The Craft Card

COOL FEATURE: It folds from a scrapbooklike page of greetings and photos into a real working cootie-catcher

PREP WORK: Mark the fold lines for the cootie-catcher on a standard sheet of paper (or click here for an online template of the card), leaving a 2 1/2-inch margin for greetings and folding instructions. Decorate the various panels with photos and messages, keeping in mind how the cootie-catcher will look when eventually folded.

AT THE COPY SHOP: Have the master color copied onto white copy paper.

ENVELOPE: A standard #10 (with card folded into thirds)

COSTS: roughly $1 per copy, 3 cents per envelope and 33 cents for postage

VARIATION: THE HANUKKAH CRAFT CARD
This dreidel card is a natural cootie-catcher spin-off. Created from a black and white master copied onto festive blue paper, it offers plenty of room for holiday greetings and wishes--as well as simulated dreidel gameplay. As with the cootie-catcher above, start by determining what images or text will go on what panels, then create your unfolded master.