A Homemade Christmas. Tina Barseghian

A Homemade Christmas

out a piece of felt and a piece of cardboard, both in the size of a postcard—4¼ by 6 inches (10.5 x 15 cm). Glue them together and trim the edges so that they match. Create your design on the front, and write your holiday greeting on the back. Add a stamp and send it off in the mail as a postcard. (Do make sure the glue is dry and the felt and stamp are securely adhered to the cardboard.)

All of these ideas can also be applied to making ornaments. Just punch a hole at the top of your design and thread it with a pretty ribbon.

Reuse Paint Color Chips

Create unique cards that are also eco-friendly.

Next time you come home from the hardware store with a fistful of paint samples, consider using them for a different type of project: your Christmas cards. The progressively deepening hues of color make a beautiful backdrop or pattern that can be used a number of different ways. The variations are endless, so adapt these ideas as you see fit; the idea is to take advantage of the sturdy, colorful paper in clever ways.

You can glue the entire piece onto blank cards and decorate each square, either with words (“Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!”), stickers, or, if you’ve got the time and inclination, cut and paste photos of you and your family, giving the card the appearance of a photo booth picture set.

Cut the wider paint chip samples into triangular Christmas tree shapes, stars, and snowmen (three circles on top of each other), and then embellish with stickers, glitter, or shapes cut from other paint chips.

If you’re adept at drawing, sketch the silhouette of a tree branch and cardinal, or other Christmas icon.

You can also use paint chips as gift tags, garlands, nametags for place settings, or tree ornaments.

Construct a Pop-Up Card

Surprise your friends and family with a pop-up greeting.

A pop-up card lends itself well to any design you’d like to use: a snowman, a Christmas tree, a snowflake, a star, a dove—or words like “Noel” or “Peace.” It’s also a great way to showcase your favorite family photo.

To get started, you’ll need either a blank folding card or an 8- by 10-inch (20 x 25 cm) piece of cardstock folded horizontally.

1. From the outside crease of the folded card, cut two short (about 1½ or 2 inch; 3.5 or 5 cm) parallel lines about ½ inch (1 cm) apart from each other, equidistant from the center of the card.

2. With your card open to an L shape, gently push in the slice you’ve just cut, so it pops forward (away from the crease). This will create the support for your image.

3. Cut a design (tree, star, snowflake, photo) from cardstock or heavy paper. Use a glue stick to apply glue to the pop-out support, then adhere your design to the backing and press the card closed so it dries securely.

You can also use multiple images on the same card by cutting out two or three slots instead of one.

Collage a Card

Recycle magazines and catalogs to make cut-and-paste Christmas cards.

Magazine editors spend months finding and curating the perfect holiday images for home design, lifestyle, and fashion magazines, and even those mail-order catalogs that are heaped into your mailbox by the pound. Rather than tossing them into the recycling bin, why not use them to create your own pieces of original art?

Using standard scissors (or pinking shears, for a more decorative edge) cut out images that you like: Christmas trees, holly, candles, fire, snowy scenes, or anything that conveys the holiday spirit. Then decide on a visual theme to organize the images. Collect some blank cards, glue, and any embellishments (such as ribbon or glitter) you think would look nice, and you’re ready to start. Here are some suggestions.

Cut circles or onion shapes from the pages. Glue them on to the card and draw a line from the top of the shape to the top of the card to make them look like ornaments.

Cut out a square from a glossy, colorful page and glue rickrack ribbon around its outside edges to make it look like a present.

Cut out key words like “Celebrate” or “Noel” and paste them onto the card—try a vertical or diagonal orientation for a fresh look.

If you find a page that’s uniformly bright or deep in color with few images, use that as the backdrop for other images you can layer on top of it.

Make a decoupage card. Cut out holiday shapes—simple trees, snowmen, or stars—and affix them to your card. You can opt for a very simple, elegant look, such as a single Christmas tree with a star at the top, or make it more elaborate, with multiple overlapping images. A sealer will keep the finish smooth.

Hang a stocking. Poke two small holes, one at either side of the card, then string baker’s twine in a swooping line across the top of the card. Glue the shape of a stocking you cut from a magazine to the line.

With a hole punch, cut out little circles from silver- or golden-colored pages and use them as shining accents.

Magazine pages make an excellent source of paper for all kinds of holiday projects. Save them up all year, then pull out your stash as December nears and have some fun.

Use single pages to wrap small presents.

Tape or glue pages together to create a collage-style wrap for larger gifts.

Cut out cardboard shapes and glue colorful pages to the front and back, then attach a hook or string to make ornaments.

Fold and glue individual pages to make envelopes (find templates online). Last year’s calendar is another good source of envelope paper.

The key to achieving a polished look is restraint and appreciation for blank space. Rather than randomly gluing all types of images on the card, try sticking to a palette of two or three colors at most and one primary image with a smattering of embellishment.

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