Buying holiday cards of any kind is increasingly expensive, and they trend toward the impersonal side. Whether you’re only able to give cards this year, or if you just prefer that DIY touch to your gifts, a homemade card always sends the message you hope to send with other cards – that your recipient is worth your time and effort. You don’t need to get too elaborate, if you don’t have the time, but everyone appreciates the extra thought that goes into a hand-cut/drawn/printed holiday card. Maybe it will become your new yearly holiday tradition!
Skyline Silhouette Cards
This can either come straight from your imagination, or you can look at your local skyline for inspiration. Simply cut out some buildings and windows from one color paper, and paste it on to another color of paper, with any bits and bobs you want to add for character. Whether you’re making a silhouette of a little Christmas village, or your hometown, this design reminds people of being home for the holidays.
Pop-Up / Fold-Out Cards
Everyone loves a pop-up book, and believe it or not, making a pop-up card is easier than you think. You can also make a fold-out card, by simply folding a sheet many times, accordion-style, and treating each sheet as a different level of your Christmas scene. Maybe you have a snowman on the front, kids playing in the one behind that, and a snow-covered house on the one in the back. It adds that third dimension to be more impressive than your typical greeting card.
Sponge Cards
No, they aren’t made of sponge, but in this card, the sponge is your best tool. Cutting shapes out of a simple (fresh and clean!) kitchen sponge make it so that when you dip your sponge in ink or paint, you can simply push it onto the front of each card and have a custom, ready-made basic shape that you can decorate or elaborate on. If you use multiple sponges and colors, you can get an impressive overlapping artsy look to your card.
Printed Cards
If you aren’t exactly crafty, but you know your way around a computer, maybe use a card designer or your go-to word processor to come up with something simple, elegant and from the heart. Nowadays, you can get a photo-quality card put together in minutes, with your own words from the heart, looking like it came out of the factory.
Melted Snowman Card
A fun crafty idea, the melted snowman idea involves one of those electric tea lights and a good sense of humor. Simply ad black dots for coal eyes and mouth on the tea light (with the “flame” as a nose) and make some white paper “melted snow,” and go for gusto with the other decorations like the snowman’s hat, buttons and arms. These kinds of cards are also a great way to alert your recipient to something special, and work great attached to homemade gifts or candy.