5 Easy Holiday Crafts for Kids: Homemade Christmas Cards

Children feel a great sense of pride when they present people with something they've made themselves. Making home-made holiday cards adds a personal touch, and is a great way for children to put their energy and artistic talents to work.

Picture Frame Card

You Will Need:

Cardstock, holiday color or print, 8 X 12 inches

Circle or oval template

Pencil

Glue

Picture of the child or family

Markers or crayons

Ribbons, stickers, paper craft decorations

Fold the cardstock in half, so you have an 8 X 12 inch card.

Put the circle or oval template over the picture to make sure the picture is the right size. If you don't have a template, you could use a compass or a juice glass. The picture should be slightly bigger than the template.

On the cover of the card, use the template to make a circle or oval. Cut it out.

Decorate the front of the card. Glue ribbon or lace trim around the circle, or put stickers on the card, or have the child draw pictures or write a message.

On the inside cover of the card, put glue around the edges of the circle or oval cut out. Turn the card over and carefully place it down on the picture, making sure to center it over the subject of the picture before pressing down with the glue. Allow to dry.

Let the child draw more pictures or write a greeting on the inside of the card.

Pop-Up Picture Cards

You will need:

1 sheet of cardstock, holiday or color print, 8 by 12 inches

1 sheet of cardstock, holiday or color print, 7 1/2 by 11 inches

Photograph, trimmed around the subject, with a straight-edge bottom

Glue

Ruler

Pencil

Scissors

Stickers, rubber stamps, markers, crayons, etc.

You want this card to be horizontal, rather than vertical. In other words, it won't open left-to-right like a book, but you would lift the top cover up as if it were a lid.

Fold both cards in half, so you have one 8 by 6 inch card, and one 7 by 5 ½ inch card.

Take the 7 by 5 ½ inch card and hold it horizontally, so the creased side is along the top edge. Use a ruler to measure across the card, making a small pencil dot at the 3 inch mark, and a dot at the 4 inch mark.

Turn your ruler vertically. At the dots you marked, measure straight vertical lines going 1 ½ inches down, starting at the top (creased) edge.

Using a scissor, cut into the cards, starting at the creased edge, down 1 ½ inches, following the ruler lines you've drawn.

Open the card. Use your finger to gently push in the slits you have made at the crease point, so that it folds inward. When you fold the card properly again, there will be a gap on the top, with the parts folding down inside the card.

Center this card, with the slit folding inward, on the larger card. The crease of the smaller card should sit in the crease of the larger card, with the small slit part folded inward, not touching the larger card. Glue the smaller card like this, into the larger card. Allow it to dry.

Give the child the card and let the child decorate it however they wish on the cover, and write a message on the inside, along the bottom, beneath the inward fold.

Take your picture. Make sure it is at least 1 1/4 inches shorter than the height of your card. Glue or tape the picture to the inward fold so that when you close and open the card, the picture pops up.

Watercolor Message Cards

You Will Need:

Cardstock, white, 8 X 12 inches

White crayon

Water color paints

small cup of water

paper towels

paint brushes

Fold the cardstock in half so that you have an 8 X 6 inch card. Have the child draw on the cover of the card with the white crayon. Do this in good lighting, as the white crayon on white paper will be difficult to see.

Have the child paint over the cover with watercolor paints in their choice of colors. Wherever the white crayon wax is, the paint will not take, so the messages and drawings will be revealed.

Embossed Design Cards

You Will Need:

Cardstock, any color, 8 X 12 inches (light or bright colors work best)

Christmas picture stencils, plastic or cardboard

Tape

Paper clips

A sunny window

Markers, rubber stamps, etc., for additional decoration and messages inside

Fold the cardstock in half so that you have an 8 X 6 inch card. Open the card again.

Tape a stencil to the sunny window. Have children hold the cover part of the card over the stencil, with the front of the card facing outward, and the inside cover facing the children.

Center the stencil design the child wants to transfer on the cover. Have the child use the rounded edge of the paper clip to rub on the inside cover of the card, over the stencil edges, gently pushing the cardstock into the stencil shapes.

Remove the cardstock from the stencil. You will have a raised, embossed design. Have the children write messages on the inside of the card or draw pictures around the stencil.

Christmas Eve Night Scene Card

You Will Need:

Cardstock, black, 8 X 12 inches

Crayons, especially white

Fold the cardstock in half so that you have an 8 X 6 inch card. Open the card again.

Draw a night time scene on the card, and use the white crayon to cover everything in snow. You can also make a snow man or snow flurries. Darker colors will be hard to see (but hey, it's always hard to see at night), but brighter colors such as white snow or yellow lights will show up nicely.