Make Homemade Christmas Cards That Delight!

Greeting cards in general and Christmas cards specifically are massive business, in fact they're huge.

You can hardly go to any retail shop without seeing them being made available for purchase in the two or three months prior to Christmas Day. Christmas cards are exchanged during the Christmas season by many people, including even non-Christians. As a matter of fact, they are a tradition throughout Western cultures and even in Japan.

Christmas cards are the evidence that the cell phone and computer generation cannot be blamed for short messaging and the claims of short attention spans that go with that. Even without computers and cell phones our grandparents were communicating with short messages through all these years in much the same way we do today. They were however clearly doing it the old fashioned way.

Greeting cards in general are often informal and sometimes even impersonal, with romantic greeting cards senders tell someone that the greatest Christmas gift they could receive they already have in them and their love and friendship. It should not be overlooked that New Years is another time that greeting cards are very well received.

The sending and receiving of Christmas cards is a decades-old tradition, centered on sending wishes of goodwill and good holiday cheer to people that we very often don't see very much throughout the year, if at all.

With expectations being what they are it's unfortunate but often sending out the Christmas cards becomes more of a source of stress than one of merriness and joy.

Sending business Christmas greetings, either by postal mail or email, is one low cost way to make a good impression and let customers know a company genuinely cares about their business.

Don't be surprised if customers show their appreciation by sending cards in return or just saying thanks the next time they see the business owner.

Sending a card not only brings joy to the person sending it but also to the person receiving the card and the shared joy is multiplied.

For a great personalized and home made touch, try making your own Christmas card this season.

Being a great designer is not a big deal, you just have to look for ideas you can get from Royalty free Christmas clip art graphic images you can buy online and download to your computer.

And this way you get to reuse the same pictures for many years to come, as you can print, cut and paste the same images as many times as you want to make your Christmas cards and crafts.

First thing is to look for pictures that you think might inspire others on receiving your card. Good quality Royalty free Christmas clip art graphic images are a great help to make your Christmas Cards creative and memorable for your friends when they receive them. There are also software programs that you can use to create your card.

A greeting card that was made by your own hands is more significant than buying from the stores. Making greeting cards can help you express your feelings and give your special heartfelt regards to people.

Picking your own format for your own special kind of card, the materials you are going to use and especially the message you are going to include is very important. Collect greetings and card stock materials and decide the layout and themes you want to use.

If you decide to use your software, just follow these steps to make your Christmas cards creative:

1. There are various software programs you can use to make your greeting cards. These include InDesign, PageMaker, and other publishing software. But before making your card, make drafts.

2. Pick a format for your greeting card.

3. Choose images and clip-arts found on the Internet such as Royalty free Christmas clipart graphic images. If you want to make your card simple, just stick to only one image to be inserted. But if you want to be artistic, it is recommended to choose images that best fit your format and even your card message.

4. You can also modify the images you have selected. You can change the size and even the color to make your card layout better. You can also use frames or any templates that you think it may fit for your greeting card.

5. Select the appropriate font. Select large size font letterings so that you can read it clearly. For making Greeting Cards, having only one font is more professional than having too many font styles and colours.

6. Arrange the graphics and the text. Make it consistent.

7. Add credit lines or any notes.

8. Last thing to do is to print the whole thing. As you can see, you have made your own original greeting Card without any time looking for a new one.

If you prefer to hand make your Christmas cards instead, without using software, you just print out the pictures you want from your selection of Royalty free Christmas clipart graphic images in your computer file, and then cut out the pictures you want to use. Glue them to the card stock you want, add a greeting and you are all done.

Creating Christmas greeting cards are great for holidays especially if you make use of Royalty free Christmas clipart graphic images to make it more creative. Visit http://christmas-fun-guide.com to see the selection available and get a free download of Christmas Carols lyrics book!

Kids love everything about Christmas except waiting for the day to get here.

With them taking a break from school, you'll often hear cries of, "I don't have anything to do." You can keep them busy this holiday season with Christmas crafts that are easy and fun for the little ones to make.

Christmas Placemat Craft:
Using recycled Christmas cards, tear off the backs where the writing is.

You'll need about three regular sized Christmas cards to make each placemat.

Have the kids glue the cards decoration side up down on colored construction paper.

When the glue dries, cover the craft front and back with clear contact paper, making sure there are no open ends or gaps. Kids love setting their plats on their own special Christmas place mat.

Santa Ornament:
This makes a great little gift for kids to make and give their friends or teachers too.

Pick up large plastic ornaments at the craft store. These ornaments will open for you to put items inside.

Open the ornament and fill it with peppermints. Secure it closed again.

Using a medium sized wooden ball, glue on jiggly eyes. Once the eyes are set, glue the wooden ball onto the top the plastic ornament.

Next, add cotton hair for the head, mustache and beard. Glue a red felt 'hat' on top of the hair. At the base of the ornament, glue a long piece of black felt for Santa's belt. Glue the front bottom of the ornament to a thin wooden heart that's been painted black. The curves in the heart will be Santa's feet.

Christmas Countdown Chain:
For this popular craft, you'll need red and green construction paper cut into thin, even strips.

The kids can decorate the paper strips with Christmas writing and glitter glue.

Form the strips into connecting circles and glue each one closed. Once the glue is dry, hang the circle within easy reach of the child.

Each day that passes until Christmas, the kids get to tear off one of the links of the chain.

Candy Cane Reindeer:
This craft is an oldie but a favorite among children. All you need are candy canes, jiggly eyes, pipe cleaners, mini pom-poms and glue.

