Recently I realized that I wish I had an easy-to-access holder for my business cards. I often carry around my tote bag featuring a cat in space, and I get frequent comments and compliments on it. I keep a stack of business cards in my wallet to give people when this situation arises, but with this clear keychain case I can get to them even faster, and show them off a little better.


(My cards, by the way, are from Moo, which I highly recommend. Nobody’s paying me to say that; I’ve just been really happy with them.)

Here is how I made my clear mini card holder.

Materials:
Clear vinyl
Keyring/split ring
Scissors
Ruler
Pliers
Sewing machine (or hand needle and thread)
Thread
Alligator clips
Stick-on Velcro (I used white, but you can get it in clear)
Stud (or button) (mine is lightweight, 3/8 inch, with 4 prongs)
Lobster clasp

Methods:
**My measurements will all be based on making a case for my Moo mini cards, which are about 1 inch tall by 2 3/4 inches wide. You may need to adjust them for your cards. But that’s pretty easy to do.**

1. Cut a piece of clear vinyl 4 1/4 inches tall by 3 1/2 inches wide (or about 4 times the height of your cards by the width of your cards plus about 3/4 of an inch).

2. Take a stack of  about 20 of your cards, or however many you want to carry around, and fold the bottom edge up around them. Hold the vinyl in place with the alligator clips.

3. Cut a strip of vinyl 3/8 inches wide and 4 inches long. Fold it in half, then fold it in half again to make a sturdy loop.

4. Loop the vinyl strip you just folded around your keychain ring, and clip it in one seam of the vinyl pocket you clipped in step 2.

5. Sew a seam about 1/8 of an inch away from the edges of the vinyl you have clipped. White thread will be the least noticeable on clear vinyl. If you have a non-stick Teflon foot for your sewing machine, now is the time to use it. Otherwise, to keep your sewing machine foot from sticking to the vinyl, you can use a layer of tissue paper between the foot and the vinyl. If you don’t have a sewing machine, you could also easily do the sewing by hand.

6. Fold the top edge of the vinyl over your cards, and if necessary, trim it. You can also round the corners, if you’d like.

7. Center the stud on the top flap of your holder, and press the prongs through the vinyl when you have it in the location you’d like. (If you don’t want to use a stud, you could sew or glue on a button instead, and hide the Velcro behind that.)

8. With the pliers, bend the stud’s prongs to attach it to the vinyl.

9. Cut out a Velcro square slightly smaller than the stud. Peel off the back and stick the piece with the teeth beneath the stud, so that it’s hidden by it.

10. Take the fuzzy square of Velcro, and stick the fuzzy side to the piece already attached to the vinyl. Peel the back off the Velcro, exposing the sticky side, fold down the vinyl flap, and stick the Velcro to the center of the vinyl envelope. Press firmly to attach.

11. If you’d like, add a large lobster clasp to make your keychain easier to move from bag to bag.