Handmade Christmas Cards (For Procrastinators)

Oops, I did it again. Every year, around October,  I say: "This year we are taking a family photo at the beach. We will all wear jeans and white shirts and be barefoot, frolicking in the surf. It will be our Christmas Card!" I usually give up after Thanksgiving, when I realize it ain't gonna happen.

This year, we got close. Real close. I brought the camera to the beach. The sun was shining. It was the perfect spot. The teenager was even willing! Ok, we didn't all have white shirts on, but we were ready for our close-up. Even had an extra, my nephew David, and he was all ready to take the picture. Note to self: When taking the camera somewhere, check the SD card. It wasn't there. We persevered, camera-less, by trying to take the photo with a cell phone. Lets just say, the image was so blurry, it could have been anyone. No faces were recognizable. Un-Usable.

So, I resorted to looking through the computer photo files, frantically searching for a picture of the 5 of us togther, looking fairly decent. Not only was there NONE of all five of us, I couldn't even find one of the kids together!

So, I spent half a day filing through fave photos we took through out the year. Went on Picnik.com (great--we signed up for premium, its only like 24.00 /year, its great. My daughter Adri discovered it. You could also do a collage on Picasa for free) I chose a saying I found on quotes.com: " It is Christmas is in the heart that puts Christmas in the Air" , then my favorite Christmastime sentiment (always in my card, every year) "May every joy of Christmas be yours." Here's what I came up with:

the card measures 6 x 6 I had it printed by a local digital printer on heavy stock

My materials: envelopes, scrapbook paper, ruler, bone folder, glue stick

I was happy how the card turned out. But it needed a little bling... so I decided to line the envelopes. I took some scrapbook paper I had laying around, measured the envelope width, and cut the paper about 1/2 inch or so smaller. I made sure it the length of the paper strip cleared the bottom opening of the envelope. Then I folded it down, using a bone folder to get a really straight, tight seam, about 1 inch in.

The I lightly glued the back with a glue stick...

Inserted the paper carefully into the envelope opening, and pressed to secure, making sure the folded seams lined up:

There it is! It really added the character the whole thing needed.

So, if you procrastinated, there's still time! Gather up that decorative paper, start searching the photos you took this year and use them!

Make it a great day!

Ann