• Design a snowman using white buttons on the card's cover.snowman image by Amer Delibasic from Fotolia.com
  
  Handmade Christmas crafts show a personal touch that can't be purchased in stores. Create original Christmas cards for your children this holiday season using fun textures, recycled paper and household materials. Remember to build on your designs (where possible) with colors, shapes and characters your children like.
  
  

Gift-Wrapped Card

• Dress Christmas cards like a holiday gift, complete with patterned decor and a bow. For this project, gather unused gift ribbon, folded card stock and glitter. Choose a brightly colored gift ribbon with a satin or ribbed texture. Draw shapes and patterns on the ribbon using school glue. Sprinkle glitter lightly over the ribbon and allow several hours for it to dry. Open the folded card and use a utility knife to cut a vertical slit in the middle of the card's spine. Cut the slit long enough to fit the ribbon. Pull the ribbon through the card and wrap it around the front panel of the card as if wrapping a gift. Finish it off by tying the glittered ribbon into a bow against the front of the card.
  
  

Ornament Cards

• Create painted ornament cards in your child's favorite color. Recycle old Christmas cards to create the ornament design. Cut a folded used Christmas card along its spine to create two rectangles. Draw a large circle on the front of both rectangles to create a Christmas tree ornament. Cut out the circle with a pair of scissors. Punch out a hole in the top of the ornament. Use acrylic or craft paint to paint the ornament in your child's favorite color. Once the base coat of paint dries, paint the child's name in the center of the card and the year you made the ornament. Tie a colored shoestring through the hole in the ornament to create a hanging loop.
  
  

Button Snowman

• Use white buttons to create whimsical snowman greeting cards. Make construction paper cut-outs for the head of the snowman using black, white and orange construction paper. Transform the black construction paper into a top hat for the snowman, and make a tiny carrot from the orange construction paper. Affix these shapes to the small white circle that will serve as the head of the snowman. Glue the snowman head to the front of a blank greeting card. Glue two white buttons below the head to form the rest of the snowman's body.