Often when we think of holiday season giving, it is the act of exchanging presents with those closest to us that springs to mind first.
This is a wonderful and deeply cherished component of December for many. However, it is by no means the only form of giving that we can engage in – either as the giver or the receiver.
Sometimes the most touching gifts are the ones we didn’t see coming and which were given with love and care from the heart of those who bestow them upon us.
They need not be new or fancy, nor cost much, for their impact on our lives to be great.
This year, as autumn wound down, a very sweet neighbour of ours – who had recently learned of the arson fire that we experienced four years prior – gifted us with some of her gently used outdoor Christmas lights.
They are the first lights we’ve had since before the fire and we are touched to our cores by her generosity and sweetness.
To thank her for this awesome present, I recently made the card that stars in today’s post to give our neighbour and her children. I hope that it will bring them even just a fraction of the joy and festive cheer that their kindness instilled in our holiday season.
Fun and elegant “Twinkle & Shine” Christmas tree card
If you’ve been a part of the paper crafting scene for a while now, you’re likely familiar with the crazes for certain supplies and tools that come and go.
Several years ago now, when Martha Stewart’s paper crafting products (which were, by and large, excellently made and amongst my favourites ever offered in the crafting sphere) were all the rage, some of her punches were especially popular.
In terms of the shape punches (as opposed to things like border and corner punches) some of her best sellers were those featuring leaves and branches.
I can remember times when they were almost sold out across the web. That’s how big a demand for these punches there was at the time.
Most of Martha’s punches are no longer produced or easily found for sale (new) online these days. I truly wish they were, as I always adored – and often used – those that I had before the fire.
Thankfully though, between eBay, Etsy, and the few Martha Stewart punches that can still be purchased from sites such as Amazon, it’s not impossible to track down at least some of the vast catalogue of punches that this brand once offered.
One of the most popular shape punches Martha ever released was called simply “branch”. Its versatility and appeal struck a chord with crafter and a good many of us added this lovely punch to our collections.
I was fortunate to find one new in 2017, I believe it was, and in doing so, to replace the one I lost in the fire (yay!!!).
It was to this particular paper punch that I turned when creating the festive card in this post, as the shape it produces works awesomely as boughs or branches on a Christmas tree – or most any evergreen tree for that matter.
As our lovely neighbour gifted us with some Christmas lights, I knew that I wanted to feature lights on this card as well.
I don’t presently have anything suitable in my stash that could actually light up for real.
Thankfully though, I did have a package of Jolee’s delightful Christmas light strings. They fit the bill to a tee and helped to create exactly the card design I was aiming for with this project.
Putting this fun dimensional Christmas tree and lights card together
In some respects, this card is not as elaborate as many of my makes. This was intentional, as I wanted to create a classic, eye-catching design for which the Christmas tree with its dimensional branches and strings of holiday lightbulbs would take center stage.
This card began with a base of earthy brown cardstock, which I topped with panels of green cardstock (the edges were inked with dark green ink), green and white gingham print paper, and metallic gold cardstock.
A fun wavy oval shape was die cut from subtly textured white cardstock and used as the background for the Christmas tree.
To build my tree, I first die cut a Christmas tree shape, which I used as the base for the branches that you see here.
If you do not have a suitable die in your stash, fear not! You could easily draw a tree by hand, freeform cut one out, or use a stencil or template.
The tree die that I used comes with the cute Christmas tree stand and star elements, as well as the trunk of the tree, so I made sure to put those to good use here.
Again, you could easily draw and cut out similar shapes by hand, use other suitable punches, or utilize things like star shaped stickers or rhinestones here instead, if you’d like.
I cut the tree trunk from brown woodgrain print paper (inking the sides with brown ink), and both the star and Christmas tree stand from gold metallic cardstock.
Then I set to work punching out a whole bunch of evergreen branches using my Martha Stewart Branch Punch.
Though it’s a bit hard to see in these photos, I used a mix of both plain green and metallic green cardstock in similar shades to give my tree even more visual interest and festive shimmer.
I didn’t count the precise number of branches that I punched out, but I’d easily say that a few dozen were utilized on this project.
I began building up the branches of my tree by layering from the bottom of the top, sticking closely to the general shape of a Christmas tree.
