These photo Christmas cards with candy canes are a fun way to add personality to your Christmas cards this year! They are a perfect classmate gift idea for kids to hand out that will get everyone giggling! This inexpensive personalised Christmas card alternative is easy to make and memorable!
When I was a kid, it was pretty standard for everyone in the class to give each other a simple Christmas card from a bulk pack that they may have written a quick to and from message in.
These days parents have so many cool ideas for what their kids can hand out before breaking for the school holidays.
I am actually in awe of how organised some of these parents are!
Don’t get me wrong, I love a great DIY project and usually end up doing the ‘Why didn’t I think of that’ thing when my kids come home with super cute gifts from their friends.
In fact, I even put together a round-up of awesome class gift ideas in case you are feeling super creative!
I wanted to share with you what we are doing this year, with fun DIY personalised Christmas cards with photos & candy canes.
Got too many leftover candy canes? Check out these yummy recipes using candy canes!
Fun Photo Christmas Cards With Candy Canes
These candy cane cards are a super cute and inexpensive option that you can put together fairly quickly as a class gift idea.
And it does not need to be candy canes that you use.
You could use novelty Christmas pencils, a crayon… anything that slots into the small gap really!
What you need:
- Printed photos of your kids pretending to hold something
- Candy canes or pencils
- An image editing program
- Craft knife/Stanley knife
- Cutting mat
How To Make Candy Cane Photo Cards
STEP ONE – Take photographs of your kids to look like they are holding something in their hand. Aim to have the hand out front and not too close to their face. It can take a bit of trial and error. Ours weren’t great but working with kids… you know the drill!
STEP TWO – Edit your photographs using an editing program such as Photoshop or a phone editing app if using your phone for photos.
I used the free online program Canva and added text to my images.
STEP THREE – Print out your photos at home or at a photo printing store.
I did mine on our home printer which is just a simple Epson printer. Nothing fancy.
I printed with a border on my images at 6 x 4 size. This is a standard photo size and the standard photo print setting for my printer, and it meant nothing was too close to the edge either.
TIP: Adding the white border will make your photos look more like postcards or Christmas cards and most printers will have this setting. If not, edit with an online photo editing program such as Canva to add your border before you print.
STEP FOUR – Using a craft knife or Stanley knife, carefully cut a slit in the top and bottom area where the child’s hand is on the photo. This is where your candy cane (or pencil if you would rather do a non-candy gift idea) will slot through.
STEP FIVE – Carefully slide your candy cane into the slots, trying not to tear the photo.
As you can see, I got mini candy canes and then realised when I got home that they aren’t individually wrapped so these ones are just for the purpose of the tutorial. I will need to get some more on my next trip to the shops. Hot tip to make sure you get the right kind!
And that’s all there is to it for making these funny personalised Christmas cards!
You can have your kids write a quick message on the back before you put the candy canes in if you like.
TIP: If you want to further personalise your photo Christmas cards with candy canes, add a TO: box to your photos when editing and you can add the name of each of the classmates or recipients. This is a cute extra touch!
These are cute and fun Christmas card alternatives for kids to gift to school friends.
I love that they took me almost no time at all to create and the kids love that they get to star in their Christmas cards this year!
Although it would have been great if my youngest smiled… but ya can’t win them all!
You could make a similar style photo card for other special occasions throughout the year, such as Valentine’s Day or Easter, adding different items to it – lollipops, message scrolls, whatever you can think of!
And it doesn’t just have to be your kids who feature. Why not create your own smiling face on a novelty Christmas card! Or if you can find a photo of Santa with his hand in the right position, that works too!
Check out these other great ideas for Christmas:
