How to Make a Christmas Card for a Gravestone

Create Christmas cards for lost loved ones.

Though the holidays are often a time of joy and celebration, many families and individuals have members who have passed away. Holidays can be an especially difficult time to remember these relatives, since so many families gather together for them. One way to help remember your late loved ones and make them a part of your yearly traditions is to create Christmas cards to decorate their headstones. You can make these cards alone, or involve other family members and children while sharing stories about your deceased relatives. This helps the family to feel as if the lost member is not completely gone and can help restore full enjoyment to the holidays. It may also help smaller children cope with and understand the loss.

Things You'll Need

• Card stock, several colors
• Scissors
• Glue
• Stencils
• Rubber stamps
• Embossing powder
• Hair dryer
• Family photos
• Tape
• Pens
• Clear plastic page sleeves

Instructions

1. Fold a piece of 8 inch by 11 inch card stock in half width-wise. Decide what you want your theme to be; winter wonderland scenes, hanging ornaments or whimsical scenes like drying scarves and mittens work well. Think about what your loved one would have liked best.

2. Cut the shapes for your scene from other colors of card stock. Glue them to the front of the card as if you are putting together a puzzle. A simple strip of paper with a scalloped top can be made into mounds of snow and ball ornaments. Mittens are simple shapes to cut out, too. Allow the glue to dry for an hour.

3. Open up the card and use rubber stamps to create a holiday border around the edges. Mistletoe, holly, ivy, candy canes and snowflakes are all appropriate. Sprinkle embossing powder on the ink right away and heat it with a hair dryer until it becomes shiny.

4. Glue or tape some small family photos to the inside of the card. These can be past holidays that involved the family members, or simply happy events. You may also want to include pictures of that person's favorite holiday food as assurance that you remember them each year.

5. Write a personal message inside of the card, continuing to the back, if necessary. Write as if talking to the person, telling him how much you miss him, apprising him of how the family is and recounting memories he would enjoy. Leave the card unfolded and slip it into a clear plastic page sleeve to protect it from the elements once it is placed on the gravestone.

References

• Family Fun: Drying Mittens Card
• BHG: Hanging Ornaments Christmas Card