I used more of the plain green cardstock branches than the metallic green ones, as I wanted the hits of sheen to be nice additions, not all one saw when looking at this tree.
After I had all my branches adhered to the die cut Christmas tree card base, I played around with the arrangement for the string of Jolee’s Christmas lights.
Once I was happy with how it looked, I cut the string to the length I needed (happily, I’ve still got some of it leftover for future uses), added adhesive to the back, and gently tucked it between the branches.
Much as with many a real Christmas tree, the star at the top went as the final touch.
Little else was added to this card, as again, I really wanted to tree to steal the limelight.
That said, I did include a piece of cranberry/burgundy seam binding near the bottom of the card.
I topped this with a green cardstock wavy banner die cut that I stamped with the festive sentiment “Twinkle & Shine”, to reinforce both the theme of the Christmas tree here and the gift of Christmas lights that we received. 🙏
Card making tips and ideas from this project
-While no shortage of Christmas tree dies, stickers, stencils and the like exist on the market, sometimes it is really fun to create your own tree.
If you don’t have a similar branch shaped punch in your stash, plenty of branch shaped dies could work here as well – as could some feather-shaped ones (though that might give your tree more of a fluffy branched look).
-We often think of tartan and plaid as the main checkered patterns for holiday season makes, but gingham works awesomely on this front as well – especially when it features classic festive colours such as red, green, white, and/or black.
-Surprisingly, mini Christmas lights for paper crafting are not that common as a general rule.
These ones from Jolee’s can sometimes be had on eBay and Etsy, as well as various online and offline craft supply shops. However, if you cannot find them, some handy alternatives include:
- Die cut Christmas lights
- Christmas light stickers
- Christmas light shaped brads
- Christmas light shaped beads
- Oval, marquise, or teardrop-shaped sequins or rhinestones
- Nuvo Drops (solid colours or glittery)
- Mini-sized Dew Drops embellishments or similar transparent plastic embellishments
- Strings of dollhouse Christmas lights (which often look quite similar to the ones from Jolee’s Boutique that were used on this project)
- Other miniature Christmas lights sold at places such as some craft, hobby, and dollar stores (check near the Christmas village and/or bottle brush tree sections of the store)
- Stamped and inked/coloured Christmas lights that you either cut with a coordinating die or fussy cut by hand
- Strings of Christmas lights fussy cut from patterned paper that includes this festive design. Such as those found on Reminisce’s Magical Lights paper from their Magical Christmas collection, and Sparke and Shine paper from Photo Play Paper’s Kringle & Co. collection.
-Alternatively, if you didn’t want to go the Christmas light route, you could embellish your tree with things such as ornament shaped die cuts or stickers, rhinestone embellishments, enamel shapes, skinny tinsel trim, candy cane shaped stickers, die cuts, buttons or brads; or adorn some of the branches with white paint or dimensional craft snow paint (e.g., Aleene’s Glitter Snow) for more of an outdoorsy look.
-In addition to “Twinkle and Shine”, there are plenty of charming lighting-related sentiments that you can use for a holiday season card like this. For example, “May your holidays be merry and bright”, “You light up my Christmas”, “Have a dazzling holiday season”, or “Shining our love your way at Christmas”.
-If you are unable to locate this exact Martha Stewart Branch punch, various other brands have released similar punches over the years.
These include, but are not limited to the Large Branch Punch from EK Success, the Rock Fern Punch from Bira Crafts (which is available in both 1 inch and 2 inch sizes), the Large Fern Punch from Punch Bunch, and, while a bit more “bare-branched” looking, the Tim Holtz Branch Punch from Sizzix.
Products used to make this festive Christmas tree card
-White, green, and brown cardstock
-Metallic gold cardstock
-Metallic green cardstock
-Brown woodgrain print paper – Mademoiselle Collection Mahogany from Kaisercraft
-Green and white gingham print paper – (backside of) Country Kitchen Multi Journaling Cards from Carta Bella
-Wavy oval shaped die (or another oval or circle shaped die of your choosing)
-Christmas tree shaped die (optional, see note above)
-Wavy banner die
-Branch punch – Branch Punch from Martha Stewart
-String of mini 3D Christmas light embellishments – Holiday Lights from Jolee’s Boutique
-Black ink – Jet Black Archival Ink from Ranger
-Dark brown ink – Rich Cocoa Ink from Memento
-Green ink – Cottage Ivy Dew Drop Ink from Memento
-“Twinkle & Glow” sentiment stamp (or another holiday sentiment of your choosing)
-Cranberry/burgundy coloured seam binding – from Snug Hug
-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers
-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)
May your holidays twinkle and shine
There is no beating around the bush, this year has been a tremendously challenging one for a lot of us.
