Ideas on Making Halloween Cards

• Greeting cards are not limited to birthdays or anniversaries. Even occasions such as Halloween can be a fun theme for a holiday card. Handmade Halloween cards make excellent gifts for family and friends. They also can get you in the spooky spirit of the season, even becoming decorations for the home or office. Anyone can make their own Halloween greeting cards, usually from materials in your own home.

Colors

• Orange and black are the signature colors of the Halloween holiday. Use these colors to set the tone of your card. Take a simple piece of black cardstock and fold it in half. Overlay the front of the card with a sheet of orange tissue paper and attach with a thin layer of decoupage glue. For added detail, you can cut the orange tissue paper into Halloween-friendly shapes, such as witches, pumpkins, ghosts or bats. Add wording to your card with metallic gel pen to contrast against the black paper. Other colors often associated with Halloween are yellow, purple, red and green.

Die Cuts And Stamps

• To bring spooky charm to an ordinary card, use symbols of the Halloween season. Die cuts are simple to use and are especially great for making multiple cards. Die cuts are pieces of thick paper that are cut into various shapes. You can buy them pre-cut from hobby shops, or create your own shapes with a die cutter machine. If you do not have access to a die cutter, you can create a similar effect by tracing fun shaped stencils onto a sheet of paper and cutting them out with scissors or a sharp craft knife. Stamps are another affordable and easy option. Stamp candy, owls, rats, monsters or other creatures onto your Halloween cards. These can be purchased from many arts and craft supply stores, or you can create them on your own with a craft knife and a linoleum block.

Pop Up Cards

• Cards with surprise features such as "pop ups" add interest to an ordinary card. Imagine opening up a plain card to find a monster jump out at you from the card's fold. This look is relatively simple to achieve. Cut a piece of thick cardstock into a strip that is five inches long and one inch wide. This piece will be used to attach the pop up design to the card itself. Fold this strip into five even lengths like an accordion. Glue one end of the strip into the center fold of the card. Glue the first fold of the strip onto the end that is glued to the card; this will strengthen the attachment. When you close the card, this strip will collapse, regaining its shape when the card is opened. Glue or tape your chosen design onto the top of the strip of paper, carefully folding so it closes inside the card.