DIY Holiday Cards

A homemade holiday card is a great way to show a loved one you care, whether it accompanies a gift or is the gift itself. Something you've made is always more sentimental because it shows thought and effort. Here at Simply Stamps, we have a variety of different craft stamps to choose from. Two of our favorites, the Do You Want to Build a Snowman and Snowman craft stamps are a match made it crafting heaven. Combine the two together to make a holiday card that's festive and also easy to make!

Christmas Decor

If you're creating your own holiday decor, the creative possibilities are endless. From centerpieces to wall decorations, 'tis the season to get crafty! You can use just about any craft stamps in our collection to create a unique picture that can be placed inside of a simple frame. Our Hanging Christmas Ornaments craft stamp plus dark green and maroon markers would make for simple yet elegant wall decor this holiday season.

Easy Handmade Ornaments

Christmas tree ornaments are a gift that may only be used once a year, but they will also be enjoyed for years and years to come. Making your own ornaments make it a gift that's even more special! We love this fun Snowman craft stamp because it stamps perfectly onto paper ornaments and leaves a blank canvas for you to color as you'd like. Add your name and the year you made it so your recipient will think of you each year when they hang it on their tree! Laminate your DIY ornament so it will last for many Christmases to come.

Gift Wrapping

For craft-lovers, the gift wrapping is often just as exciting as the gift itself. We love to package our gifts beautifully so our friends and family can see how much love we put into it! Craft stamps are a great way to add a fun, finishing touch to your gift wrapping. Use a gift tag stamp to address your gifts, or create your own wrapping paper by stamping a fun pattern onto plain paper. The best part about adding craft stamps to your gift wrapping is the opportunity to make it completely your own!

This holiday season, find what inspires you and get crafting! From home decorations to DIY holiday gifts, there's nothing more meaningful than something you've created with your own two hands. Check out our huge selection of craft stamps and see what speaks to you.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

First, we collected the supplies we thought would be perfect for dressing up an ordinary envelope. Here's what we used:

• washi tape (and LOTS of it)
• embellishments
• scissors
• an extra fine tipped pen
• a plain, brown envelope
• a personalized address stamp

Next, we chose our three favorite washi tapes and added them to the left side of the envelope, using the scissors to remove the excess. We chose this simple pattern of alternating different wash tapes along the edge, but the creative possibilities are endless with this step. You can choose to line the full envelope with washi tape or create a box to house the name and address of your recipient, just to name a couple.

We then added a few embellishments to one of the washi tapes, choosing to use the small gem in the package to be sure the envelope was still post office friendly.

Using the fine-tipped pen, we created a very simple pattern of dashes along the remaining edges of the envelope. We also flipped the envelope over and included the pattern on the flap.

Next, we stamped the personalized return address stamp on the back flap of the envelope. When stamping your envelopes with a return address stamp, you always want to be sure you first open the envelope and lay it out flat, as pictured below. If you stamp your envelopes this way, you'll get a consistent and even impression every time!

Finally, we used the fine-tipped pen to address the envelope and prepare it for sending.

The only rule when creating mail art is it should always be designed with your recipient in mind! If you're sending a letter to someone who loves vintage items, go for a vintage theme. If they love all things floral, find flower stickers to add a few accents that will definitely be appreciated. We hope we've inspired you to give mail art a try of your own and send a beautifully decorated piece of mail to someone you love!

Photo by: Always Remembered Moments Photography

The best part about this line of craft stamps is there's one to match any wedding theme! From an anchor stamp for the nautical wedding theme or a Volkswagen bus for the boho-inspired wedding, there's one for every couple's style. I chose to use the Love & Laughter Wedding Craft Stamp for my project complete with the husband and wife to be's names and wedding date!

Here are the other supplies I used:

• Linen or Muslin drawstring bags
• Archival Dye Ink – I used Tuxedo Black by Memento
• Treats to fill the bags

Photo by: Susi Vazquez photography

Once I had all my supplies, personalizing each bag was easy! Here's how I made them:

1. I inked the stamp really well to make sure each edge of the stamp was covered. I suggest testing your impressions on a sheet of paper before you begin so you don't waste your bags.
2. Next, I laid the bag on a flat surface, ensuring it was wrinkle-free.
3. Apply even pressure across the surface of the stamp so you're sure to get the best possible impression.
4. When I was done creating each bag, I let them dry, then added my treat of choice (candy, of course!).

Photo by: Lauren Schoepfer Photography

You can switch up the ink colors to match your wedding colors or use a different fabric bag if you choose. I hope you're inspired to try this out for your wedding favor bags!

