Last-Minute Holiday Card Ideas

Hello, Altenew friends!

With the holiday season just around the corner, we know that many of you are looking for ideas for your last-minute holiday cards. Great news! We are bringing you lots of beautiful card-making inspiration today featuring some of our best-selling and fan-favorite products. We hope this helps you mass-produce your holiday cards.

Let's get started! 

Go CAS!

If you are looking to create holiday cards in bulk, you might need to keep it clean and simple. Go for minimalist designs. A little stamping here, a sentiment there, maybe a bit of coloring, and you're done! Don't overdo it if you don't want to spend an hour on just one handmade card.

Let's check out some examples from our DT!

The beautifully laden branch (with berries!) from the Bountiful Branch Stamp Set is perfect for quick and easy CAS cards! Laurie went the extra mile by gold heat-embossing her sentiment in her card but, of course, you can simply stamp it in black ink (or whatever color you want!).

Speaking of gold heat-embossing, Aga's CAS card also shone and sparkled thanks to the gold heat-embossed snowflake images from Small Moments Stamp Set. Her card also features the Bountiful Branch Stamp Set!

The Winter Wishes Stamp Set is another perfect set for your last-minute holiday cards! The gorgeous and serene winter scenery, coupled with the holiday-themed sentiments, in this 4×6 stamp set will help you create stunning handmade cards instantly! TIP! Stamp it on different colored cardstocks for a unique twist! Norine also used Platinum Embossing Powder and added some shading using our Artist Markers for some extra oomph.

Another quick CAS holiday card idea is to simply use a focal image and add some colors using glitters and colored cardstock! You may choose to die-cut it for added dimension or simply stamp it onto your card base.  Here, Laurie die-cut a pine tree from the Plentiful Pine Stamp Set, and then popped it up onto the card base. She also stamped a sentiment in black ink AND added some red glitter dots for interest. Easy peasy!

Combine different stamp sets in your stash!

Who says you can only use one stamp set to create beautiful last-minute holiday cards? Using multiple images from various stamp sets will allow you to create a unique design and turn your quick card into an instant showstopper!

Let's take a look at some examples!

Norine combined a few images from various stamp sets: Leaf Clusters, Weekend Doodles, Flower Garden, and Dot Art to create her very own graphic holiday card! Pretty neat idea, right?

Similarly, Aga also created a beautiful and unique design by simply stamping various images from the following mini stamp sets: Small Moments, Mini Christmas and Pine Cone Stamp Set. How awesome is her card?!

How lovely is this winter scene?! Here, Sveta decided to create her unique winter scenery by using the images from Winter Wishes Stamp Set and Winter Cottage Stamp Set. You cannot get any winter-y than this!

Do it the non-traditional way!

Another fun and easy thing to do is to use non-holiday stamp sets and combine them with holiday-themed ones!

Check out how Lydia stamped a fun cluster of triangles from Sohcahtoa Stamp Set and then added in some holly using two of the smaller images from Peaceful Wreath Stamp Set. TIP! Here, she only used the base layer of the single holly leaf and berry to keep on with the graphic look.

The best thing about non-holiday images is you can make a masculine or neutral card and not worry about what to give your male family and friends. For instance, Lydia decided to create a winter/holiday card using our NEW Modern Fox Stamp and Die Bundle! She simply arranged the trees and the fox on her card base, added a sentiment, and voila – an instant masculine/neutral holiday card!

Go for Gold!

The holidays are all about red and green, but that doesn't mean you can't step out of your comfort zone and try different color combinations! Gold (or silver, if you prefer that) always gives off an elegant, classy, and festive feeling. Don't you agree?

Here are some quick holiday card ideas using GOLD!

Both Therese and Svitlana had an excellent idea – simply stamping an image and gold heat-embossing it with Rose Gold Embossing Powder! Clever, quick, and easy! And the result, needless to say, is just STUNNING! Therese's card features the Modern Poinsettia Stamp Set while Svitlana used the Festive Foliage Stamp Set on her holiday card.

Here's another one by Svitlana, using the same simple technique, but featuring the Starry Night Stamp Set and using Antique Gold Embossing Powder.

Heat-emboss all you can!

Erum proved that you can create different looks with just one stamp set by simply using a variety of embossing powders! Check out her gorgeous and shiny holiday cards!

Her cards featured the Festive Poinsettia Stamp Set and the following embossing powders: Antique Gold Embossing Powder and Pure White Embossing Powder.

We hope you were inspired by these quick and easy last-minute holiday card ideas! Comment below and let us know which card idea are you excited to try! If you do try them, please use the hashtag #Altenew when you post them on social media. We'd love to see your lovely creations!