Printable Frame Christmas Cards

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 Standing Printable Frame Christmas Cards that have a super cute vintage vibe. These will be perfect for gifting or displaying in your home for the holidays, they have that lovely touch of whimsy that can easily bring in a little bit of Christmas magic!

These beauties are really easy to put together, as I’m sharing all the elements that you’ll need to make them! I’m actually sharing two printables. One where you’ll find the base for the cards with the sheet music insert that goes inside and the second one with a few absolutely gorgeous Christmas images and cutouts that can be used to further decorate them.

The first printable needs to be printed once to create the base for a single card. Of course, if you want to make more than one, you can print it as many times as needed. The second printable will allow you to decorate three cards, but you’ll also have plenty of extra cutouts that can be used for other seasonal projects, too.

The main characters today will be a sweet little girl with a red hoodie who carries Christmas gifts, a Christmas tree with red ornaments and some bells with gold ribbons and holly branches.

Free Printables:

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

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

 

Supply List:

• white cardstock paper
• home printer
• regular scissors or a cutting machine
• mini distress inks
• blending tool with foams
• Glossy Accents, paper glue stick or any other craft glue
• bone folder
• ruler
• acetate sheet
• gold or glitter washi tape, small Christmas charms, gold thread, decorative buttons – optional

STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL:

Start by printing your card base printable on cardstock paper. Use the heaviest weight of cardstock your printable can handle, we need to add as much sturdiness as we can to these beauties, right from the beginning. Print the card base as many times as you want and please keep in mind that a printable with the base will create one card.

Use your scissors to carefully cut each element. If you own a cutting machine (I have a Silhouette Cameo 5 with an AutoBlade) and want to use it, I’ve made it possible for you to do so here. Right-click on the printable image and select Open link in a new tab, then save the large-format image on your computer first – we need the .png version of the file, not the .pdf, for this to work.
You can then add it to your cutting machine design software and use the Registration Marks while printing it.
Adhere the printable to your cutting mat, make the necessary cardstock settings and send it for cutting.

To make three cards, I printed the base three times and the cutouts once.
Print and cut as many card bases as you want, then use distress ink to give the paper even more of a vintage vibe. I love using the Walnut Stain from Ranger, to which I added a drop or two of Wild Honey distress ink, it’s definitely my latest go-to combo for all my projects.

Print your embellishment printable, then arm yourself with patience and cut each of our beautiful Christmas elements. If you want to use your cutting machine again, you can!

Place your card base with the red striped frame on your table vertically. Use a ruler and a bone folder to score a line right where the red stripes end.

Use your fingers to close the card following the previously scored line. Press the paper with your fingers, trying to overlap it on the sides, then place it facing down on your table and use your bone folder to burnish it. Because of the cut frame, it’s easier to burnish it this way.
You will notice that the front of the card is slightly larger than the back, but that’s OK, I intentionally designed it like that to have a little bit of extra room due to the weight of the paper.

Open your card base and place it horizontally on your table. Add paper glue to the whole surface of the bottom and adhere the music sheet on top. The music sheet will have a small section at the bottom that will go outside our card base. Press the glued area with your fingers and make sure it dries completely before moving on.

Place the card base vertically on your table, facing down, and use a ruler and a bone folder to score a line on the paper that is hanging outside the card, leaving about 1/5 of an inch (0,5 cm) on the side.

Flip the card over and place it horizontally on your table. Use your fingers to fold the scored section upwards, then burnish it using your bone folder.

Fold the paper upward again, this time following the bottom edge of our card, then burnish it.

Now fold the paper downward, right in the middle, to finish the foldable base for our card.

This is how your finished foldable stand should look when looked at from the side. As you can see, it should form the letter W with the back side of our card, when the card is partially closed.

Now you can open your card and place it on your table. Add glue to the top folded section of our standing base and then close the card and use your fingers to press it down and hold it in place for a few seconds.

Our first card base is now ready, just follow the same steps to fold the standalone base for all the other cards.

Now it’s time to decide which of the paper elements that I’m sharing on the second printable you would like to use. Pick one of the three larger focal point images and place it on the exterior frame of your card to see how it looks. Then pick a few of the other cutouts to further decorate the frame, but also place some of them inside the card, to create more depth and variation.

Go through your Christmas embellishments to see if you can use some here to further decorate the cards. Look for small jewelry charms, vintage buttons or tiny ornaments that would add even more character to your cards. I added a small gold bracelet connector to the girl and made it look like she is wearing a small gilded belt.

This would be the perfect opportunity to use some of the small bits and pieces that you’ve been saving to decorate your Christmas projects. Use vintage brooches or even some small decorative buttons to add even more charm to these beauties.

The finished pieces will look absolutely beautiful and can be as festive as you want! That’s the best part of these handmade projects, if you ask me! You can really add your own twist to them and truly make them your own!

I debated with myself whether or not to use some acetate to cover the window frame and I even tried it to see how it looked.

But I’ve decided not to use it because I loved the simpler look of the cards. Of course, if you want to add some, you can! Make a few tests before to see if you like it or not and use double-sided tape or some more Glossy Accents to glue it in place, on the inside of the frame.

I used Glossy Accents to glue some of the paper elements, but also adhered the additional charms and buttons that I used as embellishments. You can also add some gold thread, ribbons or even some wire to this whole decorating scenario. Of course, if you have something else around that you think might be a good fit, you can have fun using that too!
Make sure everything dries completely before loosening the folded base so you can place the standing cards on your table.

Another thing that can be used for decorating is gold or glitter washi tape! Add some torn pieces under the Christmas wishes to make them shine even more!

As you can see, I also added a small gold charm to the bells card to make it look more dimensional and intriguing. And just to give you an idea, if you want to take things to a new level of chicness, try adding small crafting bells that actually jingle! How amazing would that be?

One thing I also love to do is use Glossy Accents to add some dimension here and there, but also highlight some of these amazing details. On the Christmas tree card, I used more of this super cool medium to highlight the red ornaments on the tree. I simply added small dots of glue on top of each ornament, and I let it dry to become transparent. Boom! Your 30-second 3D effect on your Christmas ornaments is now ready! You can add some glue to the holly berries, but you can also find other small details that could use a little bit more love.

The details on these cards are absolutely beautiful and the fact that they stand on their own is definitely a huge plus! I’m so happy with how they turned out! I think they would make the perfect handmade Christmas gift that everyone would love to display for the holidays. It’s unpretentious and so easy to make, but with such visually appealing final results!

I hope you enjoyed these beautiful Printable Christmas Frame Cards. You might also like my DIY Pop Up Printable Christmas Card Kit HERE.

Happy crafting,
Diana | Dreams Factory