The art of handmade holiday cards is a treasure for the creator and recipient alike. This season, try your hand at one of our many holiday-card craft ideas. Whether the sentiment is embossed, decked in ribbon, or encasing a prized photograph, the extra time will be well worth it when your cards are opened.

With a few basic techniques, you can create a wide range of looks by varying shapes, color, and decorative details. These snowman and snowflake pop-ups are decorated with glitter and glue, and inscribed with a fountain pen dipped in red ink.

A three-part holiday card delivers a pair of favorite photos, plus a simple greeting.

As this Christmas card opens, a 3-D tree made from pleated paper rectangles pops out, like a small gift.

A sprig of holly springs to life from atop a store-bought plain note card. This project won't fare well in the mail, so save it for greetings you're planning to deliver by hand.

A handmade pop-up card is anything but two-dimensional. Like a favorite ornament, it's sure to be treasured and displayed year after year.

Dressing a card as a present is as easy as tying a bow. These ribbon-tied cards can be decorated as simply or as elaborately as you wish.

These old-fashioned cards are made with sewing notions you probably have around the house.

Any bold, seasonal line drawing can be turned into a stamp for embossing cards. These are two examples of cards Martha created to send out last holiday season.

Rickrack -- wavy cotton trim -- is easily manipulated into seasonal symbols. Glue rickrack designs to blank cards, and use them as holiday greetings

Sewing on paper is a beautiful -- and tidy -- alternative to tape or glue. On these cards, scraps of ribbon in graduating lengths are arranged in the shape of a Christmas tree; the sewn trunk secures them to the paper

Use our clip-art template to create an elegant, nature-inspired card for the holidays.

With the right supplies, these cards are much easier to make than they look. Soft-touch scissors are designed for crisp, intricate work; origami paper is square and thin, making folding and cutting easy.

Martha made frame-style cards to highlight digital photographs of her cats, Sirius and Electra. You can make a border using a frame-shaped stamp or "photo corners" using a triangular stamp.

Create shimmering cards that can double as tree ornaments by affixing glitter-coated leaves to card stock, then writing your greeting on the back.

Send your good wishes this holiday with a glittered card featuring a peaceful winter scene.

The silhouettes of evergreen sprigs adorn homemade greeting cards; a light layer of white spray paint highlights the shape of the branches against the colored paper. With a bit of glue and touches of glitter, you can create your own sparkling messages

The chap, who owes his well-rounded appearance to old-fashioned honeycomb paper, is sure to spread goodwill. After reading your note (now hidden beneath the snowman's belly), recipients can display the card on a table or a mantel, where it will melt the hearts of passersby

Why are these creatures smiling? They're holding on to a secret, and when the time comes, they'll open their arms wide to reveal it: a hidden holiday greeting. Kids can write their own messages inside these cheerful cards and hand them out to classmates and teachers, or punch a hole at the top and tie on ribbon or yarn to use as tags

Add wintry and whimsical embellishments to greeting cards by punching a delicate die-cut border of snowflakes all the way around the paper.

Send a sparkly greeting this Christmas with our clip-art bird and holly berry design.

Combine pretty papers and trimmings to create memorable cards that resemble wrapped gifts and festive ornaments.

A handkerchief is always an elegant accessory, but one that's embellished with a hand-drawn snowman or snowflake is especially smart.

Kids can easily turn their favorite drawings into a playful magnet card for the holidays.

Landscapes and architecture are ideal subjects for cards, and they look great with a dusting of glitter.

Make use of old postage stamps and give a personal touch to your holiday cards with this wonderful craft.

Spread holiday cheer with this one-of-a-kind reindeer card.

This project uses red and white rickrack -- easy to find at notions and department stores -- to create a candy-cane-patterned card.

Button shapes resemble many seasonal things, as on these simple cards made of folded card stock.

These festive tree cards are a decorative and fun way to share photos of the kids -- and, they're yet another wonderful craft made using our handy circle cutter.

Let kids make their mark on the holidays in the form of cards, gift tags, and wrapping paper; it's quick work with a custom-made rubber stamp. Have your child draw an image in marker. Then have it replicated on a stamp at an office supply store (it takes only a few days).

Create a pop-up card featuring a pair of reindeer with little fairy-tale touches, including a patch of glitter that mimics the wintry forest floor.

The lacy details of paper doilies recall the snowflake's delicate engineering. Stencil them onto bright card stock for delicately snowbound holiday greetings.

Send a personalized message with these distinctive monogrammed cards.

Trees fashioned from colored and textured papers are adorned with sequins and glitter. The boughs of a pretty pink pine literally spring to life. 

Trees fashioned from colored and textured papers are adorned with sequins and glitter in these adorable pop-up cards.

Using digital photography, you can capture a number of images, then edit them and create original holiday cards all on your computer. Here are nine of our favorite ideas. 

As an alternative to the traditional greeting card, create a holiday letter that will fold to become its own envelope.

Cookie cutters work well as stencils for cards and gift tags. You can use assorted cookie cutters shaped like cats and dogs for everyday projects, but for holiday- or season-specific projects, try something different -- a turkey for Thanksgiving or a sprig of holly for Christmas.

There are a variety of ways you can turn a favorite digital photo or family snapshot into a memorable card, which you can then either email to friends and family, or send by post. 

Kids can help with the annual holiday greetings by creating a family newsletter to send to loved ones.

Stamped holiday greetings can be made even more special using a stamp created from a child's drawing.

Create a whole flock of these charming cards to keep on hand for the holidays or give as a gift set.

Stumped over what to write in your holiday cards? Here are eight suggestions for simple stanzas to fill your holiday cards and invitations.