Resources:

1- Photo by: https://www.alwaysrememberedmomentsphotography.com/

2- Photo by: https://www.susivazquezphotography.com/

3- Photo by: https://www.laurenschoepfer.photo/

I'll be attending a baby shower for a girl soon, so I thought I'd use this opportunity to make this great card. I decided to use the Custom Name Oh Baby! Announcement Craft stamp from Simply Stamps. I started with pink designer paper and card stock. Using the stick die, I framed the designer card stock, then used the smaller matching frame for the arrival card.

Next, I used my MISTI to perfectly stamp the personalized sentiment onto the pink cardstock.

I also added a baby onesie sticker, a pink ribbon and button with some twine to add a few embellishments. Be sure to check out my full process for making this card in the video below:

I hope you've enjoyed today's tutorial! Thanks for stopping by.

• Card Stock
• Festive washi tape
• Stickers or embellishments
• Ink Pads
• Craft Stamps: we used "xoxo" from Simply Stamps's collection of craft stamps

Use this as your guide, but as you will quickly see, your kids will take charge of how they want to create their own Valentine's.

Sentiment "XOXO" Stamp by Simply Stamps

My 4 year old son, Connor, was excited to have a rainy Sunday project! My 7 year old daughter, Molly, has a bit longer attention span and sat for about an hour creating hers. Here's what we did:

I also got these adorable personalized Valentine's Day stickers which you can use for treat bags, classroom valentine's, cards, and more.

These personalized stickers allowed us to quickly add personalization to our creations. A personalized stamp for Valentine's Day is also a great way to quickly add your message and name. We had a blast making some valentine's and look forward to more Valentine's crafts ahead.

It's so great to be back!

-Libby O for Simply Stamps

1. Save The Date Stamps

A clever way for you to save money when planning your wedding is by using custom Save The Date Stamps! Almost as big of a pain as the invitations themselves, wedding announcements, or "save the date’s", have become almost as popular and necessary in the past few decades. Just like with your wedding invitations, all you’ll need is some basic card stock and a stamp!

2. Invitations

Believe it or not, making your own wedding invitations really doesn't take much. A quick trip to your local Michael's craft store or dollar store, a specialized custom wedding invitation stamp, and you’re ready to go! Regular wedding invitations can cost $200 or more and are only available in limited increments. So if you are hosting a wedding with an odd number of guests, chances are you’ll have to order more than you actually need which results in wasted money and the last thing you want to deal with when planning your wedding. By using an invitation stamp you have the freedom to make as many invitations as you need and personalize them however you want all for a fraction of the cost of ordering them online or from a bridal boutique.

3. Keepsakes, Mementos, and Décor

It may sound silly at first to use stamps when decorating for your wedding, but we assure you that it is possible! Personalized coasters make cute little mementos for you and your guests! Blank coasters are an inexpensive way to add some personal touches to your guest tables at your reception and make for a great souvenir at the end of the day. Great for outdoor and indoor weddings alike!

In keeping with the idea of the DIY coasters, you can also use customized stamps to decorate the napkins at your reception! Something cute and simple but still a beautiful touch and guaranteed to leave a lasting impression! Another idea is to use stamps to decorate the gift bags or packages for all of your guests or just the wedding party! The stamps don’t necessarily have to be something wedding related therefore the sky is the limit! Everyone will appreciate seeing that you took the time to personalize their gifts.

4. Address Stamp for Thank You’s

Don’t forget to say thanks to all of your wedding guests. Even if they didn't write you a check or pick something up off of your registry, they should still receive a thank you note for being there to share in your special day. But with all those guests come a lot of cards to send out and either hours of handwriting your address time and time again or you can save yourself the hand cramping with an address stamp. Capable of thousands of impressions, our self inking address stamps will help you get that huge stack of thank you cards sent out in no time! And as an added bonus, not only will you be able to use one of these stamps on all of your thank you notes but you’ll also be able to use it on all of your outgoing mail for years to come.

Like what we came up with? Be sure to follow our wedding board on Pinterest for even more tips, tricks, DIY’s, and all things weddings!

Why is it that spring always comes and goes so quickly? Before you know it April is gone and her next door neighbor May is knocking on your door. Not that we've got anything against May- she’s a great gal and all, but we’re just never prepared! The weather begins to really warm up, the schools release their students for the summer and you’re suddenly incredibly busy with all that spring cleaning you didn't get around to.

But while we can’t help you figure out fun activities to keep the kids occupied with all summer, we can help you with another annual occurrence- Mother’s Day. Yep, it’s that time of the year again and it’s only two weeks away! Stumped on gift ideas? Don’t want to do the same brunch and flowers routine you did last year? Want to do something different and really leave a lasting impression? Now that is something we can help you with!

We've scoured the best of what Pinterest has to offer and we've put it all in this nice concise little list, and even if you don’t find something here that sounds good, hopefully it’ll spark some other ideas and send you off in the right direction!

