It's Not That Time Consuming

After a while I get tired of hearing people say that it's too time consuming and too difficult to make your own Christmas cards. Then they settle for some generic design that many other people will purchase and that may not say exactly what they'd like.

Let me show you, in just seven pictures, how quickly and easily you can make a beautiful card to share the joy of the season.

Step one: gather one blank card, one sheet of decorator paper, two coordinating scraps and one 3D embellishment. Yep...that's it. That took me about two minutes, mostly because I'm still not reorganized yet.

Step two: adhere the decorator paper to the card and trim to fit. That took about a minute.

Step three: with your paper trimmer, cut a small strip of paper, long enough to run top to bottom on your card. Then adhere it to the coordinating piece so there is a thin border on either side. This may take three minutes, tops. 

Step four: adhere your new strip to the center of your card. This takes about 30 seconds. 

 Step five: center your embellishment on the strip, slightly higher than the middle of the card. This shouldn't take more than a few seconds, unless you're a perfectionist.

And there you have it...a finished card. If you're happy with the amount of time that took, that's all you have to do. Unless the creative juices just got flowing and there's ideas just rushing out of your head!

 I added four coordinating dots to the corners of my card. They have the same shiny glitter effect that the Merry Christmas phrase does. So pretty, so sparkled!

You might want to run a piece of ribbon down the center of your strip, or tie a bow underneath. Maybe you'd like more layers and want to start with a solid color, and then mat the patterned paper on top of it.

And the finishing touch for all of my cards - the Scripture. I never make a card that doesn't have God's Word in it, on it, around it, through it...somehow. His Word is so much more important than mine could ever be.

Have fun and spend a few minutes this Christmas season to try your hand at a simple greeting card.
If you'd like more ideas, visit my etsy shop at http://www.stufffromtrees.etsy.com/.

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