Christmas Ornament Cards

 December was always my favorite mail sorting time of year at work, because of all the beautiful and unique cards that came in, often from all over the world.

Several stood out to me in particular for their reusable qualities.  The best was a card that had live seeds embedded in the paper, and the recipient could tear it up, plant it, and enjoy their card in the form of flowers come Spring.  There were also several cards that doubled as ornaments, and I loved that.  So much so that I was determined to make my own.  I finally got around to it this year.  I started in August, because I had absolutely no idea what to make, or really how to make it, until I could see the available materials.

Eventually I found these chipboard shaped ornaments in the holiday craft section at Michaels, way back with the minis.

I had some lovely heavy Christmas scrapbook paper in my stash already, because I've been planning this for ages.  Then it was a matter of tracing the shapes onto the back of the paper and cutting them out.  I was able to get two shapes out of one card for a classic ball shape.  

Then I cut out two sizes of long ovals using a template.  I even found some stamps that were appropriate for the 'inside' of a holiday card, and stamped that on the back.  I used a shiny gold paper I found at Michael's to cut out the hangers on top of the cards. 

Pile o' card ornaments

 It was fun, but a lot of work.  I'm thinking a die cut machine is in order for future projects.  Fortunately it was busy work so I could just settle down in front of the TV and do a few at a time.  I punched a hole in the top and threaded some thin gold cord through to act as hangers.  The ornaments were small enough to fit in the smaller envelopes and very easy to mail.  I'm hoping my recipients think these are pretty enough to hang on their tree next year!

I just realized I forgot to make one for MY tree.  I guess I should go get on that!