A simple vintage Christmas card is yours for the making.

(click here for a larger Vintage Christmas Card image)

We always try to send a handmade vintage Christmas card each year - but we admit succumbing to the after-Christmas half-price card sales. For 2008, though, we are proud to say we again made our own cards, and they are the best and simplest ever.

This design and construction was so easy, we want to share it with you. With a little planning and production-line process, you can churn out a hundred of these.  We did, and we have the paper cuts to prove it.

The secret is buying stock panel cards and envelopes in bulk. Depending on the quality and quantity, you might spend between $.30 and $.70 per set of card and envelope. Our source was www.clearenvelopes.com, for envelopes (#E101) and embossed panel cards (#N101).

Materials for Vintage Christmas Card

• Vintage images (FREE PDF download). Print the image on matte photo paper (Tips).
• Embossed panel card stock, 7" X 5 1/8", white or natural.
• Envelopes, 7 1/4" X 5 1/4", white or natural.
• Double stick tape (or glue stick).
• Paper cutter (see Tips).
• Bone folder.

Instructions

1. Print your greeting inside the panel card. You can use the message we provided ("Wishing You All the Bounty of the Season") or your own. Using your word processing program, format your document size to match the dimensions of the unfolded card stock. Position your text, and print the inside of the cards (see Tips).
2. Using a paper cutter, trim the vintage image. Affix it to to the embossed panel with double stick tape (see Tips).
3. Fold your cards on the score line using a bone folder.
   

Tips

• We printed our vintage image on standard matte photo paper. You can print the image on any kind of medium weight or heavy weight paper, textured paper, or even vellum for a translucent effect.
• The embossed panel on our vintage Christmas card is almost exactly the size of the original postcard - 5 5/8" X 3 3/4".  If your image doesn't quite fit, resize it in your word processing or graphic program. Slightly stretching or shrinking one dimension probably won't be perceptible. Just disable the "lock aspect ratio" check box when you enter the new dimensions.
• You'll need a printed image for each card. To save paper, copy the image from the PDF document into a word processing or graphic document, squeezing as many copies of the image onto the page as possible (we could fit three on a page by rotating one image vertically).
• We used a rotary blade paper cutter to get straight cuts around the image. More decorative, but more time consuming, is trimming the image with decorative edge scissors for a vintage deckle edge.
• You can print the message inside the cards using your word processing program. Other methods include rubber stamping the greeting inside, printing your message on vellum and tacking it into the cards with glue stick, or printing on self-adhesive paper.
• Don't want to buy blank panel cards? Make your own cards with card stock cut to size and scored with a bone folder. With no embossed panel to frame the image, you might want to mat your image with paper in a coordinated color a metallic finish, perhaps trimmed with decorative edge scissors. Or a frame of ribbon. Or glitter. Or a rubber stamp border. Or... or... or...