DIY Gift Topper Postcards

Hello, Graphics Fairy friends! I’m Diana from Dreams Factory and I’m happy to be here again to share another creative project with you! Today, I will show you how to make these beautiful Printable Postcards that are perfect to mail out, or to use as a DIY Gift Topper! These are Vintage Gold Christmas Postcards with red and blue borders, to which we’ll add some sparkly touches of gold. This will be the easiest project ever, as you will be able to make these beauties in no time!

These Christmas postcards might just save the day for all those last-minute seasonal decorating or gift wrapping needs. I think it would be safe to say that they are beautiful enough to make a statement on their own, so if you feel like skipping the gold and simply use them as they are, you definitely can! But if you want to take them to the next level, choose that touch of gold and watch them magically transform right under your eyes!

I used a few absolutely gorgeous Christmas images to design the postcards, and I created that lovely blue and red border that was once specific to internationally sent airmail. You will find six designs in different sizes, so you’ll have plenty of options to choose from. I wanted them to instantly make you think of Christmas, so I mostly used vintage Christmas images. But I also included two more universal ones that can be used for other wintery projects. Have you spotted these two already? If your answer is the one with the bird and the one with the two girls (or angels), you would be right!

I also included a few small Christmas wish cutouts that can be used on top of the postcards if you want.

Free Printables:

—-> Click HERE to Download the Full Size Printable PDF  <—-

—-> Click HERE to Download the Full Size Printable PDF  <—-

 

DIY Gift Topper Postcards Supply List:

• white cardstock paper
• home printer
• regular scissors
• mini distress inks
• blending tool with foams
• paper glue stick or any other craft glue
• gold foil (or gold marker, gold acrylic paint, gold watercolors)
• gold foil glue

STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL:

Start by printing your printables on cardstock paper. I usually choose the thickest cardstock my printer can handle to give more body to the final pieces.
You can use your laserjet printer for printing and since we won’t be using (too) wet mediums to further decorate these, you can use your inkjet printer as well.
Use your scissors to cut the postcards and the additional Christmas wish cutouts, which I included in the two printables.

Use brown distress ink to give the paper that lovely vintage vibe that we all love. Use a tiny bit on the edges, you won’t believe what a difference it will make!
I felt like the background used for the blue Santa postcard was too white and bright, so I applied some brown distress ink all over the surface to slightly darken it.

I wanted this to be a quick and easy project, so if you prefer to stop at this stage and use the postcards as they are, you definitely can!

But if you want to take things to the next level, proceed to use a little bit of gold, it will add so much charm and uniqueness to the final pieces! I used a special type of glue that is usually used for gold leaf, but it worked like a charm for gold foil, too! The great thing about gold foil glue, in general, is that it becomes tacky after drying. So keep in mind that you cannot use a regular glue for this step, because it simply won’t work.
If your gold foil glue doesn’t come with a fine tip applicator, you can pour it into a small bottle with an applicator. A fine tip applicator is a must, especially today, since we need to cover all these tiny details. So start by painting with glue all over the details that you want to further cover with gold, it’s that simple!

Here is a side-by-side comparison of how the gold foil glue transforms while drying. On the right side, you can see that the glue is still white, as I have just applied it. And on the left, you can see that it already started to become transparent, as you can see the design underneath.

Arrange the postcards on your table as you gradually apply the glue and let everything dry completely and become tacky before moving on.

This type of glue dries relatively quickly, so by the time I finished applying it to all the postcards, I was able to move on to adding the gold foil to the first ones I started with.
Use your fingers (not your nails) to press a small piece of gold foil onto the tacky area, then lift it off and watch the magic happen!

Start from the top and work your way downward so you don’t smear the tacky glue on your postcards.

As you apply the gold foil glue, try to take a closer look at your designs and observe which details would look good if gilded. As a general guideline, I would suggest trying not to completely cover with gold the specific details that you want, but rather think about how you can beautify or enhance them.
As you can see in the image below, I added small dots of glue (and then the gold foil on top) to the reindeer’s harness to make it pop, instead of just covering it completely.

You can then add the small Christmas wish cutouts on top, if you prefer.

And that’s pretty much it, your beautiful vintage Christmas postcards will be ready to use in no time!

Painting with glue and then adding the gold foil on top is definitely one of my all-time favorite activities! It’s so relaxing and there is nothing like the satisfaction you feel when peeling off that small piece of magical foil!

I gilded all the postage mark lines on all the postcards. I wanted them all to have a specific element that would also bring them together, so I thought the mark lines would manage to do that.

Feel free to improvise if you want to further embellish and draw with glue other small details like snowflakes, stars or why not, even a thoughtful handwritten message or a wish. Gild the tacky glue afterward and you are good to go!

I added a few decorative swirls to some of the postcards, like the one on the bird’s chest and on Santa’s bag. These are quite small, so take your time to paint all over them, trying to follow the lines and details as well as you can. But don’t worry about making them perfect, small imperfections are welcomed here and there.

In fact, these small imperfections will add more character to the finished pieces, enhancing that handmade feel we usually love bringing to our projects.

You’ll find a few stars on your postcards, so they would be perfect to cover in gold. While applying the glue, I actually drew three lines to fill the larger stars and only two to fill the smaller ones. They all turned out really beautiful!

Some of the designs are already filled to the brim with all sorts of vintage music sheets or other small embellishments, so don’t feel like you have to add the Christmas wishes to all of them. Follow your inspiration for the moment and skip the wishes altogether if you prefer.

I have to confess I had so much fun designing and creating these super chic postcards for you, so I hope you will have fun finding ways of including them in your Christmas decorating this year. For example, you can use pine cones to further embellish the bird postcard and give it dimension. Use Glossy Accents to hold everything in place if you prefer, then simply use the postcard as a small decorative element in a Christmas vignette.

You can use the same assembly to quickly embellish Christmas gifts in a stylish, but also quite organic way!

I’m using a mix of gold wrapping paper and simple kraft paper this year.Why? Because I love them both and I simply couldn’t decide! As an idea, if you want to emphasize even more the beauty of your postcards, you can skip the regular bow on top and use something smaller on the side! I used raffia to tie the gift and created a small bow on the side. I think it looks really pretty this way!

 

Of course, if you prefer the regular bow on top, they will look gorgeous nonetheless!

If I had to choose, I would say that the kraft paper brings even more vintageness to this whole blue and red airmail concept, don’t you think?

These two girls, along with the bird postcard, were among my favorites today. You can add other small embellishments like Christmas tree branches, twigs or even some dried winter flowers, if you want to give an organic feel to your gifts this year.
You could also practice your wrapping techniques before actually performing this operation on your gifts. I feel like I should have done that here, but in my defence, the kraft wrapping paper that I used was quite sturdy and gave me a hard time perfectly folding those corners.

I hope you will love this quick and easy project and decide to give it a try! You will be amazed to see how you can achieve such great results in such a short amount of time! And since this will be my last project for this year, I want to wish a Merry Christmas to you and your family and all the best for the new year! Don’t forget that things don’t always have to be perfect for the holidays, it’s more important to spend precious time together. So let’s pick up a cup of hot chocolate, cozy up and make beautiful memories with our loved ones this magical time of year!

You might also like a similar post with more Christmas Postcards HERE. 

Happy crafting,
Diana | Dreams Factory