Easy Three-Dimensional Christmas Card Craft for Children

This Christmas craft project is perfect for a group of children, since it requires new, identical holiday greeting cards. Recycled cards won't work for this project unless you happen to have received the same card multiple times! But you can get boxes of Christmas cards from the local dollar store for just a dollar or two, making this an inexpensive holiday craft project.

Choose a Christmas card design that has large elements which would be easy for small children to cut around. Older children may be able to handle more intricate designs. You'll also need some double-sided foam mounting tape, scissors, scotch tape, and cardboard. Any type of sturdy cardboard will work, but thick corrugated cardboard will enhance the 3D effect of the picture.

You'll need three cards of the same design for each three-dimensional Christmas picture. You're going to have to sacrifice the backs of the cards, but don't throw them away. They can be recycled into other Christmas crafts.

Cut the front and back of the cards apart, and keep one front card whole (the whole card will be the base of your picture). On one of the other two cards, cut out the individual features of the card, although you don't need to cut the ones that are very small and intricate. For the remaining card, cut out only the prominent foreground features of the design (the snowman, the holy baby's manger, Santa Claus, the Three Kings, snowy trees, whatever your particular design suggests).

Cut tiny bits of the foam mounting tape, small enough so they won't be obvious behind the cut-out pieces. Stick a piece of foam over the corresponding design on the card front that wasn't cut, then stick the cut-out design directly over it. For larger cut-outs, use two or more evenly spaced pieces of foam tape to hold them away from the background. Do this for each feature of the card, and then stick the remaining foreground cut-outs in their respective places on top of the second layer. This way, the most prominent features are three layers deep, while the background features are two layers deep, and the smallest background features appear only on the whole card, creating a 3D effect.

Once all the cut-out pieces are in place, the picture is finished, but the children may want to add a frame to display their works of art. Use the cardboard to create a frame to fit the picture, with the opening slightly smaller than the dimensions of the picture. An adult may have to help cut out the opening, using an X-acto knife to make a neat edge.

Children can decorate the frame by covering it with shiny metallic wrapping paper or colorful Christmas wrap, aluminum foil and stickers, or whatever suits his/her creative fancy. Tape the picture to the back of the frame. For a hanging picture, tape a length of fancy ribbon or colorful yard to the top back corners of the frame.

Now that you've completed this project, what to do with all those nice, new, clean Christmas card backs? You have all these lovely Christmas sentiments, so don't let them go to waste. Here are a few suggestions, but if you don't want to use the card backs, please put them in the paper recycling bin!

Cut out short sentiments to use as gift tags; punch a hole in them and tie them to the ribbons on the gift package.

Cut around the sentiments in a graceful, rounded pattern and run a line of white glue around the outside edge. Sprinkle the glue with glitter, shake off the excess, and let it dry. Punch a hole in the top, tie a ribbon loop in the hole, and hang your ornament on the Christmas tree.

Use the sentiments for a home-made Christmas card project: Cut and fold brightly-colored construction paper into card-sized pieces. Cut out the sentiments and glue them to the inside of the card after the kids have decorated the front with cut-outs, drawings, or Christmas stickers.

One delightful benefit of this craft is that you don't have to limit yourself to only Christmas cards. Kids will enjoy creating these pictures for any season or holiday, and you may even find all-occasion greeting cards that will make beautiful pictures for display all year 'round!