DESIGN YOUR OWN HOLIDAY CARD FROM SCRATCH

Send cards that are uniquely you this year with a completely custom Christmas card from Minted. We foil-press anything you can draw by hand, such as a cartoon you draw, your children's drawings or handprints or footprints, handwritten poems or mementos - the sky's the limit. Also, we can create a custom map, which is a great option for a classy vacation holiday card or moving announcement around the holidays. Where else can you send custom cards with your own line drawing foil-pressed into luxurious paper stock? Minted makes it possible.

And if you're looking for some inspiration or not sure what drawing will work best, we display a convenient artistic guide when you upload your first photo, so you are always on the right track. We hope your loved ones love your custom and unique Christmas card creation this year!

Once you have the main hand-drawn image prepared for the front of the card, don’t forget all the additional customization options you can apply to the rest of your holiday card that Minted provides. You can choose to compose a printed message on the back of the card, display a family photo, or pick a stylish patterned backing. Choose to make your Christmas card a flat card or a tented fold-over card. Lastly, finalize the presentation of the card with unique address labeling, envelopes, and holiday postage stamps. Whatever look you are aspiring to achieve this year with your 2019 holiday card correspondence, Minted is here to assist.

CUSTOM CHRISTMAS CARD IDEAS: INSPIRATION TO CREATE YOUR OWN ONE-OF-A-KIND DESIGN

Since we can foil-press almost anything you can draw by hand, the sky’s the limit on what design you submit! Here are some ideas to get your imagination running. At Minted, we can help bring your creation to life.

• Cartoon: Draw cartoon characters to represent different family members, pets, or friends in your life. Don’t worry if your drawings aren’t perfect. Are there certain clothes (hat, tie, football helmet, ballet shoes, etc) that individual members may be associated with? Be sure to highlight those elements in your drawing for added fun. Have the cartoon tell a story in a comic book style or with simple dialogue bubbles. If you choose to tell a story, it can be a recap of the year, a funny inside joke, or even this year’s biggest news that you’d like to share.
• Botanical: Hand-drawn botanicals are a trend that is here to stay. Make your holiday card design personal by drawing your favorite flowers, leaves, or trees. One fun idea could be to have each member of the family draw a Christmas tree or other holiday-appropriate images and then sign their drawing. Or, maybe you draw a picture of a flower/plant that represents each family member. Add a name below each flower so people will easily be able to associate your drawing. Did you know that there is a designated flower for each birth month?
• Children’s Drawing: Let your little artist take front stage and turn their drawings into works of art. Take your child’s favorite drawing or the one they’re most proud of and turn it into a unique Christmas card. This could be a fun kid's activity that can turn into a holiday tradition. Nurture their inner artist and creativity!
• Handprint, Footprints, or Pawprints: If your child was born just this year or you simply want to commemorate their growth, consider sending out a handprint or footprint. For newborns, this could be a great way to announce their birth and double as a holiday card. No kids? No problem. New pet parents also count, so share a paw print instead.
• Family Portrait: Have each member of the family draw a picture of themselves on the same piece of paper and sign their name underneath. It will be fun for card recipients to see every family member's artistic abilities and your group’s attempt to design your own holiday card from scratch.
• Handwritten Poems Or Momentos: Share a self-composed poem or cute message written in your own handwriting as your custom holiday card. Your card recipients will be impressed with your creative use of the English language. Or, maybe your child wrote something touching for a school project that you would like to print and share. Your friends and family will be more likely to hang on to the card and may even choose to frame the poem for some sentimental home decor.
• House/City/Neighborhood: Draw a picture of some noteworthy landmarks and attractions that define the area you call home. Are there particular attractions that mean a lot to you and your family? Be sure to highlight them in your drawing!
• Favorite Recipes: Sharing your favorite recipe no longer needs to live on just recipe cards. By sharing them as a holiday card, this can act as a gift on its own. Gift recipes to those friends and family that live too far from you to take part in your holiday gatherings and miss the potlucks you love to host. Share those secret family recipes that everyone has been dying to learn or simply something seasonal that warms your soul, and belly!
• Custom Map: For those that recently moved neighborhoods, cities, or states, we can also create custom maps of your location. This is a great option for those who recently moved and want to send both a moving announcement and holiday card. Also great for those who simply love their locations, are proud of it, and want to show it off. For a custom map, you have the option of drawing your own or you can simply send us an address and we will provide you a map of the location. You will have the opportunity to choose how much to zoom in on a map and what parts of the map to include.
• Coloring Stencil: Have the best artist in the family draw up a scene-in-the-life of your family in a coloring book style. You can then write a holiday greeting that encourages recipients to color in areas of the card to make it their own. Encourage recipients to then take a picture of their completed coloring and send it back to you via email or text. It will be fun for your family to continue to receive the follow-up communication. Now that’s a unique Christmas card idea!

If you’re not sure what will work best for your artwork, we offer a convenient guide when you upload your photo so you can gather additional inspiration to see what works best. We hope your loved ones love your custom Christmas creation this year!

TIPS ON PREPPING YOUR ARTWORK FOR PRINTING

Since your artwork will be foil-pressed into our luxurious paper stock, there are a few things needed to make sure you’re artwork is converted perfectly. Here are some of our top tips for when you’re creating your one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn custom card for the holidays:

• Scan your drawing or take a photo of it. You can then upload the photo through our online tools. We can accept line drawings, cartoons, children's drawings, footprints, handprints, pet pawprints, handwritten mementos, poems and more.
• Clean, simple lines work the best, so use a drawing or memento done in pen, pencil, fine dark marker or crisply-stamped ink. It is best to avoid submitting pictures that are colored in with many different colors or have an endless amount of small details that may be hard to retain a crisp look during the printing process.
• Avoid soft edges in your drawing. We will show examples of pictures with soft edges during the submission process.
• Have more than one piece of artwork or poem? Draw on the same piece of paper or combine them into one photo. Let us know if you want us to combine it and our team will arrange the drawings or elements into one piece of art for your cards.
• Select your favorite foil color ink. We offer 3 different foils that you can pick from: silver, gold, and rose gold.

All artwork submitted will be reviewed by a Minted design associate. During the final steps of the submission process, customers will have the ability to compose a custom design request message that our design associates will review. Perhaps you wanted a certain element to appear bigger or be completely removed. We can help! We will then create a digital proof and send it back to you to review. Your own personal design associate will continue to work with you and send you additional proofs if needed to make sure you approve of the final artwork. Once approved, we will send the designs off to our best-in-class printing partners.

WHAT IS FOIL-PRESS?

We have been talking a lot about foil-press, but what exactly does it mean? Foil-press or foil-printing is a technique of applying a thin coat of metallic foil to a paper’s surface. As the foil dries it will begin to reflect light as the paper is moved around. The glittering effect of this printing technique can really give stationery a luxurious finished look. Our gold, silver, or rose gold foil will give your custom-drawn holiday card the shine it deserves!