Do-it-yourself Christmas cards

It is no less pleasant to give a holiday to relatives and friends than to receive a gift yourself. Hand-made souvenirs are especially valuable. It is not just a beautiful memorable thing, but also a powerful emotion. The best way to show your appreciation is with a homemade colorful card.

The New Year theme allows you to use a variety of materials to convey the mood of the holiday. It is customary to decorate gifts in red-green or white-blue colors.

The simplest and most classic option is a postcard made of colored cardboard. In a stationery store, you can find packages with a variety of shades inside. Now they even produce special sets for needlework with gold, silver, copper sheets.

You can imitate a snowball using cotton wool or synthetic winterizer, attached with a stapler or sewn with a thread. For the same purposes, they take crushed foam. Some people just buy a can of artificial snow for windows, but such decoration is short-lived, it crumbles very quickly.

The lettering can be done with special glitter glue. The text looks great, applied with ordinary PVA glue in a thin stream and sprinkled with small sparkles on top. The words are voluminous and beautiful.

The technique of mixing different textures looks very interesting.Cut a Christmas tree out of terry cloth of the desired color, stick it on cardboard and decorate the tree with beads and real rain.

If you are fond of modeling, you can make your own polymer clay figurines for postcard design. Bulky jewelry made of fabric looks very cozy and cute. It will be interesting for little children to make a postcard from familiar things: pasta, cereals, buttons or threads.

You can quickly and beautifully design a postcard for the New Year using a picture.

You will need:

• colored paper or cardboard;
• pencils;
• paints or markers.

You can yourself come up with a special plot for the picture, which will be associated with a loved one, the addressee of the gift. Or you can search the Internet for cute options and sketch from there.

Choose a size for your future postcard. As a standard, this is an A4 sheet folded in half. For larger postcards, you will need to fasten the sheets together or use a large Whatman paper, cut as needed. To staple the halves, cut a 2 cm wide strip of paper, fold it straight lengthwise and glue on each side. The gluing from the inside will be invisible and will not spoil the appearance. Bonding on the outside will additionally protect the fold, and the card will delight the owner much longer. You can also fasten the parts with a satin ribbon. Leave long ends on both sides and tie a nice bow like you would on a gift box.

Look for special shiny pens or markers to keep your drawing cute. Snowflakes painted in silver look just like real ones. Glue beads or finely cut tinsel onto your gift.

Postcards with slots are very beautiful and unusual. For example, inside you can use colored cardboard in red or another bright color, and on the outside you can draw a herringbone. Use a utility knife to cut out small circles on the front side to look like Christmas balls. Or put a merry Santa Claus, a Christmas deer, a snowman inside - and let them "look out" from the windows of the house shown on the postcard.

To make the fold even and beautiful, thick cardboard can be slightly cut from the glossy side with a clerical knife. This will prevent the cover from wrinkling when folded.

Applique is a technique of overlaying several decorative layers, creating a pattern from parts glued to the base. These postcards are easy to make, and the drawings are very cute and funny.

There are many options for creating beautiful and easy-to-make postcards.

• The simplest applique is a figurine cut out of cardboard. For example, you can cut out triangles and assemble a herringbone out of them, and glue circles of shiny paper or foil on top - decorations.
• The fabric is also used for the applique. If you have a small piece of fur, it can make a bunny or a bear. Beads will become eyes, and add a bow to the neck - the gift is ready!
• Thin crepe paper will create volume. You can simply roll it into lumps and glue it as colored balls on a Christmas tree, or cut beautiful snowflakes out of it. We will fold such snowflakes several times in half in a triangle, and glue only the middle so that the edges remain free.
• Anything can be used for the applique. For example, paper or plastic colored tubes. From them you can fold an inscription, a house, or cut into sticks of different lengths and fold into a Christmas tree. From beautiful wrapping paper, you can twist such tubes yourself.
• A bit difficult and time-consuming, but with the help of finely chopped cardboard of different colors, you can create a real mosaic. Pictures from circles or pentagons, triangles look beautiful.
• An unusual option is a thematic puzzle. Choose a picture that suits the theme, and assemble the puzzle right on the postcard, planting the pieces on the glue. With the help of shiny ribbons, you can depict a frame, and add sparkles and beads to the "picture" itself.
• Another original way is a postcard on a postcard. Glue several smaller postcards on the front side, and write a wish in each. It will be interesting to reveal them all and collect congratulations in parts.
• The applique can be done inside as well. This is such a surprise gift: the front side is empty, but all the beauty is hidden.
• Layered appliques look amazing. Let's create a New Year story with a winter forest and a Christmas deer. Let's draw on white paper the silhouettes of Christmas trees in the snow and clouds so that there is an empty space in the middle. We cut it out with a clerical knife or thin nail scissors. Glue the white sheet onto the blue base, and the sky will appear in the slot. Now let's add a yellow moon and some stars to the heavens. Glue a figurine of a deer on top of the white snow, and dress it up in a red scarf and a hat. Applique technique will add depth to the picture.
• An interesting gift idea for parents is pair cards. For example, for mom we will portray the Snow Maiden, and for dad - Santa Claus. We need circles in red and blue: large, medium and smaller. We will glue them in the form of a snowman, and on the top we will add a smaller white circle each, this will be the face. Let's add a triangular hat with a pompom to Santa Claus, and a semicircle-kokoshnik for the Snow Maiden. Colored threads can be used to style your appliques. Braid them in a braid for the Snow Maiden or in a brush for Santa Claus's lush beard.

