Crochet: Framed Christmas Cards

My grandmother showed me a little craft she used to make with nice Christmas cards. Back in her day, growing up on a farm out on the prairie and later as a farmer’s wife, many of the nice home décor pictures we have now were just not available, so she was creative with what she had.

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You will need these supplies:
New or used Christmas cards
Tagboard (a thin cardboard from cereal, gift, or tissue boxes, a tablet of paper, or a new shirt)
Scissors
Ruler
Pencil
Double-face tape
Hole punch, 3/16” in size.
Size G crochet hook
Yarn
3/8” inch to ½” inch wide ribbon
large-eyed yarn needle

In order to make the frame, begin by selecting the card you want. I picked out a couple for samples, made of sturdy cardstock. If you have one made of flimsy paper, you will have to make it sturdier by inserting a piece of tagboard. Trace around the card on the tagboard and cut out. Trim the tagboard so that it’s just slightly smaller than the card by a hair (just inside the pencil marks, so it doesn’t show in front), then insert inside the card. You may double-face tape the tagboard to the inside center of card so it doesn’t shift when you punch the holes around the outside.

I have several hole punches – Fiskars hand punches, a 9 pc. set of eyelet punches from Harbor & Freight that one whacks with a hammer, a sheet metal hand punch I also purchased at Harbor & Freight, and a long arm Crop-a-Dile punch. Any will work as long as a size G crochet hook will pass through the hole easily. Punch holes around the outside edge of the card about ¼ “ from the edge and from each other. You can make tick marks on the back side of your card if you like with a pencil, but I punch the holes at each corner, then in the middles, spacing them fairly evenly, and so on.

Both cards I made for samples begin the same.

Row 1: Slip your crochet hook into the top middle hole from the front of the card and pull a loop of yarn through the hole. Chain 1 (ch 1) over the top of the card, catching the yarn with the hook and pulling it through your first loop. Insert hook back into the same hole, yarn over (yo), pull through. You should have two loops on your hook. Yarn over top of card and pull loop through both of the loops on your hook, making a single crochet (sc). Single crochet along the rest the holes loosely until you reach the corner. If you make your stitches too tight, the card will buckle. At the corner you will make 2 single crochets in the same hole with 2 chains between them to make the corner (sc, ch 2, sc). Continue crocheting around the edge of the card until you reach the top middle again. End first row by inserting hook into the first single crochet you made, yarn over, and pull through loop on hook, making a slip stitch (sl st). Chain 3.

CARD 1:

On Card 1, I used Lily’s Original Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn in Soft Ecru.

Row 2: For this frame there are two double crochet stitches (dc) in each first row single crochet stitch except at the corner where there are 4 double crochets with 2 chains between each set to make the corner. The chain 3 is the first double crochet (dc) in the beginning sc. To make a double crochet, yarn over (yo) with the hook, catching the thread, then dip down into the first sc, yo, pull yarn loop through single crochet. Yo again and pull loop through two loops on hook. Yo and pull caught loop through the last two loops on hook. You have a complete dc. Dc twice in each sc until you reach the corner. At the corner, make 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc. Complete row until you end back at middle top. Close row by making a sl st in top st of beg ch 3, ch 10, sl st back in same st. Ch 1, pull long (about 2”), cut off, leaving a tail to weave through the back of the stitches with a large-eyed yarn needle. Trim.

To finish: cut 1 yard of ribbon and weave through punched holes, beginning at top middle, leaving a six inch tail of ribbon. Space ribbon evenly as possible. Tie a bow with tails when done and fish-tail trim ends. Flatten frame and hang by chain loop.

CARD 2:

Card 2’s frame was made with Bernat’s Satin Sport Acrylic 2.4 oz/70 g yarn in the seashore color.

Row 2: In this row, you will make the shell stitch of 6 double crochet (dc) with 2 chains between each set of 3 dc in each row 1 sc. The chain three that you made at the end of the first row counts as the first double crochet in the shell. To make a double crochet, yarn over (yo) with the hook, catching the thread, then dip down into the first sc, yo, pull yarn loop through single crochet. Yo again and pull loop through two loops on hook. Yo and pull caught loop through the last two loops on hook. You have a complete dc. Make one more dc, then chain (ch) 2, then make 3 more dc’s in same stitch. Skip (sk) one sc and make another shell in the next sc. Repeat until you return to the top of the card. Complete row by sl st into beginning (beg) ch 3 and sl st to the top of the shell where the ch 2 are. Ch 10, sl st back in same st. Ch 1, pull long (about 2”), cut off, leaving a tail to weave through the back of the stitches with a large-eyed yarn needle. Trim.

To finish: cut 1 yard of ribbon and weave through punched holes, beginning at top middle, leaving a six inch tail of ribbon. Space ribbon evenly as possible. Tie a bow with tails when done and fish-tail trim ends. Flatten frame and hang by chain loop.