Homemade Card Ideas

The card racks in stores are bursting off from their shelves with so many seasonal greetings. In this tsunami of greeting cards, you fail to find a single card that suits your taste. What do you do? It's as simple as ABC, simply awaken the creativity in you. If you rather pick a clichéd card rather than utter the word creativity, think again. These card ideas are simple and you don't need to be an artist. The only skill you need is the ability to cut and paste. Plus there is no harm in trying something new, is there? To begin with, these are the things that you will need.

• Plain white card or thick colored sheets
• Glitter
• Water colors
• Cookie cutters
• Butter paper
• Ribbons
• Glue
• Photographs

Cut, Copy and Paste

These homemade cards are for the creatively challenged people who need to break out of their not so creative shell. So here is what you do. Find some old wrapping paper in the house, cut long strips from the paper and paste it on the white card. If you find two or more wrapping papers, then don't be afraid to mix and match. Depending on which festive greeting you are sending, either print out some appropriate images or cut through a magazine and paste at least two images. If you want, you can add glitter or cut out shapes of stars etc. and then, paste them along the border. Then, all you have to do is search the net for some card sayings and your festive greeting card is ready.

If you are sending the card to someone close, then you can also add some family photographs and decorate the card around the photograph. For example, if you are sending a Christmas card, then choose a family Christmas photograph and cut along the border of the image. Paste red or green colored sheets of paper on the white card and stick the photograph. Take a ribbon of the same color as the sheet of paper and paste it along the border but make sure that the ribbon is either a shade lighter or darker. If you have old card lying around in your house, then cut out shapes of snow, reindeer and Christmas trees etc. and randomly place these on the card. It's as simple as that, your grandparents would definitely love this card.

Paint, Stamp and Emboss

People who are not afraid to play with color are usually the ones who experiment with such crafts. So here is what you do, get your hand on some butter paper and cover it with a thick coat of any color of your choice. Then, take a brush or an ear bud and just draw out a shape which suits the occasion. For example - for Halloween, try a pumpkin, make sure that the outline that you draw has no color on it. The next step is simple, just take the butter paper and press the side with the color on the card. Now you have a simple yet elegant, embossed card.

If you love rubber stamping and homemade cards, you can go a step further and cut out shapes of potatoes using your cookie cutter, dip the potato in color and stamp way. You can also combine the above mentioned ideas, but first timers should try to keep things clutter free and simple. You can do this by embossing these shapes on the plain card as the background and then, paste a cut out image and add small stars etc. and add a bow to the bottom half of the card. The best part about this idea is that you can also get kids involved. These card ideas for kids are safe and fun. Don't be afraid to try any idea that may crop up when you are making these cards. No one gets it right the first time, so experiment a lot and then make your masterpiece.

These ideas seem simple enough. Give them a try and surprise your friends and family with your new discovered talent. If you have decided to try your hand at making homemade cards, then bravo! Who knows, maybe if you are really good at it, you can even run a profitable home business!