Handmade Holiday Cards

By Jeanne Benedict

Embossed White Snowflake on Blue Card

Embossing is a fairly easy technique to do at home that produces gorgeous results as with the white snowflake on the front of this card. Check out your local craft store for an embossing heat tool, usually around $20, and the many colors of embossing powder you can use to give your cards a professional look.

Learn how to make the card here!

Celebrations.com

By Jeanne Benedict

Gingerbread Man Spice Stencil Card

Send a holiday scent through the mail by applying a stencil made of spice on the front of the card. The little gingerbread man on this card was made by cutting out his shape from a sheet of double-sided adhesive and then sprinkling cinnamon on it. Try this idea with the kids!

Learn how to make the card here!

Celebrations.com

By Jeanne Benedict

Luxe Rhinestone "Ho Ho" Card

This luxe card is rich in texture from the velvety red and white-flocked paper to the rhinestone "Ho Ho" letter stickers. If you're looking for a show-stopping card or party invitation, browse the scrapbook aisles in your local craft or paper store and find an amazing accent to build your design around.

Learn how to make the card here!

Celebrations.com

By Jeanne Benedict

Red Layered Poinsettia Card

The great thing about this card is that you don't need to cut a straight line or a "pattern-perfect" shape for best results. In fact, the more randomly cut that the poinsettia layers are when making this card, the better! The key to this card is finding paper with similar red tones and an array of varied patterns that will all come together to make one striking design.

Learn how to make the card here!

Celebrations.com

By Jeanne Benedict

Reindeer Card with Candy Cane Antlers

Candy cane crafts top the list in my house! They're easy, not too messy, and really cute as antlers on this reindeer card. Make these fun cards with your kids to give to their teacher, grandparents or friends.

Learn how to make the card here!

Celebrations.com

By Jeanne Benedict

Snowman Swirls Card

The technique of swirled paper, as with the snowman on the front of this card, is called "quilling." Thought to be a favorite of Marie Antoinette's, this paper craft is performed simply by twirling strips of paper around a toothpick, needle or similar item. I think the real art of quilling lay in the way the paper coils are glued and assembled on the final product.

Learn how to make the card here!

Celebrations.com

By Jeanne Benedict

Vintage Pink and Brown Plaid with Antique Tags Card

The plaid scrapbook paper was the inspiration for this beautiful vintage-look card. And, Martha Stewart's incredible collection of paper art materials at the craft store made this card super easy to put together. All the trim, from the self-adhesive white border to the decorative ribbon, the multi-colored string, and a couple of the tags were from Stewart's line. Thanks Martha!

Learn how to make the card here!

Celebrations.com

By Jeanne Benedict

Vintage Modern Snowflakes Card

One of my favorite design pairings is that of stripes and shapes in complementary colors. Many scrapbook manufacturers create paper in compatible color tones to allow for different patterns to match up into one fabulous creation. The olive, blue, black and taupe colors in this card's paper give it a vintage feel, and the orange accents along with the misshapen balls modernize the design.

Learn how to make the card here!

Celebrations.com