Even those who have been fortunate enough to pull through relatively unscathed, have, of course, still been impacted in myriad ways by the rapid and radical changes, worries, and crises that have swept across the globe in 2020.
Today, and in the final days of a year of loss and difficulty, stress and uncertainty, it is my unwavering hope that you are safe and happy.
May this festive season bless you and keep you well, and in the process bring plenty of heart-touching surprises your way as well.
Happiest holidays and much ❤️ to you each and every one of you, my dear friends! 🌟🎄🌟
Project share
Pin the image below – or any other in this post – to Pinterest, pop it into your Instagram Stories, post in on Twitter or Facebook, or share it anywhere else you wish to help yourself find it again and to inspire others at the same time.
If you make a project based on or inspired by this card – or want to share any of your other handmade crafts with me – please use the hashtags #WitchcraftedLife and #WitchcraftedLifeMakes on social media so that I see can your beautiful creations.
Those little lights are the cutest thing ever. This is why I avoid the scrapbooking aisle at the craft store. I will buy all the cute little things that I don’t need and won’t use and end up with more boxes of stuff to giveaway. Haha! Happy holidays my friend!
Too funny + totally relatable! 😄
Though, to be honest, we have exceedingly few bricks and mortar (and not a ton of online) sources for scrapbooking supplies here in Canada.
Michael’s is the only nationwide chain of craft supply stores in this country any more. Beyond that, there’s the handful of LSSs that are able to make a go of things, dollar stores, the itty-bitty amount of paper crafting items that some Walmarts still carry, and the occasional find somewhere else such as a Staples, a drug store, or a home goods store such as Winners (which is a bit like TJ Maxx).
I really wish Canada had more options on that front – especially given the currency exchange rate, international shipping costs, and laughably high import costs we content with up here.
I’ll stop there though, lest I venture into tangent territory. 😄
Thank you very much for your lovely comment and cheerful festive wishes. I hope that your holiday season is going wonderfully.
Big hugs,
♥ Autumn
WOW what a stunning card Autumn! I love the tree you created with that MS punch and the tiny lights are adorable! Your neighbor will cherish this card. Wishing you a Happy & Healthy New Year.
Hugs, Tammy
Thank you tremendously, dear Tammy. You are such a sweet, awesomely supportive person.
It was a ton of fun to put this classic MS punch to good use again. I was/am so pleased with how the tree came out and can definitely see utilizing this fun technique again for future tree (and maybe wreath, too) related projects.
Big hugs & the very happiest of New Year’s wishes,
♥ Autumn
So cute! Of course the colors, design and visual elements are impressive but what always bowls me over about your cards are their 3-dimensionality. That’s such a delightful shock! Keep up the good work, my friend, and thank you again for your wonderful holiday card. Best wishes!
You are immensely welcome, Ally. It is my heartfelt pleasure and joy. All things willing, I’d love to turn it into an annual tradition, if you’re game. 😀
Thank you very much for your wonderful compliment. Try as I may, flat (or nearly flat) paper crafting projects and I just seem to be like oil and water in terms of my own personal style. I often fawn over those other people make, but when I sit down to craft, creating dimensional projects just seems to flow most naturally for me. I figure, why fight it? 😄
♥ Autumn
Stunning card Autumn, the tree is beautiful with the two colors of branches and the dimension and of course the lovely lights! Your neighbor will treasure this card! Best wishes for a joyful 2021!
Thank you so much, Donna. I really appreciate your kind words about this festive project for our neighbour, as well as the awesome support you’ve blessed my blog with throughout its first year of life. 🙏
It’s a joy to connect with you online and look forward to continuing to do so in 2021.
Big hugs & the happiest of New Year’s wishes!
