For our December Friday Project Series, we will focus on painted holiday crafts that are easy and fun and let you create a beautiful one-of-a-kind gift for others.
Cards seemed like a great way to start. Everyone loves getting a handmade card—I know I do! It’s very simple to do. We are referring to this project as retro because it reminds us of the cards we used to get when we were little.
Here’s what you need:
- Plain cards & envelopes (available in places like Staples, AC Moore, Michael’s, etc.)
- Snowman, Christmas Tree, and Star Stencil Templates (Click each to download)
- Card Stock
- X-acto knife
-Leftover house paint in assorted colors
- Brushes
- Valspar Silver Metallic Spray Paint
- Valspar Gold Glitter Spray Paint
- Glitter
- Plain white letter paper
- 3 mm red ribbon
- Glue
- Pinking Sheers
- A mailing list filled with friends and family
Start by collecting all your supplies in one place. Because the project involves spray paint, it is important that you find a well-ventilated space to work.
Take a stencil or pick from one of our templates included in this post. Print this out on card stock and cut it out using an X-acto knife. Use care when working with this tool!
Paint the surface of your blank holiday card using any left over house paint. We have lots of colors lying around the studio so we were able to come up with these combinations:
Red:
La Fonda Fireberry
Grand Hotel Geranium
Sassy Peach
Blue:
Bay Mist
Gentle Wind
Sweet Mint
Green:
Mild Evergreen
Celery
Bay Mist
You can use any combination if the colors that you prefer. We like to blend a few colors together to give depth, but you can always go with one color, particularly if that is what you have on hand.
Once it is dried, take the template and place it over the face of the card. Take out your well-shaken spray paint and give a little spray. You don’t need much! Next, add the glitter. The glitter will adhere to the drying paint. This will give your card some extra sparkle - and who doesn’t want a little extra sparkle, specially this time of year?
If you want to go the extra mile, you can add a beautiful inside layer as well. To do this: take the paper and spray it with Valspar Glitter Spray Paint. After this dries, take the pinking shears and cut it to the size appropriate for your card. Glue it to the card, add some festive red ribbon and voila!!! You have a gorgeous card you’ll be proud to give to a loved one.

