DIY Christmas & Holiday Cards

People love to receive a handmade Christmas card

Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks leading up to Christmas and commercial cards are available everywhere. However, if you are creative or crafty you might like to have some fun and make your own.

A little bit of history

Did you know the first recorded Christmas card was sent by Michael Maier to James I of England in 1611?

And the world’s first commercially produced Christmas card was designed by John Callcott Horsley for Henry Cole in 1843.

A traditional greeting might say ‘Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’ and a more general holiday season greeting might be the all-inclusive ‘Season’s greetings’.

Choose your supplies

Depending on what kind of greeting card you plan to make, you’ll need cardstock or blank cards, envelopes, glue, scissors or a paper cutter, small decorations, textas or sharpies and a pen or pencil.

I would recommend at least 200-250gsm cardstock so that it’s nice and thick and can stand up well when folded in half. Alternatively, you can purchase blank cards and envelopes.

If you are making your own from cardstock, choose from these dimensions to trim as a guide:

Square 14cm: 140mm high x 280mm wide
Rectangle: 180mm high x 240mm wide
A5: 210mm high x 297mm wide (A4)
A6: 148.5mm high x 210mm wide (A5)

If possible, use a paper cutter to keep the lines of your card straight and even. I have the Jielisi Disk Cutter and find it good for trimming cardstock.

After trimming, fold in half and rub down on the crease to flatten it. Now you have your base card ready to start. Coloured or metallic finish cardstock can look great too!

Choose a design

Once you have your base card you can use your imagination to create your design. You might like to use stamps, washi tape, lettering, collage, or scrapbooking techniques. Have fun with it and try to decorate the card to match the theme of the greeting.

You can search on Pinterest for inspiration (christmas cards) and witty ideas (funny christmas cards).

If you need some help we have digital stamps (black and white designs) that could form the base of your design. Print them out, colour and decorate to suit, trim and glue.

We also have a lovely selection of full colour Christmas graphics that can be printed out and glued on to your card.

Include some text

You can use a simple greeting on the front such as:

Merry Christmas
Season’s Greetings
Joy
Happy Holidays
‘Tis the Season
Jingle Bells
Ho Ho Ho
Merry Christmoose
Fa la la la Llama
Meowy Christmas
Peas on Earth

On the inside you can write something more personal and relevant:

May all your sweaters be ugly and bright
May your Christmas be filled with joy (and wine)!

You might like to decorate the inside and the back of your card. It is a nice touch to put your signature on the back so the recipient knows who made it.

Find an envelope

Place the card in an envelope that fits the size of the card. If you have trouble finding one, you could make one out of gift wrapping paper. Here are some good instructions on WikiHow.

If you have time, why not also decorate the envelope!

Make a card on the computer

You can also use digital graphics to upload direct to an online card printer (such as VistaPrint) to print out professionally as a card, or you could create your own digital card template to print out at home.

The graphics are high resolution and perfect for both digital and print use and can be used within most software or apps (Photoshop, Word, Indesign, Canva, Social Media etc).

Depending on your skills, you can use software to add your own text, position the graphics and add your own touches.

If you don’t want to print out your design, you can save it as a jpeg and use it on social media or send via text message.

Well, I hope I have inspired you to have some fun and get creative with DIY Christmas Cards. I would love to see your creations—tag me on instagram @taziart and #tazigraphics

DIY Christmas Craft on Amazon

Tazi Graphics is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.au