Christmas Craft Ideas
As that memorable song goes, ‘Tis the Season to be Jolly’, so have fun and go to town with your crafting over the winter season. Gather together your glitzy, glamorous stash and revel in the glittering array of embellishments that will give that ‘wow’ factor to all your handmade Christmas cards and gifts.
Making Xmas Cards
The key to getting your Christmas cards finished and sent on time is planning. Many card makers start making their Christmas cards in September, but don’t be put off if you don’t start yours until November (or December!). There are so many beautiful toppers available that quick and easy cards can be whipped up at the last minute and the recipient will be none the wiser. Simply mat onto co-ordinating plain cardstock and trim to leave a narrow border. Stick to your card blank with 3D foam tape or 3D foam pads and add a stamped or peel-off greeting.
Crafting Multiple Card Designs
Having written your Christmas card list, you might find you have dozens of cards to make. Perhaps you would like to make Christmas cards for charity or to sell at a school Christmas fayre. Making cards in batches saves a huge amount of time and you needn’t end up with lots of identical cards using this method. If you are designing your cards from scratch, rather than following a project on a website or in a magazine, your first card will take a little time as you choose your embellishments and work out where you would like to place them. If you are on a budget with your time, try to keep the design as simple as possible as anything fiddly might take up to an hour for each card. For the next set of cards - say 10 at a time - cut out 10 pieces of backing paper at a time and set aside. Then do all the stamping, add the stickers, then the rub-ons. Move on to each stage for all 10 cards until you end up with 10 complete cards. By breaking it down into batches of 10 you won’t get bored making them (who wants to cut 50 mats in one go?!) and you can easily make a batch in a crafting session. If you want all of your cards to be individual, try using different papers or greetings to ring the changes and keep the techniques you use the same.
Jigsaw Puzzle Presents
For an unusual and highly personalised Christmas present, why not give someone a jigsaw puzzle featuring a scrapbook layout. Cut a piece of cardstock to size, add photos, embellishments and journaling then scan your layout ready to upload onto a website that will make jigsaws out of photos. If you don’t have a scanner, don’t despair, simply take a photograph of your layout, filling the shot with your page and upload the photo onto the website. Your jigsaw puzzle will arrive in the post within a week (check on the photo company’s website for delivery times when you place your order). Most companies will also print a copy of your picture onto the box as well for reference.