Christmas All Year Round

Good morning! Yes the holidays are over but as a crafter it’s never over for me. I make Christmas cards all year round so I am ready when December rolls around again! I try to do at least 5 per month.

So yes today’s card is a holiday card and gift all in one.

This is a simple card that has a removable ornament attached to it. Guess what? – It is simple and quick to make too!

To start the design you will need cardstock, dies and embellishments. I like to use colors that aren’t traditional the Stardream Metallic Lagoon is a gorgeous metallic teal color.

First step is to cut multiples of the cardstock with a festive die, the one I am using is From Gina Marie designs and I have cut 6 of them. This is a great die for this technique because it is ornament shaped to start with.

Next using a fine tipped wet glue you are going to stick these on top of one another, ensuring that they all line up well.

This gives a chipboard thickness to the ornament making it sturdy enough to hang on a tree.

Put this to one side while you work on the next part of the design. Using Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock make a top folding A2 cardbase. You can do this by cutting a letter sized piece in half lengthways. It needs to be top folding so it has the strength to hold the ornament.

To decorate the front of the card I used MirriSparkle Glitter Cardstock in gold. this need trimming so it’s just smaller than your card base, I trim them with an 1/8in difference. This then needs gluing to the card. I use wet glue because I find it hold glitter card well.

Once the glue is dry you need to either poke, punch or diecut a hole in the top center. I use a tiny circle die – I’m not sure where I got this as it lives in a little dish on my desk purely for this purpose.

Now you need some twine or ribbon which you are going to use to hang your ornament as well as fix it to the card. Thread this through the top of your stacked die cuts and through the hole in the card. You then need to center your ornament before applying a piece of tape over the ribbon inside the card.

As you can see I initially used silver thread but changed my mind when I found some silver ribbon. Finally decorate your ornament – gems give them a bit of sparkle!

You can decorate the card more or add a sentiment but I find this distracts from the ornament – I add an insert to the card with my sentiment on.

When do you start your holiday crafts? Nearer the time or like me all year round?