Day 5: Merry Christmahanakwanza cards with Sunni!

Happy Black Friday to you all!  I hope that if you are one of those crazies who goes shopping that you stay safe--or better yet, that you WIN the fist fight, should you find yourself having to throw down.  Yeah, I love to keep things gangsta.  Today, I'm happy to have Sunni from Love Affair with my Brother visiting with a fun holiday card.  You're sure to like this one! -Tristin

Merry Christmahanakwanza to you!

I'm Sunni from Love Affair with my Brother. Yes! You read that right. I love my Brother sewing machine, and I'm not ashamed to admit it! (Let's just pretend that's what you thought when you read the title!)

I love to blog about quilting, sewing clothes for my daughters and quick and easy crafts. I'm hosting a giveaway of some beautiful Free Spirit solids from The Intrepid Thread and I'd love it if you came by and entered!

I started with a completely different idea, but ended up with these sewn cards!

Have you ever pitched an idea for a guest post or sponsor that put you in over your head? I found this to be that pitch!

I had visions of free pdf printables. A friend said "Oh, you know how to do those?" Ummm... no.

Then I wanted to do a carved stamp. Show you how to make your own custom name stamp or phrase stamp ("Merry Christmahanakwanza" for me). "Do you know how to do that?" Ummm..... no again.

These are my solution to my too lofty ideas. Sewn Christmas cards.

And even if you don't have a lot of time, I promise these are fast. I made all 4 of these in the span of about 15 minutes. If I stuck to one design, it would be even quicker!

You will need:

blank cards and envelopes

Sew line glue pen

Christmas fabric scraps

buttons

markers

fabric glue (optional and not pictured)

Use a Sew Line pen to tack down your fabric shapes before you sew.

Did you know you can sew through paper? I have a special needle, marked with a piece of tape, that I use for paper projects. The paper dulls your needle. You can use a standard foot like I did or a darning foot and free motion quilt to attach it.

When you are finished, you can tie the threads in the back, affix them with a little dab of fabric glue or just cut them. It's just a card and not likely to get the stitches pulled out!

Here's my little Christmas tree. I love the simplicity and folksy nature of these cards.

For this one I used my Sizzix Big Shot and iron on fusible. Just turn your iron down a bit from cotton setting and you are good!

This was the fastest one! Die cut, peel and iron. DONE!

A few years ago, when I lived in downtown Chicago, I had an incredible array of friends from all over the world. I have never believed that "Merry Christmas" is offensive or that we should only wish people a "Happy Holidays" to stay politically correct. But, I mashed all my friends holidays into one phrase and came up with "Merry Christmahanakwanza"! It was silly and good hearted and now I do it every year!

This one is my favorite! I used a Sharpie pen to add the details.

So take some time out from making gifts for friends and family, and creatively play. These cards are fast and simple and afford you ample opportunity to put your own inventive spin on it!