Option 1: The Birds Nest Necklace

If you've got a craft store nearby, then this is a slam dunk. Women love jewelry, and anything sentimental just acts as an added bonus! All you need is some jewelry wire, a couple beads, a pair of pliers, and a chain. Just because you may have left the nest, it doesn't mean that you are gone or ever far away from her heart.

Option 2: Custom Address Stamp

She’s always on time with those, birthday cards, Christmas cards, get well soon’s and just because letter’s- you don’t know how she does it all but she does because she’s Mom. All the while you were growing up, she did her best to make your house into an actual home, she took care of you when you were sick, and was always there to listen. Make sure she feels appreciated and loved this Mother’s Day. We've just uploaded a wonderful assortment of styles to choose from that she’ll be sure to love!

Option 3: Photo Collage

A new twist on an old favorite! You can never go wrong with pictures, but why not try something a little different? With some Modge Podge, a couple wooden or cardboard letters, and some pictures, and you could create something truly unique and one of a kind! Or if that’s a little too time consuming, you could always go for the other option and have it framed! Either way she’ll love that you made it especially for her and will brighten her day for sure!

Option 4: Fingerprint keychain/necklace/bracelet

Like I said before, Mom’s love something personal, and you can’t get much more personal than a thumbprint! Whether you want her to carry it with her always, or just on those days you’re feeling particularly close to her heart, the choice is yours! This blog has plenty of quick, easy, and inexpensive ideas for how to make a lasting impression!

Option 5: The Gift Basket

Otherwise known as the "I Couldn't Pick Something So I Went Overboard And Bought You Everything I Could Think Of " gift. And believe us, there's is nothing wrong with this oldie but goodie! But are you stumped as to what to include in your basket or even how to go about making one? To start, any craft store is going to carry an assortment of baskets for you to choose from so you can make it as big or as small as you want. Also at the craft store, you'll find a big bow or some ribbon- now you can't deliver a gift basket without some ribbon or a bow at least can you? Now for the part that most people get hung up on- "what do I put in it"? Why not stick with a "Relaxing Day" theme? Throw in some chocolate, a chick-flick or maybe a movie the two of you could watch together? Maybe some nail polish and a candle for a spa day at home? If you live near a Bath and Body Works, all of their spring candles are out now and on sale (psst. The Watermelon Lemonade one is a winner!). Don't know what nail polish colors to get? Aim for the colors similar to the below options, and you'll be fine!

Ultimately, what Mother's Day really comes down to is the chance to say "Thank You" to the amazing women in your life. The one's who have been there for you through everything, the ones that you know you can call after a bad day and they'll make you feel better every time. Embrace this opportunity to show your appreciation and admiration for the women in your life!

Now I’m not about to go start bashing Pinterest. Here at SimplyStamps.com we love Pinterest! It’s a great place for neat tips and tricks to any humble do-it-yourself-er out there and is a great place for people to share ideas and projects that save time, space, money while still not skimping on how it looks. Martha Stewart and Emily Post would be proud! I’m sorry who’s Emily Post? Only the go-to queen for all things etiquette and overall feminine presentation! Without Emily Post, there would be no Martha Stewart!

Sorry- sidetracked- ranting- I’m good. Anyway, back to these oh-so-wonderful and cost efficient do it yourself rubber stamps. Yes- they are cheap. But remember, you get what you pay for. All of these tutorials may make the whole stamp making process sound like a piece of cake but it may end up being more trouble than it’s worth.

Most of the step-by-step DIY’s call for a rubber block and a carving tool at least, others go into using tools and techniques in Photoshop that not everyone may have access to or even have the knowledge required for the completion of the step in the stamp creation process. Once the image you want in stamp form is created, you need to use a pencil to trace the stamp outline on a sheet of tracing paper and then rub that penciled in image into the wooden block. As if this process wasn't tedious enough, you then have to sit with your carving tool (assuming the image did in fact transfer to the rubber block you’re using) and painstakingly carve away the excess rubber surrounding your design. Making mistakes are easy if you don’t carve the rubber just right, you’ll end up carving out chunks of rubber and messing up your design. Patience and precision are key.

And for those of us just working off of an idea and not necessarily a particular image, things can get even trickier. Let’s face it- we’re not all artists; some of us barely managed to get by in elementary school art classes with stick figures. Carving based on just an idea may not be the smartest thing unless you’re going for something abstract and decide to try to pass it off as art.

So now that we've addressed just how “easy” this particular DIY fad is, let’s move on to how cost efficient it is. Is it really all that much cheaper than just buying a stamp? Turns out, not so much. After purchasing all the materials, assuming no mistakes are made, and minus the cost of the actual Photoshop program, you’re looking to spend somewhere in the vicinity of $14+. So ultimately, by opting to create your own rubber stamp, you end up spending more money than it would cost to just buy one already made.

