My boys were a little antsy for Christmas this weekend, so we skipped the usual “wait until one holiday is done to begin celebrating the next one” — a mandatory rule at our house. After all, it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet! But they wanted to make holiday cards, since I’d been talking with their Grandma about the family photos that we’ll be putting on their annual greeting card.
So, off I went to oblige my boys. Sometimes it can be a struggle to find a craft or activity that both of them can do, since Toby is five and Zack is still two. But after a bit of creative thinking on my part, we were able to come up with an easy Christmas card craft idea that can be adapted for any age!
So, here’s my take on the kid-made Christmas card idea.
(Don’t worry, I’ll share a free printable at the end with you, so you can easily make this simple holiday ornament card too).
Now, depending on your child’s age, you’ll be able to do less work — my five year old was able to cut out the circle windows for his own card. But my two year old’s attempts with scissors did no more than make strips of paper (which you’ll notice we glued onto a solid sheet of colored paper to create striped ornaments. Too cute!
Supplies to have on hand
You’ll probably want to get supplies out ahead of time. So, here are the things we used. I included affiliate links to some items on Amazon, in case you want to get your own.
- Zots Glue Dots or a gluestick
- Paper Edger Scissors (the ones that make a fancy/crazy cut rather than a straight line)
- Normal Scissors
- Crayons, markers, or coloring pencils
- paper in assorted colors
- printable PDF, printed on standard paper
You might have noticed I didn’t bother to use cardstock for this project. That’s because the two layers of paper make the card sturdy enough. And, if you decide to include a piece of artwork inside the card, then the recipient can take it out and hang it on their fridge!
Making the Holiday Ornament Cards
I set the kids loose with all the craft supplies on the table, so we ended up with a few outtake cards too.
No big deal. Those are adorable too.
But since you want to know how to make the ones I’ve shown you… I’ll focus on those.
First, we cut out the gray ornament shapes on my printable, shown below. There are download links for a PDF and a JPG file right below the image.
Holiday Ornament Card Printable (PDF format) | Holiday Ornament Cart Printable (JPG format)
After we had the picture window openings created, my boys decorated a second sheet of paper. This ultimately sits behind the printable, and you’ll see some pops of color (or some cute pictures) in the ornament openings.
I did help the kids position the photos to make sure they were in the openings, but if you didn’t trim the photos close to size, as we did, there would be a lot more wiggle room.
If you’re having trouble visualizing this whole concept, don’t worry!
I took some photos to show you exactly what the two pieces of paper look like before (and after) they are sandwiched together.
Holiday Card Components (Before)
The holiday ornament card, just before being assembled. For this artwork page, created by my two year old, we didn’t really need to worry about placement so much!
The holiday ornament card, just before being assembled. Note how we positioned the photos so they will show through the ornament openings!
Holiday Card (after, unfolded)
And once you put them together the holiday ornaments look very festive, regardless of whether you choose to showcase a crayon artwork or show off photos of your kids!
Once sandwiched together, the two parts of the card look great, even if you choose not to include any photos. I think this is a great simple holiday ornament card!
Once sandwiched together, the two parts of the card look great. I love how the paper strips cut with the edging scissors look on the ornaments!
Now all that’s left to do is the folding. Depending on your child’s accuracy, they may ask you to help with this step.
Fine by me!
Simple Holiday Ornament Cards
Okay, now that you’ve seen the process, here are the finished cards!
The finished holiday ornament cards, after being assembled and folded.
If you want to see the fronts, insides, and backs of each card, feel free to click on an image below to enlarge.
Holiday Card Outtakes
Now, I have to admit, Zack (the two year old) helped me make both of these cards. Toby (the five year old), while perfectly capable, decided to do his own thing and create a very lovely holiday card of his own (he insisted I draw him something to color too).
Toby decided to draw this lovely holiday greeting card with the sun shining down on the pine trees and the water. Not exactly a printable holiday ornament card, but still adorable!
Here are a few other outtakes of cards that my boys created… along the same thought process, but without the holiday ornament card printable.
I meant to share some pictures of the kids creating these holiday ornament cards, but things were a little crazy so I set the camera aside to help make sure everyone was using scissors safely (ahem…. toddler alert!).
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this cute and simple holiday card craft enough that you’ll forgive my being so early with the activity! Now, go have some fun, download the printable, and cut out those ornaments to showcase your favorite kid-made artwork or photos of your kids!
You’ll enjoy checking out the other Christmas cards created in this series! Thirty bloggers will be sharing their kid-made Christmas cards with you, so make sure to check out the entire Kid-Made Christmas Card Series (hosted by Mum in the Mad House).
Make sure to peek at this really cute Christmas tree card by Sew Kidding!
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