Practical and unusual ways to use old plastic cards in everyday life

It is difficult to imagine the life of a modern person without bank and other plastic cards. They are used to pay wages, loans, benefits, and discount cards are used in chain stores, cafes, restaurants, and salons. And this does not take into account the constant discount and bonus cards that overflow our wallets and business card holders. Despite this indispensability, all plastic cards have their own expiration date; some can be used for only a year, others for a decade. But there is no point in throwing away such once irreplaceable things prematurely, because plastic cards can be used in everyday life. All you have to do is use your imagination or use existing life hacks!

Each of us understands perfectly well that a plastic bank card is intended for withdrawing funds, replenishing accounts, and accessing online services. But these are the basic functions of working cards that ordinary people are accustomed to. Real craftsmen and inventors have found much more practical, extraordinary and even patent-worthy ways to use plastic cards that have already expired. Such life hacks may seem crazy to some, but they will definitely come in handy in everyday life!

Headphone holder

Of course, this is a very loud name for such a simple device, but it is done quite quickly and simply. First of all, you need to mark the plastic card. Then the marked edges are cut off using sharp scissors. Next, special holes are drilled where our headphones will be placed. In this simple way, you can solve the problem of regularly getting tangled wires, and we’re not just talking about headphones. To facilitate the process of bending the future holder. It is recommended to preheat the card, making it more elastic and pliable.

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Origami cat step by step

So, all the items are ready, all that remains is to figure out how to make a cat out of paper. Below are step-by-step instructions.

1. The paper can be any color you have on hand, or you prefer yellow, blue, purple, etc. We fold the paper in half, if the sheet is one-sided, then with the color inward and draw a finger along the line. For convenience, you can repeat the action several times. Then we cut off half, from two strips you can make two cats.
2. We bend one half horizontally, then turn the paper over and fold the edge on one side, and then on the other. The result was an “accordion”.
3. We disassemble the fold and bend the corner, work out the folds well, then disassemble the paper. We have a triangle of folds on top.
4. We bend the top until the two lines intersect, bend the edges and corners with our fingers, these will be cat ears. We lightly press on the middle of the paper and push the upper part between the ears down, forming a forehead, it will turn out to be triangular in shape.
5. Now we fold the workpiece in half again, take one part of the paper and make a fold, that is, make it narrow, but not along the entire length, but up to the ears. We do the same thing, on the other hand, make sure that the edges are even.
6. We take the blank and open the ears, turn them over and press them slightly, forming the cat’s face. Lightly align the triangles along the edges with your fingers so that the face is symmetrical. Next, we make ears, form folds and bend them, so we get ears sticking up.
7. We turn the workpiece over and bend the upper part between the ears, draw it well along the fold, you get a small strip, and at the same time we correct the kitten’s ears.
8. We bend the long part of the workpiece so that the edge reaches the top of the head, we work out the fold with our finger, now we open the paper and bend it in half. We make a central “mountain” fold, for this we take two folds with our fingers, grab them from both sides, that is, the folds go as they were originally, a mountain is formed in the center, it is laid back. Next, press with your fingers, and you get a right angle.
9. Now we make an origami tail for the cat so that it is more stable; to do this, we roll the edge into a roll, and then unfold it and form a tail, bending it slightly, so that it will rest on it.
10. We bend the head to the side and open the middle a little, we get paws. The origami kitten is ready, you can assemble a collection of cats from several colors or try to assemble it according to a different pattern.

Let's try to assemble another origami cat from paper with a beautiful face.

1. We take a square sheet of paper to make the cats funny and interesting, choose a bright color and fold it in half in the shape of a triangle, ironing the folds well.
2. Then we add both corners to the middle, making a square. Next, we bend the right and left corners, but not all the paper, but only the top layer, we get ears. We bend the resulting corner between the ears. The corners also stick out at the bottom of the ears; we fold them towards the muzzle. Bend the remaining corner from the bottom upward, but not tightly.
3. We take a felt-tip pen, paint over the ears and draw stripes on the forehead, choose a color to match the paper, if the cat is blue, then use a felt-tip pen of the same color. Using a simple pencil and white, draw the eyes, nose and mustache. We paint over the pupils with a black felt-tip pen and outline the axis of the eyes; for convenience, you can use a spirograph (a children's ruler with circles of different diameters).
4. We form the body, turn the origami upside down and put the corners inward, it just turns out to be the face of a cat. We take another square sheet and bend it in half, open one edge and bend it inward to the line, open it and fold it again, only half each time.
5. Then we open and fold the paper in half again, across the formed folds on one side, pressing with our fingers to align the line. We open and fold half of the half, we get three folds, like on the other side, only across.
6. We bend the two edges along the lines, we get a triangle or a “roof” shape, turn the sheet over and also bend the two edges. We turn the workpiece over and bend the square into a triangle, open and bend the two halves, the triangle remains free at the bottom, open it slightly and bend it inward.
7. Next, we bend the lower corners and straighten them, unfold the bottom of the body and bend them inward.
8. In the middle we get two sheets that open up, we form legs from them, bend them at the bottom, we get a “boat” shape, these will be the legs.
9. We take the felt-tip pen again and color the cat, without touching the paws. We insert the head into the body and paper origami is ready. The cat can be placed on a shelf as an addition to the interior or for children's play.