♥ Autumn
What a delightful card, Autumn! Loving the mixture of plain and metallic branches, which definitely adds another dimension. That string of lights is absolutely adorable! Wishing you and Tony Happy Holidays and a new year full of fulfilled hopes and dreams! xxx
Thank you very much, my dear friend. The mix of plain and metallic green cardstocks came about when I discovered (much to my surprise – especially since this is one of my all-time favourite colours) that I didn’t have a single sheet of pine green cardstock.
In my mind, that’s what I’d been envisioning using, so when I came up empty-handed, I took a moment, contemplated a few things, and decided to give using two similar toned papers a go.
The metallic paper is more visible in real life, but not overpoweringly so. Humbly, I’m very happy with how this fun tree turned out and can easily see using the same technique again for some of tree (and maybe wreath as well) themed projects.
I (we) sincerely appreciate your heart-touching wishes and hope that you and Jos have a traqnuil, immense safe, and richly happy New Year as well!
Oodles of hugs,
♥ Autumn
What a sweet gif from your neighbour. These unexpect bit of love from others are so special. I love your card, all the lovely layers. Hope you have a lovely holiday season and my 2021 be full of joy and good health.
Thank you deeply on every count, Anesha. Beautifully said. Moments like that are profoundly special and meaningful, and often stay with us for the rest of our days.
May the final days of this year be a time of serenity and happiness for you, and may they blossom into a fresh new year filled with wellness, warmth, love, fun, joy, and tons of time to craft! 😊
♥ Autumn
Absolutely amazing Christmas tree card Autumn! I love the texture from the branches and the tiny lights over it! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you happiness and health for the coming year in 2021!
Thank you so much, sweet Vicki! ❤️
I had a ton of fun making this card and can easily see putting this delightful punched branch tree technique to good work on some future evergreen related makes (and suspect it would work fab for wreath shapes, too).
May joy and wellness, tranquillity, and abundant blessings be yours all through 2021!
Scores of hugs,
♥ Autumn
This is beautiful Autumn! I love your inspiration! I hope you had a calm and lovely Christmas! May you have the happiest of New Years too!!!
Thank you deeply, sweet soul. Our Christmas – like the other holidays and special occasions of 2020 – was, I’m happy and grateful to say, calm, low-key, and pleasant.
It differed in many ways from most others, but, thankfully, still retained a lot of timeless traditions and beloved favourite elements of the season.
Hopefully we can say, and experience, the same again Christmas 2021.
I likewise hope that your festive season was a positive one and wish you an immensely safe, serene, happy, and blessed year ahead.
♥ Autumn
So many beautiful details on this card. The tree looks so real, I love it. The lights were such a great detail as well. I love how you made the Christmas tree the focal point and kept the rest simple. This Christmas lights card is a masterpiece, a real work of art. Thank you for sharing. Have a nice NYE. I wish you all the best in 2021!!!!!!!!!
You’re wonderfully kind, dear Ivana. Thank you so much! This card was oodles of festive fun to put together and the general concept of a tree made from layers of punched branches is one I could easily see repeating down the road (I even have a Halloween related idea pertaining to this technique that I hope to whip up at some point).
I sincerely appreciate your kind, wonderful wishes and wholeheartedly hope that your 2021 is a safe, happy, healthy, low stress year as well.
♥ Autumn
A super card Autumn, you’ve certainly made good use of your Martha Stewart Punch, a great way to use it.
Pauline – Crafting with Cotnob
x
That’s wonderfully kind of you to say, dear Pauline. Thank you so much! I hope to put this same tree building technique to good work again for some future projects – including one that I have in mind for fall or Halloween.
Many hugs & the happiest of wishes for January,
♥ Autumn
This is absolutely charming!
xoxo
-Janey
🥰 You’re awesomely kind and supportive, Janey. Thank you very much.
I hope that your January is off to a safe, positive (as much as can be these days) start.
Many hugs,
♥ Autumn
Ooh, those are like the little lights I have in my Christmas village – they came on a string. I LOVE that branch punch – I’m so glad you were able to find another one after your horrible fire, Autumn.
What a gorgeous card!
You are a sweet, special, wonderful soul, Shelia. Thank you deeply. I feel the same way and am extra glad that I returned to blogging last year, as it gave us a chance to reconnect again after nearly three years of not having done so.