Satin ribbons are a great decor. You can simply glue them crosswise and tie them into a beautiful bow - let the card look like a gift box! And to open it, the bow must be untied. Very cute and symbolic.

Cut out beautiful Christmas decorations from colored paper and add a cute ribbon bow to each.

To make an unusual Christmas tree, choose a narrower ribbon. We need a triangular cardboard base. Let's mark it into horizontal stripes about a centimeter wide. Now we will cut the ribbon into equal strips of 2-3 cm. We fold a loop from a piece with the glossy side outward and glue it to the bottom line of the future tree. Next we glue the second, and so on, from bottom to top. We decorate the very last loop with an asterisk. You can take a finished figurine or cut it out of shiny cardboard. Decorate the Christmas tree with beads if desired. All that remains is to sign and present the gift!

You can make a Christmas tree from a ribbon in another way. We attach the end of the tape to the bottom of the postcard in the middle of the sheet. We bend the tape with the glossy side up, leaving a loop on the side, and glue it over the previous attachment point. Repeat from left to right, decreasing the length of the loops, until the tree is ready. We mask the gluing points with bright buttons or sparkles.

A Christmas tree made of bows looks very cute. Just tie different sized bows and gather from bottom to top.

On thick cardboard, you can embroider a pattern with a ribbon. Mark the puncture points in advance and make holes there with an awl or thin scissors. If you don't have a large enough needle on hand, you can crochet the tape or wrap the tip with wire. If the tape is synthetic, roll up the edge and lightly burn with a lighter. If you slightly dissolve such an embroidery, make it free, the ribbon will create an interesting volume of the picture.

Origami is the ancient Japanese art of folding paper figures without scissors or glue. Origami can be used to create amazing crafts. Even for beginners, there are simple circuits that won't take long hours of work. The result is original gifts that can be made by the whole family.

• Origami Christmas tree. We need a few squares of pretty paper of your choice. Fold each in half, and bend the corners to the middle. We start the assembly from the top. We glue the first element, insert the second inside the "pocket" and fix it in the same way. It turns out a voluminous and simple tree. You can write your wishes inside the valves if you wish. Decorate the craft with ribbons or glitter.
• Semicircular spruce. We need a semicircle made of paper. We visually divide the outer edge into three parts. We bend it along the lower mark, then along the middle, but in the other direction. There remains a small corner, we bend it and it is the top of our tree. We attach the Christmas tree to the postcard and decorate as you wish.
• Volumetric tree from the inside. It is best to use corrugated paper, but plain, thin paper will work as well. We cut several strips of different lengths, each slightly shorter than the previous one. We fold them in an accordion. We glue the edges of each strip from the inside of the postcard, collecting the drawing. We decorate as we want. Opening the postcard, the recipient will "open" the fan, and the decoration will appear in all its glory.
• A simple herringbone made from a single sheet. Fold a rectangular plain sheet across. We bend each half to the center. Bend the resulting triangles to the center again. In turn, we open each side and fold it with an accordion to the place closest to the middle of the fold. We glue the shortest parts together. We attach the back surface to the postcard and decorate.

With origami, you can not only decorate a postcard, but also turn it into a beautiful trinket. For example, you can fold an envelope or make a gift box postcard. Decorate the resulting item with sparkles and bows, and warm words can be put inside on a separate card or written directly inside.

A 3D postcard is a volumetric craft that opens into a figurine. Many are familiar with beautiful and interesting children's books made in 3D technique.

For manufacturing, we need thick cardboard and a sharp stationery knife.

