Depending on what kind of greeting card you plan to make, you’ll need glue, scissors or a paper cutter, paper or blank cards, envelopes, small decorations to put on the card, and a pen or pencil. Buy some materials at the store to start off with when making cards. You can also recycle things around the house. Items such as buttons, ribbon, and old belts, all look great when properly attached to cards.

If you plan on cutting your paper with a paper cutter, use a ruler to define the lines before you start cutting. This will make it easier to keep everything straight and even.

For example, if you’re making a birthday card maybe you should include cakes and balloons. Another option for decorating is to use scrap book materials[3] X Research source or other craft items. You can cut out pictures from magazines and glue these into your greeting card.

When you unfold the paper, you should be left with an ‘X’ cut in your original paper. The cut that you make will be going through multiple layers because of your folds to form this ‘X’.

Once you have folded the flaps back, glue them down.

Other materials include card stock, a paper cutter, a glue pen, craft glue, acetate, and filler material such as beads and sequins. All of these items can be purchased at a craft store.

Here, we’re using Canva. Other software options include PageMaker or InDesign. If you’re new to making greeting cards, try user-friendly programs like Art Explosion Greeting Card Factory or Hallmark Card Studio. Software like Microsoft Word usually has greeting card templates, which can be helpful. [12] X Research source To make a greeting card on a Mac, use Pages. If you are wondering how to make a greeting card on an iPhone, try downloading an app like Cardstore Greeting Cards or Ink Cards. [13] X Research source

Most greeting card templates have a set color palette, but you can usually mess around with that by going into the settings. If you’re designing your greeting card from scratch, set it up so you can print it on one sheet of paper and then fold it in half. The size and the shape is up to you!

For instance, you might add balloons to a birthday card, flowers to a card you’re sending in the spring, or snowflakes for a card you’re sending in the winter. If you want the picture to take up the whole card, make it the background.

Your font can say a lot about your message—for instance, you probably don’t want to use a super formal font to send a greeting card to a young child.

White paper is the easiest paper to use for your greeting card, but you could also mix it up by using some fun colors. If you don’t have a printer at home, visit a print shop to print out your card for a small fee.