[Note: for better results, you should use a thread colour that matches your leather colour]

Repeat the process for the top slot, sewing between the second and third slot, and between the third slot and keyring hole. Depending on your fabric, you might want to use some fray-stopper.

Sew the sides of each card holder.

Pin felt and leather, wrong sides together.

Start by sewing the two layers together at the bottom of the windowed card slot, so that the card does not got all the way down.

Sew felt and leather together around the shape with a seam allowance of 5mm to 1cm.

Trim any felt showing on the leather side, turn felt face up and set aside.

Looking at your original template, mark the different colour sections (available from your laminate wooden sheets).

On a different piece of paper, trace each individual section, and cut them out.

On the back of each laminate wooden sheet, flip the cut out piece and trace it.

[Note: You will want to wear eye protection for the following part, as splinters can fly out. Alternatively, if you have access to a laser cutter, you could get those pieces made that way.]

Using a Stanley knife, carefully go over the marked pieces on the wrong side of the wooden sheets. You will have to go over the trace several times, until the piece detaches.

Sand each piece to smooth the lines and get it down to size.

Lay all the wooden pieces on the felt side of your card holder. Holding the top piece in place, flip the holder and mark the keyring hole on the wood. Cut or drill it out.

Lay all the pieces again, and glue them in place one by one, adding beads for the nose and eyes. Trim any bits of felt or leather that might be visible from the front.

Finish with varnish, if you wish.

Add your keyring, lanyard, or a leather strap through the top hole, and you're done!

[Alternatively, You can make it a foldable phone case, using an old thin plastic case that fits your phone, and glueing the back to another leather piece.]