How to Make a Christmas Card

Make an impressive Christmas card using your home computer and ink jet printer.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Microsoft Word program
• Ink jet printer
• Printer paper

1. 
   Launch Microsoft Word

   Launch Microsoft Word. For this Christmas card project. I used the Word 2003 version of this program.

2. 
   Prepare to set the paper orientation for the Christmas card

   To change the paper orientation of the Christmas card, click on "Page Setup" from the File menu.

3. 
   Set the Christmas card paper orientation to

   On the "Margins" tab of the Page Setup dialogue box, in the "Orientation" section, set the paper orientation to "Landscape".

4. 
   Prepare to set view to whole page

   Let's zoom out so you can see the entire Christmas card on your computer screen. Click on "Zoom" from the View menu.

5. 
   Set Zoom to Whole Page

   In the Zoom dialogue box select "Whole page" in the "Zoom to" section, then click OK

6. 
   What the Christmas card document looks like at this step

   This is what your Christmas card document looks like now.

7. 
   Prepare to set the Christmas card margins

   Prepare to set the page margins for the Christmas card document. Select "Page Setup" from the File menu.

8. 
   Set the margins of the Christmas card

   On the "Margins" tab of the Page Setup dialogue box, set the Top, Bottom, and Right margins to .5. Set the Left margin to 6. Click on the OK button.

9. 
   Prepare to insert the Christmas ornament picture

   To begin inserting the Christmas ornament picture onto the Christmas card, select "Picture" from the Insert menu-then click on "Clip Art".

10. 
    Search for the Christmas ornament picture

    Step 9 opens the Clip Art pane. To find the Christmas ornament image, in the Clip Art pane: set "Search for:" to Christmas, set "Search in:" to All collections, and set "Results should be:" to Selected media file types.

11. 
    Place the Christmas ornament picture on the Christmas card

    Scroll down the listed clip art thumbnails until your find the picture of the red Christmas ornaments. Double click on the Christmas ornament thumbnail to place the picture on the front of the Christmas card.

12. 
    Format the Christmas Stripes image

    Double click on the Christmas ornament image to open the "Format Picture" dialogue box. In the "Layout" tab, click on "Behind Text" in the "Wrapping Style" section. In the "Horizontal alignment" section click on "Center". Then click on the "Advanced..." button.

13. 
    Settings for the Christmas card Advanced Layout

    In the "Advanced Layout" dialogue box, be sure that the "Picture Position" tab is active. In the "Horizontal" section, select "Alignment" and set the "Relative to" to "Centered" and "Column". In the "Vertical" section select "Alignment" and set the "Relative to" to "Centered" and "Page". In the "Options" section uncheck "Move object with text", and check "Lock anchor", "Allow overlap", and "Layout in table cell".
    
    Click the "OK" button to close the dialogue box, then click "OK" to close the "Format Picture" dialogue box.

14. 
    Finished Christmas card front

    The front of your Christmas card is now complete. Be sure to save your Christmas card front document, then close this file.

15. 
    Prepare to set the paper orientation for the Christmas card

    To create the inside of your Christmas card, open a new Microsoft Word document. To change the paper orientation and margins for the back of the Christmas card, click on "Page Setup" from the File menu.

16. 
    Set the paper orientation and margins of the inside of the Christmas card

    On the "Margins" tab of the Page Setup dialogue box, in the "Orientation" section, set the paper orientation to "Landscape". Then set the Bottom, and Right margins to .5. Set the Left margin to 6, and set the Top margin to 3. Click on the OK button.

17. 
    Enter the first 2 lines of text for the Christmas Card

    Enter the first line of text for the inside of the Christmas card: May the spirit of the Holiday Season
    Then press the Enter key to begin a new line of text and enter: Be with you throughout the New Year.

18. 
    Center align the text in the inside of the Christmas card

    To center align this text, select these two lines of text. Then click on the "Center" align button on the Formatting toolbar.

19. 
    Select Font from the Format menu

    To format these two lines of text, keep the text selected, then click on "Font" from the Format menu.

20. 
    Format the font of the Christmas card text

    In the Font dialogue box, be sure that the "Font" tab is active. In the "Font" tab, select "Birch Std" as the Font (or any other font that you like). The other Font dialogue box settings are:
    Font style: Regular
    Size: 20
    Font color: Dark Red
    
    Click on the OK button to close the Font dialogue box

21. 
    Enter the remaining text to the Christmas card

    Now hit the Enter key twice to move the cursor down two lines. Add the next line of text to the inside of the Christmas card.
    
    Enter the third line of text for the inside of the Christmas card: Have a Wonderful Holiday Season
    Then press the Enter key to begin a new line of text and enter the fourth line of text: And a Happy New Year!
    
    Enter the fourth line of text (your name) for the inside of the Christmas card: The Jones Family

22. 
    Select Font from the Format menu

    To format these three lines of text, select this text, then click on "Font" from the Format menu.

23. 
    Format the font of the Christmas card text

    In the Font dialogue box, be sure that the "Font" tab is active. In the "Font" tab, select "Garamond Premr Pro Smbd" as the Font (or any other font that you like). The other Font dialogue box settings are:
    Font style: Regular
    Size: 20
    Font color: Dark Red
    
    Click on the OK button to close the Font dialogue box

24. 
    The completed Christmas card inside

    The completed Christmas card inside text.

25. Now you need to print the front and back of your Christmas card. I used my inkjet printer, and the final result was very nice.

Tips & Warnings

• Try printing this Christmas card using different color papers and different weights of paper.
• Be sure to text print your Christmas card using inexpensive paper until you are sure which way to orient the paper in your printer tray.

[NCarol]

on 10/29/2008 This was easy to follow the instructions...I give it a five star rating since it is easy andddd fun for the whole family, friends, and especially for your grandchildren!

[NCarol]

on 10/29/2008 I give this a "five star" rating since the instructions are so very easy to read and understand. What a great way to make cards for your family, friends, and especially for your grandchildren!