Celebrate with handmade gifts! A perfect shikishi board and message card for a 100th birthday.
We all want the seniors who use our facilities to stay healthy and live long, don’t we?
I imagine many senior and welfare facilities hold birthday parties to celebrate.
Gifts are prepared for the birthday parties, too, and I’m sure the seniors are pleased.
Birthdays are wonderful at any age, but when a senior turns 100, you really want to express your heartfelt gratitude.
So this time, we’re introducing handmade message boards (shikishi) for seniors celebrating their 100th birthday.
We’ve also gathered ideas you can apply to the shikishi and recommended birthday message cards.
Please use this article to create and give a lovely shikishi.
- Let's celebrate turning 100 with handmade gifts! Introducing colored paper boards and message cards.
- [For Seniors] Gift It to Someone Special: A Collection of Handmade Birthday Card Ideas
- [For Seniors] Celebrate at the Care Facility! Handmade Birthday Card Ideas
- [For seniors] Birthday message board designs that delight: group messages, pop-up mechanisms, and brush-lettering art
- [At a day-care service, a birthday message you want to convey] For older adults
- Handmade Gifts: Ideas That Will Delight Older Adults
- Recommended for seniors! Origami gifts
- Easy-to-make origami birthday ideas for seniors
- [For Seniors] Tips for Birthday Messages They’ll Love
- [For Seniors] Enjoy Something New Every Day! Today’s Origami
- You can make it with construction paper! Handmade birthday card ideas
- [For Seniors] Recommended Birthday Gifts for Those Living in Care Facilities
- Handmade birthday cards recommended for birthday parties
Let's celebrate handmade! Congratulatory colored paper and message cards suitable for a 100th birthday (31–40)
three-dimensional cake
Some elderly care facilities might celebrate birthdays with delicious cake, don’t you think? A birthday cake that can spark excitement.
Here’s a birthday card inspired by such a cake.
Cut a piece of thick paper or construction paper in half, and get creative with where you cut using scissors or a craft knife.
This will let you make a three-dimensional birthday cake.
If you color the cut-out cake with pens and the like, it will turn out beautifully.
Add your favorite stickers or hand-drawn illustrations, and include a message too.
A pop-up cake birthday card is likely to delight older adults as well.
Brush-lettered birthday card
Let us introduce a simple yet very cute, hand-drawn birthday card.
No matter how old you are, receiving a handmade birthday card is always such a joy.
Pop-up cards made with origami or construction paper are lovely too, but this idea is appealing because you only need water brush pens to draw it, so there’s very little to prepare.
Use water brush pens in various colors to draw circles and turn them into balloons.
The key is to draw them so they overlap, without leaving spaces in between.
Finish by writing your message with a black water brush pen, and you’re done.
Create a colorful, warm, and delightful birthday card!
Simple Mechanism Card
This card is packed with three-dimensional mechanisms: even before you open it, a 3D bouquet motif is set up, and when you fully open it, the message also pops up in three dimensions.
You layer origami on the base and build the mechanisms from there, and small touches—like intentionally leaving a bit of slack at the folds or arranging decorations to overlap—enhance the sense of depth.
A key point is assembling the whole piece while being mindful of how thickly you layer the messages and decorations.
By designing it so you flip through it multiple times before reaching the final message, you can give the recipient the excitement of wondering what surprise awaits next.
A beautiful card with flowers popping out
We’d like to introduce a card that reveals an unexpectedly large flower when you open it.
Prepare four sheets of origami or construction paper in different colors and patterns.
Draw a circle that fits on the paper and cut it out.
You can use a plate or similar object as a template.
Fold each circle and cut it so it becomes a heart shape.
Use glue to attach the four cut pieces together to form a flower.
Glue the flower onto the card to finish.
You can also make a butterfly and attach it alongside the flower.
Some older adults might feel their hearts lift at the sight of this large, beautiful, and striking flower card.
Bouquet illustration
Handmade birthday cards cut and pasted from construction paper or origami are lovely, but this idea is very simple and can be completed with just paper and a pen.
It’s perfect for seniors who enjoy drawing illustrations.
Draw triangles with a pen, then use a dot pen to add lots of tiny dots.
Mixing different sizes and colors makes it even cuter.
The key is to aim for a rounded overall shape.
Draw a ribbon and write your message with a brush pen.
The softly colored, cute bouquet illustration really makes the brush-pen message stand out.
Celebrate by hand! Congratulatory shikishi and message cards fit for a 100th birthday (41–50)
Balloons and Presents
The sight of colorful balloons soaring into the sky gives off a fresh, happy vibe, doesn’t it? This three-dimensional birthday card focuses on that cheerful balloon atmosphere, combining motifs of balloons and gifts.
Create depth by assembling balloons from halves folded and joined together, and by attaching the gift in the center of the card.
By designing it so that balloons and a message pop out from the gift, you can clearly convey an image of happiness bursting forth.
Pop-up cake and presents
At some senior care facilities, they may prepare birthday cakes as part of the celebration event.
Many seniors would surely feel happy if a delicious-looking cake appeared on their own birthday.
Here is a pop-up card featuring a cake and presents, filled with lots of happy feelings.
Let’s make the cake and present boxes out of construction paper.
Fold the cake in half and set it in the center of the card to create a pop-up mechanism.
Attach pieces of construction paper cut with scissors or punches to the card.
Opening the card to reveal the cake is sure to fill seniors with excitement.