Holiday crafts for the whole family have got to be among the most heartwarming traditions for any household. Even more so if these are crafts meant to decorate your home, to be given as gifts or, in this case, to be sent out as greeting cards!
There’s nothing quite like Christmas cheer sent via lovingly handmade cards. So we’re helping you get a headstart on the holiday rush with these 18 amazing DIY card projects. The first 9 are so doable and adorable for kids from toddlers to tweens, and the other 9 are a little more complex for grownups or the whole brood to make together!
DIY Card Projects Doable by Kids
These are all so creative, yet so simple, we kept asking ourselves, "Now, why didn’t we think of that?!" We also noted how "shaker" or snow globe-inspired cards are really popular—along with 3D, textured and glittery effects. Oh, what fun!
1 – DIY Candy Cane Christmas Card
Found on YouTube, this easy idea uses big colorful buttons attached with a glue gun and snowflake stickers added as accents. Mom or Dad can then help hand-letter a greeting to personalize each card.
2 – Glittery 3D Christmas Tree Cards
Your little one will love this project from Kimchi Belles. Cutout paper trees are mounted on cardstock with rolled-up tape for a 3D effect, then glitzed up with spray glitter, sequins, and stickers.
3 – Washi Tape Bauble Christmas Cards
Crafty Kids at Home shows how kids can cover cardstock circles with strips of holiday washi tape to look like tree ornaments. Then just glue these on colored cards and add "string" drawn on with a metallic marker.
4 – Snow Globe Template Card
Simply cut out the snow globe template from The Best Ideas for Kids, tape a transparent plastic sheet in the opening, add a special photo, then slip in loose sequins as "snow"!
5 – DIY String Art Christmas Cards
Thinking along the same lines, Hello Wonderful has these darling yarn-threaded Christmas designs made into cards, with added touches of beads, glitter pipe cleaner, and stamped letters.
6 – 3D Paper Ornament Christmas Card
Such a festive card idea from Easy Peasy and Fun. Different colors of paper circle cutouts are glued together back to back to create a 3D effect. Sure to fascinate the kids!
7 – Threaded Ribbon Christmas Cards
Trust a mother, like Mum in the Madhouse, to come up with this spin-off from those childhood yarn-threading activity cards. The same concept results in this sweet kid-manageable project made with Christmas ribbon.
8 – Fingerprint Christmas Lights Cards
Who knew that random multicolored paint dots made with kiddie fingertips could be transformed into strings of holiday lights on cards? Apparently Danya Banya did!
9 – Christmas Tree Button Cards to Make with Toddlers
Looking pretty fancy, these cute cards from Adventure in a Box actually just use packaging tape to hold the buttons and glitter that decorate the tree-shaped opening in each card. Clever!
DIY Card Projects for Grownups to Craft
These require a little more crafting skill, with some of them needing a special device or two. But the finished cards are sure to wow and warm hearts this Christmas!
1 – Hand-painted Holiday Cards
Got some painting talent? This card project from Tombow USA uses brush pens to simulate a watercolor effect. Then you can add "string lights" dotted with glue for touches of glitter, and a final hand-lettered greeting.
2 – Quilled Christmas Cards
My Nourished Home applies the craft of quilling to give even the simplest Christmas designs a special look. Roll strips of cardstock into loose coils (or find ready-to-use quilling paper sets in craft or art supply stores), then glue them along one edge to fill in your card design.
3 – DIY Christmas Jack-in-the-box Toy Free Printable
This festive surprise from Adventure in a Box is sure to wow your recipients as it looks pretty complicated. Luckily, it comes as a free printable!
4 – Waffle Flower Snow Globe Shaker Card
A combination of die sets and stamp sets create all the delightful elements of a snowy winter scene in this card project from May Holicraft. Plus, loose sequins let you shake it like a snow globe.
5 – Confetti Christmas Cards
From Darice, we have more of the festive "shaker" effect—this time, with a clear plastic bag of assorted sequins taped in the cards’ opening to fill in the cutout Christmas shapes. Design details are added in with metallic marker.
6 – Washi Tape Christmas Tree Card
This super easy and adorable project from Doodlebug Designs could actually be in the kiddie card section above. But adults would love it, too—using strips of holiday-design washi tape to form a Christmas tree, then adding fun little touches like enamel dots and tree-topper stars.
7 – DIY Pop-up Poinsettia Christmas Card
The free printable template provided by A Piece of Rainbow makes this card look really impressive. So as long as you know the basic crafting skills of cutting, folding and gluing, you can send several of these off this Christmas!
8 – Handmade Holly Shaker Card Greeting Box
Merith’s Miscellany shares how the contents of a subscription box kit transform into these pretty cards. Holly leaf designs are stamped on a cutout cardstock frame, then assembled with a sheet of clear acetate to hold loose sequins against a Christmas greeting, also stamped on.
9 – DIY Cricut Christmas Cards
Thanks to the wonders of a special Cricut machine, Pineapple Paper Co. shows how to create intricate cutout designs for an intriguing textured look. As well as fancy foil lettering, felt elements, and shimmery vinyl.
Stay tuned for more posts on Christmas crafts, holiday entertaining and decorating coming up!
