Resources

The Original DIY
Earth Day Card

It’s a card you print-up on a piece of paper, cut out and put together with some string and staples, decorate, and then give to someone on Earth Day to celebrate this amazing world that we all share together.

Buy/Send   Download DIY

What You Need: 
☑ These instructions (see below, also available for download)
☐ ‘Earth Day Card’ PDF File (see above for available versions)
☐ A Piece of Paper* (Cool Tip: Buy recycled paper)
☐ Printer* (or have it printed for pick-up or delivery*)
☐ Scissors ✂️
☐ Pencil or Pen
☐ Thumb Tack or Toothpick 
    (or something else to poke holes with)
☐ A Piece of String (or Twisty-Tie)
    (or something else to thread through poked holes)
☐ Stapler with Staples (or more String, and sewing skills)
☐ Optional – Colored Pencils, Makers, Water Colors, or whatever, if you want to decorate the card 🙂
☐ Required – Some love for our shared Earth 🌎

To Start: Print the Card, double-sided. Scale to fit printing should work. First Print Side 1, re-feed the page exactly opposite to print on the other side, Then Print Side 2. See printing tips online if having trouble.

Note: When cutting make sure to cut along the dotted lines ✄— Don’t cut along any solid lines!

Piece #1 — The Frontside of the Earth

Step 1A) Cut out Piece #1, The Frontside of the Earth, from the top left portion of the page. It is circular on top and square on the bottom… When cutting make sure to cut along the dotted lines ✄—

Step 1B) Fold Piece #1 in half along the vertical line in the middle. Fold it back and forth both ways a few times, so that the paper is creased along this line.

Piece #2 — A Circle with Ears that are Clouds

Step 2A) Cut out Piece #2 along the dotted line ✄— from the top right portion of the page. It’s a circular piece that looks like it has cloud ears.

Step 2B) Fold Piece #2 in half along the vertical line in the middle. Fold it back and forth both ways a few times, so that the paper is creased along this line.

Connect Piece #1 and Piece #2

Step 2C) Now stack Piece #1 on top of Piece #2, making sure to place the back side of Piece #1 so it’s touching the top of Piece #2. Make sure to align them together along their folded crease… 

Staple them together at the TOP along the crease line, with one staple. Now that they are attached, if you fold them open from in between you will see a Compass and the Layers of the Earth.

Piece #3 — The Backside of the Earth

Step 3A) Cut out Piece #3, The Backside of the Earth, from the bottom right portion of the page . It is circular on top and square on the bottom.

Step 3B) Fold Piece #3 in half along the vertical line in the middle. Fold it back and forth both ways a few times, so that the paper is creased along this line.

Piece #4 — The Night Sky

Step 4A) Cut out Piece #4 from the bottom left portion of the page. It’s a circular piece that looks like it has cloud ears also, except the cloud ears are where bears have ears.

Step 4B) Fold Piece #4 in half along the vertical line in the middle. Fold it back and forth both ways a few times, so that the paper is creased along this line.

Connect Piece #3 and Piece #4

Step 4C) Now stack Piece #3 on top of Piece #4, making sure to place the back side of Piece #3 so it’s touching the top of Piece #4. Make sure to align them together along their folded crease… 

Staple them together at the TOP along the crease line, with one staple. Now that they are attached, if you fold them open you will see both the Southern Night Sky and the Northern Night Sky.

Step 4D – Connect These Pieces Together

Step 4D) Now stack the first two pieces (Pieces #1 & #2) on top of the second two pieces (Pieces #3 & #4). Make sure both the outsides are the Frontside and Backside of Earth, kinda like it’s an Earth sandwich.

Make sure to align them together along their folded crease… And to align the squared bottoms together.

Now staple them together at the BOTTOM along the crease line, with one staple. They should all be connected, the Earths on the outside.

Piece # 5 – “The Sun and Moon”

Step 5A) Cut out Piece #5 from the remaining portion of the page. It’s kinda shaped like a balloon, with the Sun as the gondola of the balloon (gondola = basket).

Step 6 – Poke Holes

Step 6A) Now find the tiny dot at the center of the bigger circular side of Piece #5. Use a thumb tack to poke a hole through it. Wiggle the thumb tack around a little to widen the hole a little.

Step 6B) Find the tiny dot at the center of the Earth, and use a thumb tack to poke a through all four pieces that are connected together (Pieces #1-4). Wiggle the thumb tack around a little to widen the hole a little.

Step 7 – Connect All These Pieces

Step 7A) Place Piece #5 inbetween the other pieces, in the middle of them, with the Sun facing the Frontside of Earth and the Moon facing the Backside.

Make sure the Sun looks like it’s above the Earth.

Align all the poked holes together in the middle. Put the thumbtack back in and wiggle it a little more.

Now take your string and tie a knot on one end, before you feed it through the holes. Make sure your knot is bigger than the hole, so it will catch.

Thread the string through the poked holes, connecting all the pieces. Feed it through until it catches the knot.

Now tie a knot on the other side of the string to secure the pieces together. Make sure to tie the knot close against the paper.

Tip: Use a piece of twisty tie if you don’t have a good string. Just twist it right up, poke it through the holes and then fold it on both sides or twist it into balls.

That’s it! You should be able to rotate the Sun up and over the Earth, from Left to Right and back.

Remember to recycle your leftover scraps of paper.

Step 8 – Write a Message and Decorate

Follow the directions within the card. When the Sun is aligned in the East there are two spaces to write notes or to draw.

The first space is found in the middle of the card on the Happy Earth Day page. The blank circular area is where you can write or draw.

The second space is also found in the middle of the card on the Happy Earth Day page, when you fold the Sun piece back over towards the West. You should see the Moon to the left, the blank circular area is where you can write or draw.

Now decorate the card! Depending on the version you downloaded you have various spaces to decorate. For example, you can draw in the Equator, Longitude, and Latitude lines on both sides of the Earth. Color the Constellations. Decorate your Peace Sign page (or other Blank Message page). You can even draw convection lines on the Layers of Earth page.

Step 9 — Prep for giving

Close the card flat with the Frontside of the Earth showing, and the Sun rotated to the West (left).

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!

Use 100% Scale Printing

You print them on one sheet of paper, double-sided. 100% Scale printing should work for most printers. There are two sides of the card. The front side is printed on the 1st page, the back side is printed on the 2nd page. Again, you print Page 1 and Page 2 on the same piece of paper (front and back). And they must match up when they are printed for the card to work when you cut it out. It’s simple double sided printing … but it’s easy to mess up. Many printers have double sided printing features, however An easy way to print this card is to (1) print the 1st page, (2) re-feed that page into the printer so that it prints on the opposite side, And then (3) print the 2nd page. If you do that and choose 100% Scale. This card should print easy.