Is there anything better than getting a handmade card in the mail?
Not if you ask me! Even as a kid, I'd make all my birthday cards, Christmas, Valentine's all by hand. Maybe that's why I'm a sucker for a cut & paste project! ✂️
They got a bit more sophisticated as I grew up and today puper-cutting is one of my favourite crafts because it's so simple, the tools are minimal and the effect is brilliant!
I don't think anyone can doubt that this Christmas will be different. We likely won't be able to travel as much to see family (I certainly won't as my family live in Canada!) and I think these handmade touches will be extra appreciated this year.
Here are 3 free templates to make your own Christmas paper-cut cards this season... can't wait to see how yours turn out!
What you'll need:
- Set of blank square 13.5cm x 13.5cm cards
- X-ACTO Knife or craft scalpel
- Pritt Stick
- Decorative paper
- Carbon or graphite paper (I got mine from London Graphic Centre)
- Pencil + rubber
- Cutting mat
Grab your templates:
JOY BAUBLE CARD 💫
MITTENS CARD 🧤
How to make them:
TRACE
Print the template page at 100% on your home printer. Don’t scale or fit to the page.
Cut around the dotted line. When printed at 100%, this square should measure 13.5cm x 13.5cm and fit a standard square greeting card. Ours are from Amazon, by Anita’s.
Open your card and lay it down in front on you. On the left-hand side of the card, place your sheet of graphite paper face down and then lay your template on top of this.
Trace along the lines of the template until the whole design has been transferred onto your card. If you need to peek to see if you’ve traced it all, just pinch one corner, making sure you have all the layers secure, and lift up the graphite paper.
CUT
Get your scalpel and start cutting! It’s important to always cut towards your body when paper-cutting. Using a fresh, sharp blade is also important in order to get clean cuts. Rotate the card as you work around the design. Remember to cut along all the lines.
GLUE
Choose the backing paper and cut it to size once all the pieces of the design have been cut out. Carefully use a glue stick to apply glue around the edge of the card and along the chunkier parts of the design. You don’t want to get glue on the front of the card, so I usually just do a few dabs here and there in the middle so that the backing paper sticks down.
Place your card underneath a few heavy books (I knew keeping those Encyclopedia Britannica’s around was a good idea!) until dry.
GIVE
Ta-da! You’re a paper-cutting natural! Send your family and friends beautiful hand-made Christmas cards this year that they won’t bear to recycle. These instead can become keepsake decorations to put in frames, or place out on the mantle year after year.
Show us your cards! If you tried this project at home, share your paper-cut cards with me on Instagram @sewcial_circle or send me a quick snap via email, I love seeing what crafty things you're up to!