Personalized pendant or logo

Each personalized bank card has the holder’s full name engraved in Latin. Once the card is no longer needed, you can cut out your name and use the resulting logo as an original accessory. By gluing, for example, on a purse, folder, bag, laptop monitor. By making small holes and covering the carved initials with varnish, you can make a beautiful personalized pendant.

Well, don’t forget about other useful little things. A plastic card can perfectly serve as a bookmark, a phone stand, a deflector for an external camera flash, and much more!

Method one: make cards from cardboard

The simplest and cheapest option. For cardboard playing cards you will need: thick cardboard, colored paper, scissors, glue, ruler, printer and Photoshop program. First, decide on the deck design.

Step 1. It is best to “draw” the picture in Photoshop . In principle, if you don’t have the time or desire, you can use a ready-made template. There are plenty of options on the Internet. You need to choose the best one. Next step: print the templates onto colored paper. Carefully cut out the cards. A ruler will help you. It is best to use special stationery scissors.

Step 2. Prepare the cards yourself . Let us clarify once again: the cardboard should be thick and preferably white. Although, of course, you can also use cardboard from boxes. Glue color printouts onto the finished cards. You can use regular glue, like a pencil. Step 3 . Send the cards to dry . That is, the finished deck should be left to dry for about an hour. During this time the glue will dry well. Yes, and you can make a box for cards. For this you will also need cardboard and glue. If desired, you can use colored paper or regular markers.

Origami cat photo

The world of origami is diverse, you can use your imagination and create different cats, according to color, size and shape.

Just muzzle boxes for paper clips and storing small items or large crafts with paws and a tail, single-color or use several colors of paper and felt-tip pens.

From the photo you can see how to make origami and what types of cats there are.

Kitten face

The photo of origami “cat” displays the skill of forming simple images. One of them is considered to be a kitten's face, which even a child can create.

To get started, you need to prepare a square piece of paper. It is pre-bent diagonally.

The triangle is folded in half and straightened again, creating the main line. The lower corners are folded towards the center, forming the ears of the animal. We wrap the upper part away from ourselves at the bottom.

Turning the craft over, we get the simplest face of a kitten. Eyes, mustache and mouth are drawn on it.

Kitty in socks

Here we will look at step-by-step origami cat in socks:

1. Take A4 size office paper. Fold in half along the long side. Expand.
2. Fold the bottom corners towards the center.
3. Bend them again towards the middle as when folding an airplane.
4. Turn the model over.
5. Fold the top corners towards the center.
6. Make a “mountain” fold in the middle of the workpiece vertically away from you. Change the position of the model.
7. Fold the bottom corner in half. Unbend.
8. Bend and straighten the top of the flap to the folded edge.
9. Using the folds made in steps 7 and 8, flatten the flap by pinching the new corner. It should look like an ear.
10. Repeat steps 7 – 9 from the back.
11. Bend to the right.
12. Fold the right flap so that it touches the other flap. Unbend.
13. Open the left flap and flatten it, maintaining symmetry.
14. Use the fold from step 13 to fold the tail in and down.
15. Bend the tail upwards inside the slot so that it fits into place and the hind legs are outlined.
16. Bend the flap slightly upward to form a spout.
17. Reduce the width of the body by performing a mountain bend.
18. Open the bottom slightly to give the figure a stable position. The cat is ready!

It is important to know that the Japanese art of working with paper promotes the development of fine motor skills and imagination, and strengthens memory. Therefore, it is recommended to involve children in such creativity.

Folding various paper cat figures is not only useful, but also fun. After mastering classic origami, you can move on to creating an origami cat from modules.

Such crafts are more difficult to make, but they look much more interesting.