Keep the festive spirit alive by making your own unique Christmas cards, each with a personalised touch. From modern art themes, using fluid acrylic pouring to traditional button designs, try out these easy DIY card designs that are sure to put your loved ones in the Christmas mood.
Family-friendly fingerprint card
Fingerprint cards are the perfect crafting activity for little artists in the making. Not only are they cheap to make, they are a great way of incorporating each member of the immediate family into the design. All you’ll need for these fingerprint cards is card stock, festive coloured paint and optional decorations, such as sequins and stickers. Learn how to make them here.
Washi tape Christmas tree
Craft lovers are sure to be fans of colourful washi tape. This decorative, patterned tape can create simple yet charming cards using white or coloured card. Start off with coloured card of your choice and fold it in half. Simply tear five strips of tape, ensuring each one is bigger than the last and build a Christmas tree using different types of festive washi tape. Try using brown tape for the tree stump, Christmas themed tape for the branches and cut out a star from some yellow tape to put on top. Feel free to decorate further using stickers, paint and glitter.
Arty cards using acrylic pouring
If you want to create completely unique and modern cards, the fluid acrylic pouring technique is the ideal choice. Here’s how to use it to create your very own Christmas cards:
Pick out couple of festive colours of free flow acrylic paint and mix each one with water using a 2:1 ratio. Add a few drops of Ox Gall and silicone oil together to achieve a consistency similar to single cream.
Starting with white, add your colours into a cup so that they are layered. Put your canvas or thick card on top before inverting it so the cup is now upside down and the canvas underneath.
Place the canvas on supports in a plastic tray to avoid mess and pick up the cup so the fluid paint starts covering the canvas, turn this slowly and move around to ensure the surface is covered and all the paint is used.
Add more layers of coloured paint to create flowing patterns by repeating the process and leaving to dry for around two days. You can also try using a butane gas torch to heat areas of the paint to add texture, although this isn’t required. Each card will be completely unique and is a great improvement on the typical cards we see on the shop shelves.
Button snowman card
Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without building a snowman or two, so it’s always a good idea to incorporate them into a Christmas card – if the snow doesn’t arrive. Simply take three different sized buttons and stack them on top of each other, starting with the largest on the bottom. Make some decorations for each snowman, such as using twine for a scarf, orange card for a carrot nose and black card cut into the shape of a hat. Use glitter, stickers, fabrics and fake snow to set the scene, making sure to write a holiday message near the top.
Modern pop-up card
Pop-up cards put a twist on traditional Christmas tree cards. Five Five Fabulous’ method requires seven cheap items to make the final product, including a paper Christmas tree ornament and some smaller pieces of card to decorate the front, both of which can be found at craft or party shops. The traditional handwritten front makes the pop-up inside a great surprise for your loved ones.
Easy pipe-cleaner card
Using pipe-cleaners to create Christmas tree shapes is another method that is perfect for children. Simply bend some green pipe cleaners into a Christmas tree shape and glue onto some card stock, adding a small gold star sticker to the top. Use a stamp, hand write or print out some greetings to stick on the front, and you’re done. Read more about the method here. Feel free to try other designs, such as snowflakes and snowmen.
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.