Christmas Cards

5 Months Till Christmas!  Have you ordered your Christmas Cards?

I don't always send handmade holiday cards, but it's not because I don't want to.  It's usually because I haven't started creating them in time enough to finish them for the holidays, or I haven't taken my idea to the stationer early enough to have them printed.  

This card was a combination of handmade and custom printing.  I used up all my scraps of ribbon, some of which came from retailers and had their logos or store names on them, and odd colors of construction paper I'd never found a use for, but hadn't discarded.

I made the Ribbon Christmas Trees and had the card stock printed with our greeting and folded at Annabelle's. 

Ribbon Christmas Tree

How To:

Start by printing the template below on any 8 1/2" x 11" construction or art paper. 

Start sewing ribbon on the printed paper.  It's that simple!  Vary your stitch.  I used straight stitch, zigzag and other decorative stitches.  Vary the spacing between ribbons to add interest, and change the color of your thread a few time throughout the project.

When you've finished sewing the ribbon on the construction paper, use the guidelines on the template to cut the Christmas trees apart.  Use a rotary cutting blade and a metal straight edge ruler for speed and ease.

Finish the edges with cotton piping (shown here), flat lace, trim, braid or lip cording.

Embellish with self adhesive rhinestones.

Contact your local stationer to have the rest done for you.  Some stationers will assemble them.  Save time and have your return address printed on the envelopes.  If you're uber organized, download your mailing list and let the stationer address your envelopes too.

Don't forget to have the stationer print a liner card to protect your card in the mail.