4 steps to transform Dollar Store bulk Christmas cards

Hi everyone!  So I was at the Dollar Store and to my surprise I saw they sell boxed Christmas cards.  15 cards with envelopes for $1!  AND they were cute!  I thought they'd be perfect as the foundation for some mass production cards I needed for my neighbors, mail lady and my boys' teachers.

So in 4 easy steps they went from cheap and ordinary to super fun and cute!  I know they aren't my fancy elegant (read: time consuming) cards, but I save those for my family and close friends.  I needed 7 cards ASAP and these turned out pretty darn cute!

Here is how they started out.  Not too bad, I like the generic "Seasons Greetings" with traditional Christmas colors and images.

Please note, this post was written 10 years ago and all the dies I used from Spellbinders are now discontinued. You can find all the current Christmas themed die sets here.

  Step 1:

- Trim the front of the card to 4 3/4" x 3 3/4", set aside the inside sentiment to be die cut later

Step 2:

- Cut white cardstock into A2 size card bases (I needed 7)

Step 3:

- Die cuts
I wanted to add interest to my card base, so I used my Gold Rectangles One die set and embossed a mini checkered border pattern.

I chose Holiday Trees and Layered Poinsettia for embellishments and a variety of label shapes to cut the inside sentiment.  With my Grand sized cutting plates, I can just about complete 2 cards in one pass!

Step 4:

- Glue down the card front and embellishments
I made each card a little different because I am NOT wired to make them exactly the same.  I tried.

Here are the other basic supplies I used to spruce up the cards.  I kept this REALLY simple so I could get things done quickly!  Some stickles, baker's twine, scrap gold mirror cardstock and gold embellishments.

Here is how they turned out.  I will note that at first I was doing my embossing wrong -duh! As you can see in the step 3 picture, I placed the gold embossing rectangle onto a cutting plate instead of embossing mat.  It took me two times, each wondering why it was cutting the cardstock before I figured it out, lol!  You can see the cards below with cut parts instead of embossed borders.  Oh well, adds interest I guess!

 Here's the inside, isn't it COOL how the embossing goes all the way through to the inside?  It frames things perfectly!! (Sorry for the shadows, I turned off one of my lights for this pic so you could see the embossing better.)

Thanks for stopping by and here's a close up pic.

Card Deets:   

Spellbinders current Christmas themed products here
Spellbinders Dies: S4-402 2013 Holiday Trees, S5-055 Layered Poinsettia Shapeabilities®, S4-411 Gold Rectangles One Nestabilities®

Cardstock: White cardstock; glitter cardstock scraps; gold mirror cardstock scraps

Other Supplies: Green Stickles, Green/white baker's twine; Gold Candi embellishments

Adhesive: Tombow USA Mono Multi liquid glue; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L Foam Squares    

NOTE: You can also find Spellbinders dies at the The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.