• Modern minimalistic Christmas tree. Fold a sheet of cardboard across. Draw a triangle inside with a pencil and divide it into equal stripes horizontally. We will work out each line with a knife. Now, with the eraser, carefully erase the pencil sketch. Bend the stripes through one in the opposite direction. When you open it, you get a voluminous and stylish Christmas tree.
• A slide of gifts. We draw the lines of the future fold on a sheet of thick cardboard. We draw rectangles on it - future boxes with gifts. The height of the rectangle should be 2 times less than the length. You can arrange them evenly on top of each other or slightly asymmetrically, but the fold line should go over each. Now we decorate the rectangles with an applique or pattern and cut through the horizontal lines. We bend each gift inward so that it folds without folds when closed. We fold the card itself. You can also achieve a 3D effect without cutting the cardboard. For this, pre-prepared compositions are glued inside.
• Decoration with snowflakes. Cut out any snowflakes of different sizes. We fold each of them in half and cut into two parts. Fold the semicircles with an accordion and glue the edges to the two halves of the postcard. Arrange the snowflakes the way you like, but do not forget that all the beauty of such gifts is visible only from the side, so the largest part of the decor should be the very top, otherwise the rest will not be visible.
• Stylish composition with garland. Cut a strip out of paper. We glue light bulbs of a garland of colored or shiny paper on it. We try it on for a future postcard and outline the place of the fold. We bend the garland backwards and glue the edges to both sides so that the interior decor does not stick out when closed.
• Multilayer winter forest. First, prepare the largest background.We mark out a semicircle and on it we draw and cut out the Christmas trees so that there is an indent of half a centimeter from the bottom. Further, on a semicircle of a smaller size, we depict a house. Cut out Santa Claus or a deer on the smallest semicircle. We try on to the middle of the postcard, bend the indents and glue them symmetrically to the fold at a short distance from each other. We are working on the place of addition. When you open the gift, you get a cute New Year's story.
• Another way to make a 3D postcard is curly cut without folding. Draw any plot or drawing, and then cut it out on thick cardboard with a sharp knife, leaving a small indent at the bottom for pasting. Fold the indent, glue it at the fold. When you open the card completely, the figurine will be perpendicular to the surface.

Giving gifts to loved ones is a very enjoyable activity in and of itself, but making greeting cards can be fun for the whole family. Give a workshop for the kids or just get together with loved ones to make gifts for the whole family.

• An embroidered postcard will be an unusual option. For this we need a fabric of your choice, a beautiful picture and colored threads. Draw a cut and sew on three sides of the fabric. Insert thick cardboard inside, mark the fold and stuff the front side with padding polyester or cotton wool. Sew up the butt carefully. Such a soft postcard is almost like a toy, a pleasant and beautiful surprise.
• A long, but original way to decorate a postcard is with molds, a technique for creating jellied figures from epoxy resin or silicone. You can buy ready-made molds or make your own. Liquid polymer is poured into the molds, wait for solidification and carefully take out the decoration.
• If you are preparing a greeting for a friend or girlfriend, you can use a simple trick to make the recipient laugh. To do this, make a postcard with a fold to the left, opposite of the traditional one. To prevent the prank from being solved right away, decorate the edges with ribbons or colored paper. This will make both sides look alike, and the recipient will be positively charged by trying to open the card as usual.
• Another unusual shape is a booklet postcard. It is very cool to do this with the whole family, so that there is a place for congratulations from everyone. Draw out a large sheet of paper, A3 or larger, and fold it like a map or guidebook. Mark the front and back. Fill in the rest of the space with warm words from all family members.
• To please your grandmother, you can use scenes from her youth. For example, search the Internet for examples of postcards from old years.
• The smallest family members, instead of a signature, can attach their palm with paint to the paper. A very sweet and touching gesture. Or you can use a photo of your grandson and write a message on his behalf. As the children grow up, together you will be able to remember these golden moments.
• Adult grandchildren can also please grandparents if they find their children's drawings, photographs and use them to create a postcard.
• Sisters or brothers can be presented with paired cards. For example, to portray bunnies, chanterelles in winter outfits. Gemini can joke by placing a small mirror inside the postcard and their photo next to it.
• And of course, you can play up the symbol of the year in the composition on the postcard. It's always a fun and cute option.

• Bright and cute postcard made of colored tubes.

• Nice tree made of ribbons.

• One more thing.

• Simple origami Christmas trees.

• 3D postcard in the style of minimalism.

• Volumetric tree inside the postcard.

• Cute snowman made of paper ribbons.

• Soft postcards with applique.

For how to make DIY New Year cards, see the next video.