Christmas is nearly upon us and we ask are you done with your Christmas shopping list? Have you started decorating your home for this yuletide season? Christmas is also a time to get creative and innovative. With our fluctuating economy, it is best to reuse and recycle old decorations or create new ones from the old. This is also a good time to have quality bonding time with your family. Here is an easy project using vintage Christmas postcards that your family will enjoy making.
Christmas postcards came about in the mid 1800s when nobles wanted to send holiday greetings to the peasant families living on their land. Instead of personally giving the message, the nobles hired an artist to make postcards with an image depicting alms-giving or other virtues and had them sent out through couriers. Religious leaders and clergymen followed suit and soon Christmas postcards were designed with religious themes like the nativity scene.
Now you may have some use of old postcards sent to you by family, relatives and friends. You can now make a vintage Christmas postcard collage in 5 simple steps:
#1 Take out the postcards and stack them by categories. You may do this by color hues or by sizes. Group the postcards with one dominating color or pile them up through their sizes. Pick out one liner messages that carry depth or highlight those words that have sentiments of Christmas cheer. Photocopy them, cut them into strips and then set aside.
#2 Pick out a holiday figure like a Christmas tree, a Christmas stocking, a wreath or a star. This will serve as your base figure. You will shape your collage into this. Draw the shape onto an illustration board or cartolina and then cut it out.
#3 Time to be creative and start thinking how you want the postcards to be placed on the base figure. Let the colors or the sizes of the postcards guide you and your family to make the collage a mix of holiday images. With the help of multipurpose glue, paste the design you have made onto the base figure cardboard. Trim excess cards sticking out if needed so as to conform to the shape of the collage.
#4 Find a few corners or some spots on the collage to paste the photocopied messages. Those strips of words can add character to your collage. The words can also trigger happy memories once they are read once more. You may also add other accessories like ribbons, glitter dust or beads to make your collage more attractive.
#5 Finally, punch a hole and use a string to hang the collage in a place where family and visitors can appreciate your creativeness. You may also opt to make mini collages instead of one large collage or you can make as many as you can with your family.
Creating a vintage Christmas postcard collage may not be much but in its simplicity, your family can start a tradition that you can do over and over again in years to come.
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