Maker Magic: The Card Machine Trick

1. Seal your empty envelope.

2. Line up a playing card along the side of the envelope, for sizing, and cut the envelope about ½” past the card (Figure A).

3. Turn the envelope so the open end faces up. About ¾” below the open end, cut or tear small half circles on either side (Figure B). This is so a pencil can slide through, but size-wise the hole should be wide enough to fit two pencils.

4. Outline both sides of your envelope with a dark color (Figure C).

Now, make it your own! Create the look of your Card Machine! I chose to draw gears on one side, with images of a 9V battery, wires, buttons, and switches (Figure D). You can do something similar or make the design completely your own. On the other side of the envelope I wrote “Card Machine” (Figure E). Get creative! Think about how you want your Card Machine to look, and think also of the overall look of your show. Your props should all look like they belong with each other. They don’t need to “match” exactly, but they should complement each other: battery and wires, or stars and planets, or birds and flowers, or whatever. This helps create a cohesive theme to your show.

ber bands and twist and wrap them onto the middle of your pencil. You’ll need to add enough rubber bands to create about ¼” of rubber banding all around (Figure F). I have three or four wide rubber bands on my pencil.

2. Slide your pencil carefully through the two holes you created in the envelope, so that the rubber banded area is now hidden inside the envelope (Figure G).

ber bands and twist and wrap them onto the middle of your pencil. You’ll need to add enough rubber bands to create about ¼” of rubber banding all around (Figure F). I have three or four wide rubber bands on my pencil.

2. Slide your pencil carefully through the two holes you created in the envelope, so that the rubber banded area is now hidden inside the envelope (Figure G).

Essentially, we’ve created a gear with the rubber bands around the pencil. Hack it, tinker with it, think of new ideas! Create a routine of your own!

Maybe you want the right card to rise right away! If that’s the case, place a chunk of cards right behind the jack of hearts. Experiment with this: Instead of twisting the pencil with your fingers, hold onto the pencil with one hand, and flick the envelope with your other fingers, so it spins around the pencil. If you spin the envelope with the right force, and in the right direction, by the time the envelope makes its full revolution, the jack of hearts will be sticking out (Figures T, U, V, and W)! Centrifugal force keeps the cards in place upside down. The spinning causes the “gear” to push the selected card out.