At the top of the candy cane, glue a pipe cleaner, twisting it into the shape of antlers.

Glue jiggly eyes on either side of the reindeer 'head' and add the nose to the end of the candy cane.

Cookie Cutter Ornaments:
To do this craft, you'll need an assortment of cookie cutters in various holiday shapes.

The ones that work the best are snowmen, Santa, trees and bell shapes.

Place each cookie cutter on colored construction paper. Trace around it. Cut it out.

Have the kids decorate each cut out with glitter and mini pom-poms for Christmas balls on the tree.

For the snowmen, use mini black pom-poms for his buttons. You can use jiggly eyes on the snowmen and Santa.

Once each ornament is finished, use a hole puncher to punch a hole at the top.

Thread thin ribbon through the hole and let the kids hang their special ornament from the tree.

In an age of electronic mail, Christmas cards may be the last form of personal communication people receive in the mailbox.

There is something exciting about finding that card in the mail and holding it your hands. Whether adorned with vintage images of Americana or bright and glittery in silver, greens and reds no electronic version of a Christmas greeting can beat a physical Christmas card.

But the beloved tradition of giving Christmas cards is relatively recent. Commercially printed Christmas cards started in London around 1843.

Prior to that "Christmas cards" or holiday greetings, were written by hand and exchanged. Then later mailing the Christmas cards became popular.

Commercialization became easier in 1843 when wealthy businessman Sir Henry Cole commissioned illustrator John Calcott Horsley to create a card with which he could wish his family and friends a merry Christmas.

The Christmas card Horsley created was a two-sided triptych featuring a good deed on each side. The Christmas card featured the inscription Merry (which meant "blessed" at the time) Christmas and a happy New Year to you."

Horsley produced 1,000 Christmas cards for Sir Henry Cole, 12 of which remain today in private collections.

Soon after the Horsley commission printed Christmas cards began to catch on in England.
The trend then spread to Germany. When in 1875 lithographer from Boston, but native to Germany, Louis Prang, began to publish Christmas cards that were high quality and expensive.

Eventually, sending out cheap penny Christmas cards imported from Germany became the trend among Americans and remained in vogue until WWI when the country's own industry took over.

Today Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year is still the traditional Christmas card greeting, but there are many variations. Some Christmas cards carry a more religious sentiment, while others simply use Season's Greetings, a way to recognize and encompass the many cultural celebrations that occur at this time of year.

Early English cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that called to mind the approaching of Spring.

Today, images on the Christmas cards are as varied as the greetings printed on them.

Some show images of Santa Claus and reindeer, while others have nativity scenes and a more spiritual sentiment. All have the same intent as the original Christmas cards - to send greetings to friends and family at a very special time of the year.

If you are on a real tight budget this Christmas or just love to be crafty during the holidays here are some wonderful homemade Christmas card ideas for you to try this holiday season.

Potato Stamp Cards:

Supplies you may need for your homemade Christmas Cards:
Paper Bags or Craft Paper
Potatoes or Sponges
Paint or colored ink
Ribbons
Hole Punch
Ink Pen
Paring Knife (adult supervision)
Plastic Plate
Scissors

Step #1 - Check to see if you can find any left over envelopes. You can look in old Christmas card boxes or the drawer where mom or dad pays the bills (ask first).

If you find any unused envelopes you can use them and you will need to be sure that the cards you make will fit inside these cards.

Step #2 - Measure the envelope (if you didn't find any have mom or dad buy some for you).

Step #3 - Cut out the brown paper bag to be the same height as the card but twice as wide as the card.

Step #4 - Cut the potato in half with an adult helping.

Cut out a Christmas tree shape on the exposed side of the potato (white not the skin).
Cut away potato from the outer edge of the tree that surrounds the tree. You can use three potatoes to cut out different sizes of trees.

Step #5 - Put the paint or ink onto the plastic plate

Dip the Potato Tree into the paint or ink, now place it on what will be the front of your card (one tree or you can make a group of trees).

Step #6 - Make two holes with the hole punch about a centimeter apart below the Christmas tree.

Step #7 - Insert one end of the ribbon through the left hole, and then put it through the other hole. Loop each end around back and through the opposite hole.

Now, pull the ribbon out the front of the card. Tie the ribbon into a pretty Christmas bow.

Step #8 - Use the scissors to trim the ribbon.

You can stamp more trees on the inside or write a holiday greeting.
You can also place Christmas stickers on the card or place crayon ornaments on the trees.
You can also decorate the envelopes too.
Use the sponge instead of the potato or buy stamps in the store.

Easy Construction Paper Cards:

Every child knows how to make Christmas cards out of construction paper. You just fold a piece of construction paper in half.

Decorate the one outside half like the front of a Christmas greeting card and write a greeting on the inside of the card.

Use Christmas colors (green, red, purple). Use Christmas stickers to decorate the cards if you wish.

Left Over Christmas Cards:

If your family saves old Christmas cards ask if you can use them to make new cards.

You will need the old Christmas cards, construction paper, glue, pen, crayons or markers, and scissors to make these homemade cards.

Sort through the pile of old Christmas cards to find the front of your homemade card. Once you find one you like, cut the front off the old card. You can use parts and not the entire front if you like.

You can also use more than one old card to make a different picture.

Fold the construction paper in half
Glue the old card picture onto the front of your construction paper card.
Using the pen, crayons or marker add to the picture, or draw new pictures to go with the old card picture.

Write a holiday greeting on the inside of the card with your pen. You can copy greetings from the old cards.



Creating Christmas greeting cards are great for holidays especially if you make use of Royalty free Christmas clipart graphic images to make it more creative.

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