Get creative and make your own cards: crafting inspiration and instructions
People with a creative streak are always on the lookout for new inspiration to get artistic. What could be better than making your own cards? There are many different occasions for you to make your own greeting cards:
• Christmas
• Birthdays
• Weddings
• and many more
► If you want to make cards for these occasions, you will first need ideas. We present different variants, techniques and utensils that you can use to create original DIY cards.
For many people, the scent of anise, cinnamon and cloves around the home signals the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas. If you have an artistic streak, the Advent season is the perfect occasion to get creative and make your own Christmas cards. So instead of mince pies, why not do some crafting this year?
Season’s greetings: Painting over writing
You don’t need much to make your own Christmas cards:
- High-quality, firm card.
- Different crafting tools: scissors, painting utensils, FIMO modelling clay, metal leaf.
- Individual Christmas greetings, a quote or a saying.
It goes without saying that you want your card to convey a greeting or a message. A beautiful creative technique for adding a Christmas greeting to a card is hand lettering. This technique is easy to learn using our Hand Lettering Guide.
- Print the desired lettering template on white paper.
- Shade the back of the template with a pencil.
- Place the template on the card and trace the letters with the pencil. This will transfer the motif.
- Finally, outline and fill in the letters with a fineliner. A watercolour pencil is a great option for DIY Christmas cards.
Of course, you can also make Christmas cards with kids. Christmas cards don’t need to have writing on them. Instead, you can create beautiful motifs for Christmas cards using FIMO. FIMO cutters can be used to make pretty hearts, stars or bows. The finished shapes can be glued onto the card and to create a festive design.
You can easily make postcards with kids on other occasions too. Colouring in these creative mindfulness postcards is not only fun for kids, but promotes concentration and inner peace. The motifs can be used all year round and sent to your loved ones as a DIY postcard with unique character.
By making your own cards, you can not only add a personal touch to Christmas presents, but birthday presents too. If you want to make hand-made cards, there are no limits to what you can create. You can’t go wrong with classic motifs:
- Balloons
- Birthday cake
- Candles
Watercolour is a great option for painting your own birthday cards, as well as cards for other occasions.
Make your own birthday cards with hand lettering
Quotes or greetings are an excellent option for a birthday card. For your DIY birthday cards, you can also used the hand lettering technique described above. The sky’s the limit for your artistic ideas. For example, you can put different sayings on your cards, such as:
- Song lyrics
- Poems
- Jokes only your friends or family will understand. Cards with inside jokes can’t be bought in any store.
To finish, you can colour the hand-lettered birthday card in your individual design.
A special occasion like a wedding calls for special congratulations. If you couldn’t find the right card in the shops or have your own idea, why not make your own wedding card?
One original idea is the 3D wedding cake. It is quite easy to make using FIMO. In classic black and white, this design brings to mind the bride in white and the groom in black. With a suitable DIY wedding card idea, your design is sure to be a success.
One thing is sure: a wedding is nothing without guests. To make sure all their friends and family can be present on this special day, couples should announce their wedding date early. Why not make save-the-date cards together, using our DIY instructions? All you need is:
- Some inspiring details and motifs, like a wedding cake, wedding rings, a wedding car, or similar.
- Creative Handlettering technique.
- Card, which can be easily folded to create a greeting card, so that no one will miss your big day. Ideally, the paper should match the colour scheme of the wedding.
Some hosts love taking the details of their big party into their own hands. If you want to completely individual invitations, you might consider making them yourself. The motif on the card always depends on the occasion of the celebration and time of year.
For a summer garden party, for example, you might go for a tropical Hawaiian theme. Colourful lettering clarifies the occasion for the party. Watercolour pencils in bright colours can be used to create botanical watercolour effects.
Everyone could do with some good vibes. Why not create some mindfulness cards for you or your friends? These cards are easy to make and a motivating reminder on your desk.
- For example, you can use watercolour pencils to colour in different shapes in the colours of your choice on watercolour card. The patterns and motifs can be individual to you.
- After that, apply water to the shaded areas to create a watercolour effect.
- A motivational quote has a positive, encouraging effect, that can give the reader fresh strength and courage.
Making your own mindfulness cards is an ideal way to congratulate friends or colleagues on special occasions, or to let them know you’re thinking of them. You can also decorate postcards or greeting cards with homemade gift pendants.
Don’t buy, DIY– Make handmade postcards
Our DIY ideas for different cards and postcards show that you don’t always need to buy them. It’s often the case that you don’t find quite what you’re looking for in the shops. Or perhaps, you want a card to express a very personal thought or greeting. In both cases, there’s a simple answer: simply create your own idea on a postcard. Clear instructions mean that the card is easy to design and quick to make. So take matters into your own hands, and make your next card yourself.
