How to Make Handmade Cards For Special Occasions

Creating handmade cards for special occasions is not just a great way to save money on gifts; it also saves you a lot of time. Instead of spending hours shopping around for a gift at a store or browsing through various online stores, you can simply use a few paper crafting supplies and make something extra special. 

Personalized handmade card designs are trending on social media sites like Pinterest and Instagram. You can definitely find one or two handmade card ideas for your next project with a quick search. But if looking through Pinterest and Instagram is a bit overwhelming for you, we’ve got a few inspiring designs here to help kickstart your creativity.

Read: Simple Yet Effective Love-Themed Card

Easy Handmade Card Ideas and Handmade Card Designs For Various Special Occasions

1. New Year’s Day

With most people focused on giving each other Christmas presents, New Year’s Day gifts aren’t prevalent. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t spread the good tidings to family, friends, and acquaintances through beautifully crafted handmade card designs. The best thing about New Year’s Day cards is their simplicity. For instance, you can create a quick and easy card using a couple of washi tapes and some bold numeral dies as Virginia did HERE.

Bold Numerals Die Set

Here’s how she created the quick and easy New Year’s card above:

1. Stamp the Stone Mosaic Stamp Set on white cardstock. You can use any color combination to create your mosaic. Virginia chose pink (Cotton Candy,  Snapdragon, and Magenta Inks) and mint (Misty Morning Ink) colors for her base. 
2. With the Bold Numerals Dies positioned on top of her stamped image, she ran them through her Mini Blossom Die Cutting Machine. She got her four numbers instantly!
3. To add shine and strengthen the numbers, she inked them up Embossing Ink and heat-embossed the numbers with Crystal Clear Embossing Powder. 
4. Next, she applied the Gold String Washi Tape over a piece of cardstock. 
5. Then, she die-cut the washi tape cardstock with Geo Frame Die Set. 
6. She used Parchment Cardstock as her card base, and it tied all the elements nicely together.
7. Next, she adhered the die-cut “2020” over the washi tape die-cut. 
8. Finally, she stamped “happy” (from Happy Pomegranates Stamp Set) on top.

Here are five handmade card ideas that you can try on your New Year’s Day card projects:

 

• Simple card with bold numbers
• 3D New Year’s card
• Travel-themed New Year’s card
• Clean and simple card with Mega Alphabet Dies
• Monochromatic New Year’s card

Read: Quick and Easy New Year Card with Bold Numerals Die Set

With these easily customizable card designs, you can send thoughtful New Year’s wishes in no time!

2. Christmas

Oh, what fun it is to make your own handmade Christmas cards! This is probably the most effortless card design to create. Similar to New Year’s cards, you can be as creative as you want with Christmas cards. Keep it clean and simple, or be as colorful and festive as you’d like. The sky's the limit when it comes to Christmas handmade card ideas. From pine trees and wreaths to snowman and stockings, there are plenty of Christmas symbols that you can choose from. Of course, to make your life easier, we’re sharing three different handmade greeting card ideas that you can use on your next holiday cards.

Majestic Mistletoe Stamp Set

• Christmas cards with pine trees
• Christmas cards with cardinals
• Christmas card with mistletoe
• Christmas card with winter scenery
• Christmas card with snow
• Winter-themed Christmas card

If you’re still needing more Christmas handmade greeting card ideas, check out this blog post.

 

3. Thanksgiving

Orange-brown foliage, chilly and crisp weather, the smell of pumpkin spice latte  - do these remind you of something? Thanksgiving may not be celebrated outside the US, but it is one of the most distinct and well-known occasions worldwide. Most handmade greeting card ideas include autumn foliage, a warm cup of coffee or tea, beautiful plump pumpkin, or autumn flowers such as chrysanthemum.

Autumn Bounty Stamp & Die Bundle

Our design team member Norine has created three unique handmade cards to help you send warm autumn blessings from your family to your friends, coworkers, or acquaintances. Click here to see her card projects and learn how to recreate them.

4. Valentine’s Day

Who says Valentine’s Day cards are only for young and new couples? Whether or not you celebrate this special occasion, you can whip up a few quick and easy handmade card ideas for your loved ones. Before you start, here are a few card making tips from our expert card makers:

Read: His and Her Valentine’s Day Cards

• Keep it clean and simple.
• Feel free to use other colors aside from reds and pinks.
• Don’t hesitate to use other designs such as florals, geometric, and different shapes instead of just hearts.
• Create scenery on your Valentine’s Day cards!
• Mix and match your sentiments. Be as creative as you want with your message. There are so many different ways to say “I love you!”

Be a Lighthouse Stamp Set

Remember, the whole point of creating handmade cards is to personalize them according to your or the recipient’s preferences. You don’t need to follow a card design to a T. Add your own flair and creativity to your cards. Try these handmade greeting card ideas on your Valentine’s Day cards and projects!

• His and her Valentine’s Day cards
• Cute and simple cards featuring patterned papers
• Valentine’s Day card with contemporary and masculine colors

5. Cards For Any Occasion

Sometimes you just want to send a DIY handmade card for no reason or even if there’s no special occasion. It could be a late birthday greeting card, a congratulations card, an anniversary card, a get well soon card, or a “just because” card. It’s always useful to create these types of cards in batches. That way, you can grab one any time and send it out right away. Of course, you can customize these cards based on your preferences in colors and designs.

Vintage Flowers Stamp & Die Bundle

Aga’s floral card took her a little over 5 minutes to create, and it’s perfect for any occasion!

Create handmade card designs for any occasion using these themes!

Themes	Occasion / Celebration
Florals	Any occasion, birthday, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, New Year’s Day, congratulations, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, missing you cards, just because cards, thank you cards
Nature	Christmas, just because, missing you, greeting card, anniversary, get well soon cards, thank you cards
Geometric / Shapes	Any occasion, birthday, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, New Year’s Day, congratulations, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, missing you cards, just because cards, thank you cards
Food	Birthday, anniversary, congratulations, wedding cards, Valentine’s Day, get well soon cards.
Travel	Missing you cards, just because cards, greeting cards, friendship cards, wish you were here cards, get well soon cards

Read: How to Combine Different Mediums to Create Beautiful Textures

There you have it! These five handmade card ideas are super easy, so you can instantly recreate them on your next DIY cards. Even if you cannot copy the whole design, you can always get some idea from it or let it spark your creativity. In case you are still on the lookout for more card making and paper crafting ideas, feel free to check out this page. As always, replenish your paper crafting stash and get your supplies over at the Altenew store.