DIY Christmas Card Decorating

I have spent the last week or so working on my Christmas cards and writing them out. I know I am a bit early in this project, and maybe a bit overzealous. But it has turned into a really fun DIY project to decorate the envelopes, adding a custom touch to them. They are super cute, and really easy to do.

I had my Christmas cards almost all filled out by Black Friday. I was pretty proud of myself on being ahead of schedule this year in my project. Well, then as many of my projects do, it turned into something bigger. I start out with simple intentions, and then it grows. I don’t know how it happens, but it always happens this way. My husband smiles and nods quite a bit in these instances.

My neighbor was over the other day, and she was telling me about a bunch of Christmas stamps she had found. My first thought was, I wonder what that would do for my Christmas cards to decorate the envelopes? Because quite honestly, envelopes are boring. The front is where you address them, maybe adding a fun postage stamp to them, but the back is plain. There is no customization to it, and the Post Office doesn’t use the back for anything either. I asked her what she thought of it, being my original thought was one simple stamp where the envelope seals. Like an old school seal on an envelope kind of idea. This would be where the idea grew and became dangerous for me. Lol. Because she brought the stamps over, and I suddenly had what seemed like a million choices.

My Christmas decorating theme has always been snowmen. I love everything about them and that is always the direction I’m attracted to. In this case, it was no different. I picked out two stamps I really liked and found a small one as well with a single snowflake. Once I knew what I liked, I tried it out on a notepad to see what it would look like, and kind of designed it out from there. I had honestly never really used stamps up until this point, so I was expecting it to be a total disaster and look terrible. That is also why I tried it out on a blank surface first to see what it would even look like.

I came up with the snowman family on the top. I fell in love with the details, their faces, their noses being slightly different shapes, and the scarves they were wearing. It was adorable to me. I also picked out a second one, of just a single snowman and some details around him, like snow and his broom. This became the top and bottom for the cards, and then I decorated each corner with a single snowflake stamp, to really complete the snowman themed cards and bring it all together. It really does look like it was an entire scene created by some professional who actually knew what they were doing. Instead it was created by a somewhat artistic person who is more clumsy than anything else.

Which being a bit clumsy, and I would never really call myself creative in this instance, can be brilliant at times. You know the moments of accidental genius? That is exactly what I call this. It is perfect, and really easy to do. I managed to stamp and finish 142 cards in about an hour, using three stamps and an ink pad.

What I love so much about this project is not only the fact it was accidentally genius, it was simple and pretty quick. But the outcome is amazing, and it is something people will not forget when they see and open my Christmas cards.

You can also customize your own cards to be anything you want. The back of a card envelope is boring, and just a perfect blank canvas. We have to turn envelopes over to open them, why not give something cute or fun to see before they open the card? This is a fairly large area of empty space, making it the perfect place to add in something fun and memorable. This makes it memorable, in my opinion as well.

This really got me thinking about other holidays, or even birthdays. I am making it a point to start sending out birthday cards in the upcoming year, and really reaching out to those I care about in the form of cards and not just a fun graphic on social media. Because I feel like cards have a more personal touch to them, and are far more memorable. Maybe I am becoming more old fashioned as I get a bit older, but I’ve decided to embrace that and enjoy it. I feel like I need to go visit a craft store and find some lovely stamps to start a collection for this, and a good birthday one as well since I am making it a point to send out cards more often now.

Stamping envelopes when I send out cards could easily become my signature thing. I can see it, because I had such fun doing it with the Christmas cards. Don’t be afraid to give it a try! I think you will enjoy it as much as I did, and add those perfect personal touches to holiday cards. Did you or are you planning on doing anything special with your Christmas cards? Tell me about it in the comments!