CREATIVE CRAFTING

Posts Tagged ‘Christmas Cards’

Got some little elves with time on their hands? Invite them to help out in a special holiday workshop, creating season’s greetings for everyone on your family’s mailing list. Using four super-simple techniques and such kid-friendly materials as glue dots and stickers, they’ll be turning out festive, personalized cards in no time.  These would also make cute Thank You cards from the kids.

You will need:
# Ink pad with nontoxic brown or bronze ink
# Plain notecards or card stock
# Craft glue
# Googly eyes
# Mini pom-poms, brown and red
# Brown marker

Use a thumb or fingertip to stamp 3 reindeer heads on each notecard. Glue on googly eyes and pom-pom noses (including a red one for Rudolph, of course). Finish by drawing antlers.

Courtesy of Family Fun.com

It is never too early to start preparing for Christmas. One of the more traditional holiday customs is the sending of cards to friends and family.

With the current economic conditions the cost of buying the cards and then the postage to send them can equal the cost of two or three meals for the family. While we all can agree that sending a greeting card is a great way to liven someones holiday, it is not always the most cost effective.

I have had to do a lot of tightening of the belt in the past, and still do, so years ago I came up with the idea of having our children make the Christmas cards for family. The grandparents loved them and the kids had a great time making them.

Of course now they are older and purchase their cards, while I still make them. I enjoy it; and each card I make and send has a lot of love built right in.

This is the one I am making this year. I purchased a package of card stock for my printer for under $5.00, with it I will print out patterns, embellishments, letters all from free scrapbooking sites. I also purchased from my local office supply center a package of plain envelopes and will make the cards to fit the envelope. I have a couple of stamps with the words JOY, MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, so I will use them for some of the messages.

BHG Crafting

With a few inexpensive embellishments, you can easily make high-quality Christmas cards from the old Christmas cards that you have received in previous years. Before you dismiss this idea as too chintzy for words, consider – what else are you going to do with those greeting cards? Are they destined for the wood fire or, worse still, the wastepaper bin? If so, please do Mother Earth a favor and take the time to recycle those cards into something useful once again. We have other great ideas for recycling greeting cards. But here, I’m going to show you how to use old cards as a resource for making new ones that are arguably superior to store-bought versions. Firstly, each card is homemade which means the design and sentiment is truly one-of-a-kind. Secondly, the crafting techniques combine decoupage, collage, scrapbooking and basic paper tole – all wonderful crafting skills worth trying at least once. Finally, this card project is just plain fun because you can pick from many appealing Christmas pictures, combine them into something new, then add your own personal touch of glitz, sophistication, humour or elegance.

Supply List:
# used Christmas cards
# standard white or colored card stock
# medium weight paper for the envelope
# ruler or straight edge, and a pencil, for measuring and marking
# tacky glue
# scissors – sharp, fine-nosed embroidery or needlework scissors for detail cutting; sharp household scissors or paper cutter for straight lines
# pinking shears or craft edging scissors – optional, but useful if cutting fabric or paper shapes