Homemade CHRISTMAS cards

I have a love / hate relationship with store bought cards.  One of my biggest complaints is the price of cards - they can be quite expensive!

Over the years, my girls have attended many birthday parties (especially when they were younger).  Rarely did we purchase a birthday card.  The girls would make one...some paper and stickers (from my scrapbook stash)....Bam...there you go...a homemade card!  Seriously, how many of those kids actually read the sentiment inside the card, yet alone save the card?  I just feel like it can be a waste of money.

Even a Get Well card or Thinking Of You card - many times, that's really all I want to say.  Simple and to the point.  Not the blah blah blah.

Hopefully I didn't offend anyone.  Now with that said, I must admit....sometimes store bought cards are the way to go.  Sympathy cards for example - I want to send a card, but this is a case of  'What do I say?' or  'How do I say it?'  After standing and looking at many cards (which is another part of the hate relationship I have with store bought cards - there are so many to choose from), I find the perfect poem or saying...something that I could not have came up with on my own.  

Christmas cards

There are some beautiful cards out there, some worthy of putting in a frame (which I have done).  But I can get lost in the wording.  And again, they can be expensive.  I send a lot of Christmas cards - family (I have a big one), friends and church family.   This year, I just want to say MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The girls had a snow day off from school yesterday and we made Christmas cards!  I may have a little OCD with things being done a certain way - centered, spaced correctly, the right amount of ink, cleaning the stamps, .... you get my problem.  I have to make a conscious effort at times to keep myself in check.  Yesterday, I made that conscious effort and it was sooooo worth it!  I usually wait until after Thanksgiving to start listening to Christmas music but, hey, we were making Christmas cards!  So....we played Christmas music, had a fire, and we made cards!  

I recently purchased an embossing machine from a stamping party that I attended.  We used it for the first time to emboss some pre-folded cards that I bought on sale at Hobby Lobby.   I really like the texture and look that it gives.  

We used stamps that I have bought over time (on sale or with coupons).  We used snowflakes and Merry Christmas stamps with silver ink.  

For the i in Christmas and the center of some of the snowflakes we glued a rhinestone for a little pizazz. That's it!  Homemade...from the heart...to the point.  

It will be time to sign our names and mail them before we know it ;-)

Sharing at:
Tweak It Tuesday
The Scoop
Wake Up Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays
Thursday Favorite Things
Show and Tell Friday
Simple Saturdays Blog Hop
Treasure Hunt Thursday
Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop