Try-Tuesday: Christmas Cards—fun with duct tape, glitter, and glue

Today, I’m linking up with Desiree at The 36th Avenue for the very first installment of our Christmas linky party!:

The theme is Christmas cards, which was a fun one for me since I’m not usually a Christmas card kind of girl, and now I get to try something new!

For today’s Try-it Tuesday, I’m going to show you some fun I had playing around with duct tape and glitter and glue (oh my!), but it won’t be a tutorial, per se, simply because I kind of winged it and tweaked it until I got something I liked, and I think you would want to do the same.

Here’s what I started out with:

• White card stock
• 4 different colors of duct tape
• Two different kinds of ribbon
• Glitter
• Scissors
• Elmer’s glue
• Glenda the hot-glue gun

I know it looks like this is shaping up to be quite the froofy Christmas card, but I was shooting for modern with a funky twist or two, and, when all was said and done, I felt I’d accomplished  that goal.

Here’s the finished product:

(Pardon the not-so-great picture…it’s been gray and dreary around here for days now, and it’s hard to get a decent picture without even a hint of the sun!).

Okay, so what all did I do?

1. I folded my cardstock in half and then used red/white duct tape to make stripes across the horizontal length of the “card.”

2. I trimmed the top and bottom with gray polka dot ribbon to add a little contrast, texture, and pattern to the stripes and added the aqua ruffle ribbon to the middle, all with the help of my trusty new best friend, Glenda the glue-gun (we miss you, GLEN!—I had to say that just in case he was listening from glue-gun heaven).

3.  Then I found a Christmas tree template online, printed it, placed a piece of teal duct tape on top of the template, and cut around the outline. I hot-glued my duct tape Christmas tree on top of the stripes and added a few pearly white bugle beads for “ornaments.”

3.  Next, I freehanded a star tree-topper from gold duct tape (folded in half with the sticky sides facing to avoid the icky glue residue on my scissors) and plunked him on the tree-top.

4. It was looking cute, but it needed something more.  This part was a bit of a pain, but ultimately worth it, I think. I opened up Word, picked some fonts I liked and played with the sizes until I got them right. Then I printed the words “Merry” and “Bright” onto a piece of cardstock, laid a piece of white duct tape over the top of each, and got to cutting. While the letters are far from perfect, I think they work pretty well.

5. I grabbed some thin scraps of gold duct tape I had lying on the table and made the “and/+” symbol (I originally attempted to cut an ampersand out of duct tape, but that was a fool’s errand for sure!).

6. Last of all, I grabbed my trusty Elmer’s glue bottle, and freehanded the reference to one of the most powerful verses in the Bible: Luke 2:11, which says,”Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

Now, I’m not going to lie and claim that this is a quick little project. Honestly, it’s a lot of work/time for a single Christmas card, which means it certainly isn’t a candidate for sending to all the sisters, uncles, cousins, and their cats. 

But it was a fun, easy, fairly mindless crafting spree that let me unleash a little creativity without having to play by any particular rules.

Oh, and colored duct tape?

Yeah, it’s pretty much the best invention on the planet.  If all goes as planned (oh, those are dangerous words), you’ll be seeing more of it around here soon.

P.S. I’m guest-posting today for Jamielyn over at I {Heart} Nap Time, sharing my process for creating the embellished dinnerware set that I made for the giveaway. Be sure to stop by Jamie’s house and say howdy! : )

P.P.S. Don’t forget…tomorrow we’re linking up our Christmas accessories (think scarves, reindeer hats, tutus, gloves, tights…whatever!) with Cori of La Vie Petite for round 2 of “Blogging Around the Christmas Tree!”

P.P.P.S (seriously, Abbie?! : )) In case you didn’t see from yesterday’s winner’s announcement for the PCM fundraiser, this week’s theme for:

 

is…

WREATHS!

(You can link yours over at Biblical Homemaking, who will be hosting this week’s party!)

_{Christmas – My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia ~  Southern Hospitality ~ Ten June ~ A Thoughtful Place}

_{Monday ~ The DIY Showoff Project Parade ~ Made by You Mondays ~ Embellishing Life Everyday ~ Just Something I whipped up Monday  ~ The CSI project ~ Menu Plan Monday ~ C.R.A.F.T.  ~ The Southern Institute ~ Making the World Cuter ~ Thrify Décor Chick ~ Metamorphosis Monday ~ Sumo Sweet Stuff ~ Gunny Sack ~ Singing Three Little Birds ~DIY Homes Sweet Home ~ Dittle Dattle ~ 1929 Charmer ~ Everything Under the Moon  ~ ModMix Monday ~ Sew Stylish ~ Coastal Charm ~ Under the Table and Dreaming}

_{Tuesday ~ Get Your Craft ~ Tip Junkie ~ Blackberry Vine ~ Crafty Confessions ~ Me & my Boys ~ A Bowl Full of Lemons ~ Home Stories A-Z ~ My Uncommon Slice of Suberbia  ~ Carolyn’s Homework ~ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ House of Grace ~ Passionately Artisitc ~ My World Made by Hand ~ Uncommon Designs ~ Trendy Treehouse}

_{Wednesday ~ Blue Cricket Design ~ Somedays Crafts ~ Sew Much Ado ~ Sew Woodsy ~ Handy Man, Crafty Woman ~ Savvy Southern Style ~ {Primp} ~ Midweek Fiesta ~ Rae Gun Ramblings ~ Polkadots On Parade ~ Lollipop Cards ~ JAQS Studio ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ My Girlish Whims}

_{Thursday ~ Transformation Thursdays ~ Somewhat simple ~ Show off your stuff ~ House of Hepworths ~ Delightful Order ~ My Simple Home Life ~ The Frugal Girls ~ Thrifty Thursday ~ DIY Diva Thursday ~ Tablescape Thursday ~ No Minimalists Here ~ Crafty, Scrappy, Happy ~ Thrifty Decorating ~ Between U and Me ~ 36th Avenue}

_{Friday ~ The Shabby nest  ~ Show and Tell Friday ~ Finding Fabulous ~ I’m Loving it ~ Simply Sweet Home ~ Whipper Berry ~ Chic on a Shoestring decorating ~ Spunky Junky ~ Delicate Construction ~ Homemaker in Heels ~ Family Ever After~ French Country Cottage ~ Common Ground ~ Young And Crafty ~ At the Picket Fence ~ Fingerprints on the Fridge ~ Miss Mustard Seed ~ Addicted to Decorating ~Bacon Time with The Hungry Hypo ~ Making Lemonade ~ I Can’t Stop Crafting ~ Over the Big Moon ~ Shabby Art ~ Answer is Chocolate}

_{Saturday ~ I heart nap time- Sundae Scoop ~ Tatertots and Jello ~ Be different Act Normal ~ Funky Junk ~ 2805 ~ Making Lemonade Blog ~I am Along for the Ride  ~ Lolly Jane}

_{Sundays ~ Homemaker on a Dime ~ Sunday’s Best}