You Can DIY Your Holiday Greetings

By Marni Elyse Katz
December 9, 2011

It’s true that lots of folks favor photo montage masterpieces for their holiday cards, opting to show off their towheaded children and blissful family life. And we love getting those! But what if you haven’t any children, or would prefer to circulate the images exclusively through Facebook? Or maybe you view the holiday season as your excuse to pull out the scissors and construction paper. (And hey, if they're older enough, you could pull your kids into the process, too.) If that’s the case, you’re in luck. We asked a handful of crafty bloggers to offer up a holiday paper project for you. We got three great cards, a cute tag, and a nifty paper box.

Cut-Paper Ornament Cards from How About Orange
Jessica Jones of How About Orange suggests this simple but punchy presentation of old-school ornaments made from cut paper for holiday cards with retro style:
Freehand sketch a Christmas bulb and cut it out. Don't worry about making perfectly symmetrical shapes; irregularity adds to the charm.

How About Orange

Flip the paper over to hide any stray pencil lines, then add decorations. Cut v-shaped notches into circles for mod starbursts and layer them on top of ovals and stripes.
Glue the ornaments to folded note cards and draw on a string with a pen.

Non-Pareil Candy Card from Papier Valise
Janice Rusnak of Papier Valise offers us a simple gift tag that was created using a small piece of foil from a fluted candy cup, a piece of florist wire, and an actual piece of nonpareil candy. The tag is attached to a circular piece of chipboard and threaded with silver string.

She says, “The smallest craft scraps from previous projects can go a long way—tiny pieces of paper, ribbon remnants, and tin foil can come together to create a stunning card."

Paper Valise

Here are more of Rusnak’s ideas for creative holiday cards and tags:

1) Take a photo, have multiple copies printed, then mount onto card stock for pretty holiday cards.

2) Make simple tags to adorn gifts, especially food gifts. Save cereal box cardboard to use as tags. Cut into desired tag shapes and simply cover the printed side with a piece of decorative paper. Cut out an initial from a scrap piece of fabric or pretty decorative paper, and attach it to a tag. Punch a small hole and thread florist wire or a piece of ribbon through it for attaching it to the gift.

3) Cut out simple shapes that represent the holiday to you. Use seasonal cookie cutters as a template. Scrap pieces of paper such as wallpaper or newspaper will add an interesting layer to your greetings when cut into shapes.

4) Theme colors make things simpler. Wrap gifts in brown Kraft paper, then gather ribbons and beads, card stock and decorative paper in complimentary colorways for creating your cards. This will make pairing your cards and tags with wrapped gifts a cinch.

"You Are Gifted" Card from Hello! Lucky
Sabrina & Eunice of stationery seller Hello Lucky sent us this adorable project, inspired by the You Are Gifted photo card by Susy*Jack. They say, “We love the message of this card: ‘You are gifted in many ways.’”

Hello Lucky

To make the card: Using a ruler and cutting knife or scissors, cut a piece of blank 8 1/2 x 11-inch piece of card stock to fit your envelope. Ours is 5 x 7 folded (10 x 7 flat). Align a ruler along the center of the card and score along the ruler's edge using a bone folder or butter knife. This will give you a nice even crease. Cut several rectangles and squares out of decorative paper. We used dotted and gold papers from Paper Source. Arrange them on the front of your card as stacks of gifts, and affix with a glue stick. Using an awl or embroidery needle, poke a hole at the top and bottom of each gift or stack of gifts. Thread a length of kitchen twine or 1/8-in ribbon through each pair of holes, from front to back, and tie in a bow. Trim the ends with scissors. Type the words "You are gifted in many ways." in a word processing program, print, cut out and glue down. Or, write the message by hand.

Typographic Ornament Card from Uppercase
Janice Vangool, the editor and designer of Uppercase, incorporated her typewriters and typewriter Christmas tree (all eBay scores!) for her project, a greeting card that transforms into a tree ornament.

"Cut out a circle or other shape of your choosing so that it is slightly smaller than your folded card stock. Decorate the paper ornament with cut-up Christmas cards from years past, old wrapping paper or other pretty paper. I used a page from a discarded dictionary.

Uppercase

"Cut out an uppercase initial for each recipient. (Quick tip for perfectionists in a hurry: print out letters at the desired size from your printer, lay the printed letter on top of your decorative paper and simply cut around the letter, through both layers at one time.)

"To attach the finished ornament to the greeting card, position the ornament on the card and use a small hole punch to pierce the top of the ornament, right through the card. Make a loop out of pretty twine or ribbon and thread it through the holes, from the inside of the card outward. As long as the knot on the back of the loop is larger than the hole, everything will be held in place securely.

"Decorate the card with a typewritten or handwritten greeting and there you go! I love to use my vintage typewriters—it is fun to type out a line of text the old fashioned way."

Origami Box from Fine Little Day
Elisabeth of Fine Little Day and her assistant Klara agree that creating one’s own holiday cards is nice, but that creating a holiday paper box is even better. Here's how they do it:

Fine Little Day

Find some sturdy paper you like. Wallpaper swatches work well. Cut out two squares. Start by folding in half. Follow this video guide: "How To Fold An Origami Box With Lid.” Make some coffee, fill the box with cookies, enjoy with a friend.

Fine Little Day