Megan Hobby-Kauffman
Artist, maker, and professional joy-bringer. From my North Carolina studio, Mayhen Press, I whip up colorful, story-filled designs that make everyday life a little brighter (and a lot more fun).
I love giving gifts. But at Christmas this urge can get a bit dicey. The amount of people that I want to send a gift to grows the more I think about all of the people that mean so much to me. Before long, I have a list as long as my arm and the practicality of getting together a gift for every one dwindles. But, *almost* every year there is one thing that I eke out the time to do and that is Christmas cards - a simple, thoughtful note to let friends and loved ones know that I’ve been thinking of them and am sending best wishes and Christmas cheer.
I'm very excited to introduce the
first set of Christmas cards
at Mayhen Press this year! I had the pleasure of hand carving the ornament illustrations as a linocut last year for the
Decorating Day wrapping paper
. I also designed patterned envelopes with the Merry Garland wrapping paper pattern printed on them to make your Christmas mail feel special the minute they pull it out of the mailbox!
With these lovely, new cards to send I thought, “Why not tuck in a small, handmade something in the way of a gift?"
I gave it some thought and found that a batch of handmade Christmas badges was just the thing to tuck into these cards this year. If you prefer watching a video tutorial for these you can find it
here
or just scroll to the bottom of this post.
These little badges give an even warmer feel to your thoughtful Christmas greetings. You can leave them with no hole and string or turn them into little ornaments by adding a hole and threading some string through so your recipient can hang them on their tree.
You can use gilding foil to make some of the layers of your badges shiny so they feel extra festive and special but these are still really beautiful even without the gilding added if you'd rather not use it. I pulled out some of my collage papers (which are just plain, white papers that I’ve painted on or rolled ink on) and set to work.
For this project you’ll need:
- Scissors
- Glue Stick
- Collage papers (colored paper, patterned paper, scraps from junkmail, old wallpaper, anything!)
- Gilding Adhesive (optional)
- Gilding Foil (optional)
- Hole punch and string (Only if you want to make your badges work as ornaments.)
Process:
1. This project is very subject to your creativity! Start by cutting out shapes - I did stars, diamonds, circles, hexagons and angel dresses but you could do Santa hats, reindeer, candy canes, ovals, holly leaves… whatever your imagination leads you to. Cut out lots so you have options!
2. Cut out more shapes that are smaller than your first ones but follow a similar shape.
3. Do it again but make the shapes even smaller.
4. Stack them up to get an idea of what they look like and keep making layers until you are happy with how your badges look.
5. This part can be a little messy but in order to make them look extra special I added some gilding on one layer of each badge. You could cover the entire shape in gilding or you can paint your gilding adhesive only on part of the shape so that some of the color still shows through. I liked how it looked with some of the color showing so that’s how I did mine. Don’t forget to paint your gilding adhesive on and let it sit until it gets tacky before you put your foiling on.
6. Use your glue stick to glue your layers together in the order that you like them. I ended up switching around different layers to see what I liked best before committing.
7. The badges look gorgeous just like this but if you have the time and want to take them the extra mile paint the backs or glue them onto another bit of colored paper and cut around the shape then add a Christmas wish or part of a Christmas poem!
8. If you want to turn them into ornaments, use a hole punch to punch a hole at the top and add some string so that your recipient can add it to their tree and remember you throughout the season.
There is something about the simple joy of something handmade that can brighten someone’s holiday in a way that nothing else can. It’s just a Christmas card and a little time spent making something with paper and glue but somehow these simple, old fashioned Christmas crafts can bring joy in a way that a glitzy, new gift from a store just can’t.
Try this simple, little way to warm up the season for your loved ones, or make a garland of these for yourself! Be sure to show me what you make on Instagram
@mayhenpress
. I can’t wait to see the festive beauty you whip up! Your creativity is the best gift to let others know they are loved.
Merry November!
Watch the tutorial!