I truly appreciate your support and friendship, and wish you an extremely safe, sunny, happy, and healthy 2021 (complete with tons of terrific fashion finds and new outfits).
♥ Autumn
I adore the tree branches- especially how you blended the metallic ones with the others. But it’s the tiny lights that steal the show for me- just precious!
What a lovely card, Autumn!!
Debi
Thank you sweetly, my very dear friend. 🥰
Aren’t those itty-bitty Christmas lights the cutest? I wish they would make more 3D miniature items for use in scrapbooking (there are some, of course, but not as many as one might imagine, IMO). I’ve sometimes debated heading to the dollhouse section of craft and hobby shops to see what I could find these for use on cards, scrapbook pages, etc.
I hope that your month is off to a serene, safe, and thoroughly lovely start. While there’s still a ski hill’s worth of snow out there, we’re actually gazing out at a spot of rare winter sunshine at the moment. It’s soothing and invigorating in the same go.
Big hugs,
♥ Autumn
Soooo beautiful, I love the three dimensional effect and the way the gingham matches the green tree. Not to mention the string lights.
Happy New Year, dear. 🙂
Thank you so much, my very dear friend. This tree was a total joy to make and decorate – especially since we don’t (yet) have a full-sized Christmas tree of our own again.
Thankfully though, we do have a sweet little tabletop sized pre-decorated tree that I thrifted shortly after the fire. It has been at the heart of Christmas decor ever since and even if we had ten full-sized trees, I’d still be sure to proudly display this mini charmer. 🎄
Tons of hugs & wishes for a safe, serene, low-stress, and very happy 202!
♥ Autumn
Such a fun card from the mini lights to the metallic cardstock! My mom has a similar punch (with the intention, outside of it’s normal use, of using it for reindeer antlers) and I’m definitely going to have a go at tree making in the future. 🙂
That’s a brilliant use of this style of punch! Thank you for sharing your mom’s clever idea. I’m tucking that away in the inspiration file for sure.
Big thanks as well for your wonderfully sweet words about this festive make. I just adore this technique and – to the surprise of no one who knows me, I’m sure – am already brainstorming a fall or Halloween creation that utilizes it.
Wishing you a relaxing, cozy, safe, happy, and enjoyable second half of January, my dear friend.
♥ Autumn
HNY my dear !
Such a kind neighbor deserved this thoughtful and custom made card.
I love all the details and I agree the branch cutter is so versatile, how nice that you were able to replace it.
Thank you deeply, dear Lorena. How right you are about our kindhearted and very generous neighbour. Her thoughtfulness means a great deal and will continue to have a wonderfully positive impact on and our holiday season for many years to come, I’m sure.
Tons of hugs & the very happiest of wishes for a safe, peaceful, low stress, and joy-filled 2021.
♥ Autumn
Happy new year, Autumn! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and your year is off to a good start.
Wow! I love your GORGEOUS Christmas tree! And I remembered Martha Stewart’s line of crafty products, specifically this punch. It looks simple but the magic you created with it is amazing. I’m sure your thoughtful neighbour loved it.
You’re splendidly kind, dear Trina. Thank you SO much!
I miss Martha’s paper crafting line soooo much! I know that they still put out a handful of items, and am grateful for that, but will never stop wishing that they would re-release a ton of their products from the 2000s and 2010s (especially the punches).
Our sweet neighbour did love this card. She said that she wanted to frame it even, which is such a touching compliment. We’re grateful to beside such a caring, generous soul and I’m already looking forward to making her a different card for Christmas 2021.
Many hugs & the happiest of wishes for a safe, serene, and very enjoyable winter, my friend.
♥ Autumn
So gorgeous – love the dimension you’ve achieved – this would look great framed to come out year after year. Emmax
You’re terrifically kind, dear Emma. Thank you very much!
What a great suggestion (re: framing). I completely agree. If one was going down that route, and so wanted, perhaps making the tree even larger and thus more eye-catching would be the way to go.
I’ve also been thinking that it would be oodles of fun to greater a few of these trees independently of a card base, punch a wee hole in the top, run some skinny ribbon or trim through, and hang them on an actual Christmas tree (or elsewhere in the house come the festive season).
Big hugs & many thanks again,
♥ Autumn