Like I said, I love Pinterest. But sometimes I think it’s better to just leave some things to the professionals. It will save you time, money, and headaches. Did I mention money? Because most of the allure of doing a DIY project is the notion that you’re saving money! Money that can be put towards a college fund, a vacation, a night out- anything!

The truth is, here at SimplyStamps.com headquarters, we have high quality materials, and high precision machines capable of creating even the most complex and intricate designs you can imagine. We work hard to ensure a speedy delivery and less headaches for you. If there happens to be a particular stamp design that you want made- just let us know! We will be more than willing to help make your stamping dreams a reality!

Should you decide to take us up on our offer click here- it never hurts to ask right? Don't hesitate to ask us! Our experiences and interactions with our customers are what help us get better and help us to give our customers exactly what they want!

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Hey guys! Here’s a cool idea for all you Do-It-Yourself-er's out there in the blogging world from SimplyStamps.com! In today’s market, it’s no surprise that times are tough, and while we keep hearing how things are improving, it still may take us a little while to see those improvements in our bank accounts. Therefore every little bit that we can do to cut our costs and still promote our products is a definite win!

So what exactly is an address stamp? While we’re all aware of address stickers, address stamps are far less time consuming, non messy (that’s right, I said NOT messy), easy to use with no annoying backings to peel off or rip, and most importantly they LAST. With address stamps, you no longer need to order rolls of stickers, only to rip at least a third of them and constantly have to reorder them from shady online retailers or equally shady companies who stick their ads in the weekly SmartSource or redplum coupon flyers.

In today’s world, it is so easy for a person’s information to get stolen- which brings me to another point, if buying online or over the phone, always buy from a trusted seller!!! In the past few years, address stamps are being used a lot more. They’re different, and add a unique touch your outgoing mail, either for the holidays or just because. It’s also a cool way for an entire family to be represented on a card as opposed to just one or two members.

Ok, so now that you know a little about the address stamp itself, let’s work on turning it into a business card template. And believe me, it’s a lot less daunting than it may sound.

For this project you will need:

A Ruler

Scissors

Cardstock (Keep in mind 12 cards can be made out of a standard 8.5 x 11 piece of cardstock)

An address stamp

The cardstock will work as our business card itself; you can either go to your local craft store like Michaels, or you can order it offline from somewhere like Amazon. On Amazon, I spent less than $15 including tax and shipping for 70 sheets (eq. to 840 business cards!). This is where you can really get creative! Instead of plain white cards, why not opt for something more eye popping like a neon or a pattern? Just be mindful of the ink color you plan on using for your stamp! Make sure your color choice will pop against your chosen cardstock. If you opt for a pattern on your cardstock make sure the letters are still legible and that the card doesn’t look overwhelmingly busy.

Once you’ve chosen your cardstock and cut it to your desired size (standard business card size is 3 in long and 2 in. wide), you will need your stamp (see link). Now this is where it gets interesting, when you go to buy your stamp this is where you can customize all of your information such as stamp size, type, and ink color (or no color, it’s up to you!). Personally I prefer the self-inking kind, they’re so easy and the ink lasts forever. The only drawback there is that if, I want a different color ink, I’m stuck unless I want to order another one in a different color. But what you want to do is completely up to you!

Once you decide on the design of the stamp you want, put your name or the name of your company in the name option and fill out the rest (opt for maybe substituting or condensing a line of text for a phone number or email address if you would like to include one). One final note on customizing your address stamp, when it comes to size, be careful not to have the stamp itself exceed the size of your index card, you should be safe sticking with the 2” option, unless you would prefer smaller. The cool thing about simplystamps is that they ship your order to you the next business day so you’re not stuck waiting a week for your purchase to even leave the building.

So with your cut out piece of cardstock and your address stamp in hand, have at it! Make sure you position your stamp the way you want it! You may want to get used to your stamp first by practicing a few times first, but you should be good to go from the start. And don’t be afraid to get creative! Why not experiment with your stamp positioning and make every card unique!

The great thing about this DIY Business Card technique is that if you find yourself in a pinch, you can just cut some more cards or run down to somewhere like Michaels and pick up some more cardstock. This is such a simple and fun idea! If you really want to get crazy, you could get even more stamps, be they decorative, or even a custom logo stamp and go crazy with different designs and styles.

Once you have your address stamp, you can continue pressing these cards day or night so you have them when you want them and never have to run out. And as an added bonus, if your business happens to be based out of your house, your address stamps can be used to maximize your efficiency at Christmas time with all those “Happy Holiday’s!” and “Thank you!” cards, not to mention every other time you send something out.

So good luck and happy crafting from your friends here at SimplyStamps.com- where shopping for stamps should never be complicated! And don’t forget to let us know how your cards turned out! Or if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions don’t hesitate to leave us a line or two below!