DIY Guitar Picks

Here's a great little stocking stuffer for the guitar player in your life!

Here's what you need to make your own guitar picks:

Materials:
-pretty papers, images, magazine cut-outs, etc.
-sharp pencil
-scissors or sharp blade
-adhesive
-laminating folders
-laminator or iron
-guitar pick to use as a template *See step 1 if you don't have access to guitar picks

Steps:
1) If your guitar player is kind enough to leave their guitar picks out and handy for all, grab one on the sly to use as a template.  If your guitar player doesn't live with you, here's an easy way you can make your guitar pick template.

  - go to http://pective.com/pic/guitar-pick
  - once you've determined the size of your monitor the website will create a true to size image for you
  - print this out, cut it out, trace onto some heavy cardstock or lightweight cardboard and use as a template.

   or, you can just try using the image above~

2) Now, every guitar player is different, but I like my guitar picks to be pretty sturdy so I put an extra layer of lightweight cardstock in between my papers.  Some guitar players like really soft picks.  In that case you don't need to add the extra layer of cardstock.  You decide, maybe make a mixture~

If you're adding the cardstock layer, use your template to draw several and cut them out.

3)Now, trace your guitar pick shape onto some beautiful scrapbooking paper, an image from a magazine, a photo, or anything else you'd like to use that's fairly flat.  Cut out one image for the front and another for the back.

 

4) Add a little adhesive and make a sandwich with your papers and cardstock before it goes through the laminator.  This just keeps everything in place, you don't need to cover the entire piece. (pretty images facing out)

5) Arrange your picks inside a laminating pouch, making sure to leave enough room between them to seal in the edges.

6) The first time I did this I tried a little trick I saw on Pinterest and just used my iron at home to melt the laminating folder (in between it's cardboard covering sheet).

This was the result:

At first I thought it was a great big fat craft fail, but they turned out just fine.

I did a second batch in the laminator at work:

There aren't as many crinkles surrounding the picks but I still had to take my iron to the edges to make sure they were all sealed in.  If I make more, I'll stick with the home iron method.

7) Once you're laminated all of your pretty little picks cut them out.  Try to go as close as you can to the edge without breaking the seal.

And that's it!  Now you, or your guitar player, are ready to make some beautiful music!

I started out making this project just for fun, but when I went to look for my store bought picks I couldn't find them, so in the end these are a necessity.  They're so much better looking than what I had anyway~

Any other guitar playin' crafters out there???  Leave a comment below!