Gift: Christmas Cards

As you may be able to guess, I love Christmas. I love the cozy feel of the lights from candles and decorations, I love the small personal touches here and there that just seem to make everything a little nicer. I love the smell of pine, etc., etc., etc. But there is one thing about Christmas that I don’t really love, and that’s the way some things need to be done by a certain time. This is probably my procrastinating side talking, but I find that certain Christmas traditions slip through my fingers; and by the time I’m thinking of them, it’s just too late. Some examples of this are: homemade fruitcake (which needs to be started around August), actual advent calendars (done and given by December 1^st), and the one I always seem to fail at: Christmas cards (typically given mid-December).

I don’t know why I’m so bad at giving out Christmas cards, but I never seem to get around to the thought of them until a few days before Christmas; and by then it seems either rude or pointless to hand them out.  Foolishly I expected this year to be different, but alas, it’s 3 days until Christmas and I haven’t sent even one.  The good news is, if you’re handing them out in person, or shipping a gift (which by now would be late anyways), you can still give a card. Tip: To make up for the lateness, write a longer, more individualized message to the receiver…I prefer doing this anyways.

I made these cards with my boyfriend’s sister while down in California (at the end of November, a perfectly promising time to start Christmas cards if you do actually plan on handing them out on time). Since these were made a while ago, I only have pictures of the end product, but they’re pretty self-explanatory.

The Shopping List:

Card Stock

Old Magazines/Newspapers (i.e. National Geographic)

Glue

Ribbon/Lace

Scrapbooking Paper (or any decorative paper)

Scissors and/or Paper Cutter

These are the materials my boyfriend’s sister had on hand from her previous scrapbooking/card projects that I used, but feel free to use your imagination with whatever your heart desires. She created a cute card using scraps of decorative paper cut into a ribbon design with buttons on them.

The basic steps for card making are simple:

        *  Fold card stock in half or quarters (if not purchased this way)

2       *   Cut out decorative paper/magazine paper to fit card as a background and glue to front.

3      * Cut out shapes/design as desired, and glue those down.

      My best advice for making your own cards is to look online for inspiration, and then just go for it. Hopefully you’re better prepared than me, and will find this blog post more useful for next year. =)

     

      3 Days Until Christmas!