Make a Wallet Out of Anything (As Long As It's Flat)

In this Instructable I will show you how you can make super custom wallets out of all sorts of materials. I started doing this back in high school during the duct tape wallet craze.Give it a shot yourself. They make great fun gifts and are a super quick project.

Apologies in advance for the photo quality. A lot of these were taken as I was making them back in school (on a 2009 camera phone)

For this project you will need:

-Clear contact paper (you can also use a laminator if you have one)

-Packing Tape

-Scissors

-A Ruler

-A wallet for size references. If you don't have one you can base your material sheets off of Credit Cards for the pockets and cash for the larger pieces

-Your desired wallet material - In this project I'll be using a photo collage

If you're using loose items (like candy wrappers or playing cards) you'll need to wait until after you laminate the pieces. The pieces for this wallet broke down into:

Photo 1:

1 ID Card Frame

4 Card Pockets

Photo 2:

1 Rear Support Piece

Photo 3:

2 Main Body Pieces

For this project you'll need to line up your two main body pieces. Cover them in a single piece of contact paper. Trim close to the edges of the photos, but not entirely so that you maintain a good seal.

Repeat the process for your wallet support piece

Fold the main wallet sheet in half and seal the edges with packing tape. It helps to add a second piece of packing tape to the inside corners of this piece to cover the exposed sticky surface. Otherwise it'll trap all sorts of pocket lint.

Carefully fold the laminated pockets to your desired size (based on how much card you want exposed. Secure the edges with your packing tape. Trim to flush

Tape your laminated ID Card Pocket to the wallet support piece with packing tape, leaving one side open.

Start by taping your wallet support piece to the rear. If desired, leave the side near the halfway point of the wallet unsecured so that it creates an extra pocket

Next affix your wallet pockets to where you want them with the packing tape.

If you try to fold the wallet now it'll be very stiff due to all the layers of tape you've got on it. Fold it to the finished shape and leave it under pressure overnight.

There are plenty of Instructables out there on how to make different wallets, but with this technique you can add your own spin with almost any material you can think of. I've used:

Pictures, Starbursts (get a 5lb bag from Costco), Monopoly Money, Playing Cards, Movie Tickets, Bubble gum wrappers

Enjoy!