DIY Christmas Cards

Why do people charge so much for greeting cards?

Remember when you were little and used to fold a piece of loose leaf paper in half, wrote your message in big letters and doodle some stick figures with smiley faces and their name underneath (so they can identify the characters) and hand it over with a big smile? Is this no longer acceptable?

This year I've been in a crafting mood and decided to make my own Christmas cards.

I figure most people don't save their cards so I should make something fun, easy and cheap so I can make them while watching something netflix and don't get terribly sad if I see it in the trash. You know how that is.

-------

{Goals}

*under $10 

*texture/3d elements

*one-sided

*each must be unique

-------

Wandering Michaels and digging through my craft bag, this is what I came up with.

{Supplies}

$2 - Michaels - 2 sets of $1 bin cards, 8 cards each (find something with a nice print)

$3 - Michaels - 2 sets Xmas decals (paper cutouts in fun shapes)
$3 - Michaels - Foam double-sided stickies (in tape aisle)
$1 - Michaels - Rhinestone stickers (guessed on price, I had these leftover. I bought some shiny rhinestone stickers for a stocking project and they only rang up for $0.01! Who knew a penny could buy you anything these days.)

{Other supplies}

$1.79 - Walmart - Xmas stickers (optional)
Paper cutter
------- 

1. Cardstock. You could use regular cardstock, but I wanted something with a print and a glossy feel. I like the cards in the dollar bin at Michaels. They are 8 for $1 and the cardstock is pretty thick. I found theses red ones with a fun pattern and rounded edges. 

2. Postcards/Tags. Since I wanted something more like postcards I used a paper cutter to cut the cards down the crease so now I have 16 cards instead of just 8.

3. 3d. I used the foam stickers behind the cutouts to make them pop out. You can stack the foam stickers on each other to make them stick out more. If you are using multiple cutouts on one card you can vary the number of foam stickers behind each to give more of a 3d image.

4. Texture. Place stickers/rhinestones/etc. for unique fun designs. This is a good opportunity to use up leftover stickers.

Total: $9 for 32 cards

Not bad. I don't think I'm giving out 32 gifts but I wouldn't mind hanging these around my room for decoration.