Make Watercolor Christmas Cards + Envelope Liners
These beautiful watercolor Christmas cards and envelope liners are a lovely handmade way to celebrate the holidays!
I have secretly (or perhaps not so secretly) always wanted to be a watercolor painter. I don’t know what it is about watercolor painting — the way that the colors run and soak into the paper is just so fascinating, isn’t it?
And lucky for me it’s forgiving, because you can kind of pretend to know what you’re doing even if you’re a total newbie like me. High five.
If you have secret watercolor dreams too, I’m here to tell ya that you can totally tackle making these easy watercolor Christmas cards.
Psst — before you dive in, be sure to sign up below for my VIP group so that I can send more of my very best holiday ideas straight to ya.
More Handmade Holiday Projects
I take so much joy in making things always, but, especially around the holidays.
There is a particular type of feeling that it evokes in me — listening to holiday music, sipping on something cozy, and using your hands to create something that will become a family heirloom or a gift for somebody you love.
It’s such a content and full feeling.
So I rounded up a few of my other favorite holiday projects if you love capturing that feeling too. Be sure to pin your favorites so that you can find them easily again when you’re ready to get festive.
- DIY Christmas Wreath With Vintage Toy Cars
- How to Finger Knit a Holiday Garland
- Giant Cardboard Christmas Trees
- Modern Salt Dough Ornaments (And How to Whiten Salt Dough!)
- How to Make Personalized Christmas Stockings
Watercolor Holiday Cards
I can’t take credit for the design of these cards, but I definitely can take credit for painting them!
I took Creativebug’s watercolor holiday card class and was so excited about how much anxiety it took away from trying to tackle a watercolor project as a newbie.
The course had me whipping out brushstrokes like a pro in no time.
The wreath is super simple to make, and you can even use your kids’ watercolor set!
- Fold a piece of watercolor paper into the card size that you’d like.
- Make a few practice strokes on a scrap paper before you paint on the card. Load your brush with a fair amount of water and a bit of green watercolor paint. Set your brush down and quickly pull up and away to create a leaf in your wreath.
- Once you have the stroke down, start making your wreath on the card! You can lightly sketch a circle with pencil first to make sure you don’t end up lopsided. I alternated green tones, even bringing in a little yellow. Continue making your leaves, angled in the same direction around the wreath, until you meet yourself back where you started.
- Allow the wreath to dry a bit. Next, go in with a deep red loaded on your brush and gently dot on a few holly berries. Again, you may want to practice this on a scratch paper first.
Should You Hand Paint Christmas Cards?
Truthfully, I could probably never make it through my entire list of holiday card recipients if I were going to try to paint them all. It’s just too many!
But, where these watercolor Christmas cards come in very handy is for special gifts or important people in your life.
You could even teach your kids to paint these easy patterns and they could make handpainted cards for their teachers or grandparents.
Making a handful of these is definitely achievable, enjoyable, and special.
Adding a Liner to Handmade Christmas Cards
I kept kind of stressing out about getting it just right (hello, Type A creative!) but as it turns out, you kind of can’t go wrong with watercolor.
The little wreath painting is a total snap, and you could probably even do it with kiddos if you wanted to have a crafternoon together.
I especially love the little patterned liner. The liners make the card and envelope feel substantial and elevated. It’s such a pretty touch.
Here’s how to create a liner!
- Trace your open envelope onto a piece of cardstock or cardboard.
- Cut away 1/2 inch on both sides and the bottom edge, leaving the top angle uncut.
- Now this will serve as your template! Trace this onto whatever paper you’d like to use as your liner. We used watercolor paper. Paint on your pattern, and cut out the liner.
- Use a glue stick to spread glue to the back of the liner, slide it into the envelope, and smooth it down to adhere.
I hope you love making these. Happy holidays! xoxo
This post was originally sponsored by Creativebug. This post also contains affiliate links for your convenience. This means that I receive a small commission should you make a purchase via one of these links, at no additional cost to you. Thank you as always for your support!
These cards and envelopes are so pretty! Great job!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
I use to make my own holiday cards and then that thing time kept slipping away from me more and more each year. Love these though 🙂
Jess
http://www.citycomfortsdc.com/the-grind/
Adorable! Love these!