String Art Christmas Cards
These string art Christmas cards are SO FUN to make! Use our free, printable templates to make these string art cards featuring festive holiday shapes, like a Christmas tree, star, or bulb ornament.
Poke holes in a blank card and use embroidery floss to create colourful designs across the front. It’s such a pretty way to send a personalized holiday greeting!
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How to Make String Art Christmas Cards
Materials:
- FREE Printable Star Template(more templates below tutorial)
- Light brown cardstock(cut to 7 x 10 inches, folded in half)
- Embroidery floss(yellow)
- Tape
- Printer paper(cut to 6-1/2 by 9-1/2 inches, or 1/2 inch smaller than card dimensions)
- Glue tape
Equipment:
- Cork trivet(or cork board)
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Punch holes in the card
- Print out one of our free star templates and cut around the shape, leaving a bit of a border around the outside.You can find the link to the star templates in the materials list above. Check below this tutorial for more details on what star we used and for links to the tree and ornament shapes.
- Make loops with painter’s tape and attach them to the back of the template.Make sure the tape is within the lines of the shape (not too close to the edge).
- Attach the star to the front of a blank card, centering it as best you can.
Open the card up and place the front of it on a cork trivet or corkboard. - Use a large needle to punch holes around the outline of the template, going through the card.Be sure to place a hole at every point or corner of the design, and make your holes a little over 1/4 inch apart.
- Once you’ve made your way all around the outline of the star, peel off the template from the front of the card.
Step 3: Make a border around the star
- String a needle with embroidery floss. You’ll want to start with a length of string about 2 feet long (24 inches).If you have too long a thread it can tangle easily, so kids might want to start with a shorter string. It’s fine if you need to use several different strands to make the card.
- Open the card and insert your needle into one of the holes from the inside.
- Pull the string through to the front, all the way until only 1/4 inch or so remains on the inside.Tape the string into place. You can use a whole piece of tape, but this can get in the way of the holes in the card, so we cut a piece of tape into smaller pieces.
- From the front, push the needle back down through the next hole in the border.
- Inside the card, push the needle back to the front through the next hole up. Once you’ve pulled the string tight to the front again, go back down to the previous hole.
- Continue this pattern, working your way around the outline of the star.
- Once the border is complete, tape off the string on the inside of the card and cut off the extra thread.(If you happen to have a lot of string left, no need to cut off the thread – you can just continue on to the next step.)
Step 4: Make a string art pattern across the card
- Now that the outline of the star is complete, start a new thread, taping it into place inside the card.Bring the string across the center of the shape, going back down through one of the outside holes. Go randomly across the shape with your thread, at different angles.It’s best to hold the thread across to see what it will look like. This also helps make sure you don’t go outside the shape.
- Continue decorating the inside of the star by bringing your string across from different directions, creating layers of thread.You can leave gaps between the string, or keep adding more layers until the inside is almost full. It’s up to you.
- Once you’re happy with the look of the card, tape and cut off the string inside.
Step 5: Add a card insert
- Cut a piece of printer paper to 6-1/2 by 9-1/2 inches and fold it in half. (Or half an inch smaller than the outer card size).Add glue tape (or double sided tape) to one side of the paper, along the edges and a bit in the center as well.
- Line up the paper insert so there’s an even amount of space on each side and then close the card, pressing down.
- This will connect the insert to one side of the card, covering up the inside stitches and tape.
- Repeat, attaching the other side of the insert to the back of the card, and then write your holiday message inside.
- Your string art Christmas card is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Kids can use a plastic embroidery needle to weave the embroidery thread through these string art Christmas cards.
- You can also use thin yarn or crochet cotton to make these string art cards.
Free printable templates for string art Christmas cards:
Click the links below to find the shapes we used to make our string art cards! The templates are free to download and print.
For the star string art card that we made in the tutorial above, we used the bottom right star on the “many sizes” option of Star Template #1:
>>> Star Template <<<
For our Christmas tree string art card we used the medium size of Christmas Tree #2:
>>> Christmas Tree Template <<<
We found the ornament template on Crazy Laura. We used the medium solid bulb ornament to make our Christmas ornament string art card.
You can find a lot of other great free Christmas templates online, simply by doing a Google search. Search for a Christmas shape like “gingerbread man” and then add “outline”, “template”, or “printable” to the end of your search term.
What type of paper is used to make these string art Christmas cards?
We used 65 lb cardstock to make our own blank card. It works well, but it does bend easily. Try buying 80 lb cardstock if you want a card that’s a bit more sturdy.
Or if you don’t want to cut the paper to size, you can also buy blank cards!
How do I make a Christmas string art card with 2 colours?
Follow the exact same technique to make a string art card with 2 colours of embroidery floss, like we did on our Christmas ornament and tree cards. Cut a shorter string to cover a small area, and be sure to stay within that area as you create the outline.
When you work in smaller sections, you can use one continuous thread to do both the outline and the crisscross design across the front. Then tape off the end of the thread and start a new colour like usual for the next area.
You can read our Halloween string art post to see how we made our two colour pumpkin string art card.
These string art Christmas cards are so pretty! We love how each card is unique, coming together differently every time, even if you use the same shape.
Here’s even more DIY greeting card ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
