Christmas cards have always been one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. I love getting letters and pictures from family and friends and seeing what everyone's been up to throughout the year. Even though it's just me and the husband right now, I still love sending out our own card each Christmas. I missed last year, so I was really excited to send one this time around. The original plan was to order cards from Etsy. I had a couple that were top on my list:
Etsy shop: DeanWorks Studios
Etsy shop: Melissa Olsen Photography
Etsy shop: DeanWorks Studios
I wanted to do the whole deal - have professional photographs taken, order some beautiful cards, maybe even buy that cute little "please do not bend" stamp I've had my eye on for forever now to stick on the envelopes. But, with the husband back in school again, we're counting every penny. Instead of ordering cards, I decided to make some this year. I found this picture on pinterest for inspiration:
And this is the version I came up with:
Not the best quality - I need a new camera. Ours is held together with tape... literally. Here's a better close-up of our card (the scanner cut off the edges a little bit):
And here are our envelopes. One of my favorite things to do to spruce up letters and make them a bit more personal is printing on the envelopes. The back looks a little yellow on here, but they're more of a shimmery gold color, kind-of like in the first picture. Also, I added a few fake addresses. I apologize if there is actually a Whitmore family who lives in Cleveland, Ohio on 123 ABC Parker Ln. I don't even know anyone in Cleveland.
To make our cards, I used:
- Kraft cardstock paper (went to three different stores before I found some at Hobby Lobby)
- A decorated corner cutter
- White photo tabs
- Green and white string
I already had the green and white string and the decorated corner cutter. Originally, I wanted to use a red type of twine instead, but I wanted to try and buy as little as possible for this project. I also went with a 4'x6' card instead of 5'7' and drew up a template that fit three cards on one page.
After that, it was just cutting the cards out, punching the corners, adding our photos (wallet-sized prints from Walgreens) and tying the string around the middle. The holly I used right below "Peace on Earth" was a free clipart image I got from this webpage.
The envelopes were actually really simple - tedious, but simple. I set up our return address in a word doc and ran the back of the envelopes through our standard HP pinter. Then I set up the addresses on another word doc, added the holly graphic, and printed those off one by one on each envelope. The "North Pole Postage" graphic on the bottom right corner on the back of the envelope is a stamp I bought from Hobby Lobby. I stamped all of the envelopes after I'd printed on them (so I wouldn't smear the stamp ink as it went through the printer in case it was still wet) and then let them dry overnight.
All in all I sent out about 30 cards. If I could, I would have sent out 100 (we have a big family...). Next year, though, I do want to order some of those etsy cards. They're just too pretty to pass up.
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I think your cards are just as cute as the etsy cards! I can't wait to see what else you will craft up on your blog :)
ReplyDeleteYour cards turned out very cool! I love how you addressed them! I am way too sloppy when it comes to writing addresses. Bravo to you!
ReplyDeleteAmber @ Wills Casa