Holiday Mail Art: 5 Ways to Decorate Christmas Card Envelopes

Holiday mail art is the best: A beautifully decorated Christmas card envelope is a gift. But a long card list might make addressing your envelopes seem like a daunting task instead of a glorious way to spend the evening. So we asked Hallmark artists to come up with easy ways to create hand-lettered envelopes that won’t take you all season long.
Here are five different gorgeous, easy ways to make everyone on your list feel like your very favorite person. And we’ve added bonus tips—the easiest way to add an envelope liner and some DIY confetti ideas.
Inspired? Create and share by tagging @HallmarkStores.
Holiday Mail Art with DIY Stamps
Supplies for making stamps
- Craft foam sheet
- Scrap pieces of cardboard
- Scissors
- Glue
- Crayola brush markers
- Archival ink pad in two colors (or ink brayer and paint)
- Scrap paper or butcher paper (to protect your work surface)
How to stamp envelopes
- Cut simple shapes from the craft foam—try stars or starbursts, circles or blocks.
- Glue the foam shape onto a slightly larger scrap of cardboard.
- Press your stamp onto the ink pad (or use a brayer to apply paint). Practice pressing the stamps on a scrap sheet of paper to get the right amount of pressure and to try different designs.
- Open and flatten the envelope and stamp your designs. Make sure to leave room for the recipient’s name and address on the front and your own return address in the upper left or on the back.
- Let your envelopes dry completely before you address them.
Cut Paper Christmas Mail Art
Supplies for cut paper designs
- Scraps of colored paper or leftover gift wrap
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Crayola brush markers
- Crayola metallic markers or paint markers
- White paint marker or Crayola silver glitter marker
- White gel pen
How to make cut paper envelope designs
- Cut a super-simple shape from the paper. We made different ornament shapes and trees and tried a few first initials.
- Lay your cut paper out on the envelope to figure out your design.
- If you’re going to write or draw on the paper, do that before you glue it down—that way if you mess up, you don’t ruin the envelope.
- Use the white paint or silver glitter marker to draw simple designs—branches, stars, garland strings—on your envelope.
- Glue down your cut paper then add the address. Don’t forget to put your return address in the upper left or on the back flap.
Hand-Painted Holiday Mail Art
Supplies for hand-painted envelopes
- Crayola acrylic paint (we are big believers in a limited color palette—choose 3 colors and use white paint to make lighter shades)
- Paintbrush
- Artist masking tape (“low-tack” means it’s less sticky and won’t rip paper)
- Scissors
- Crayola brush markers
- Scrap card stock or paper
How to make hand-painted mail art
To leave the perfect space for an address:
- Cut a square or rectangle from your scrap piece big enough to write the address. Use the masking tape to stick it to the envelope.
- Paint swatches of color on the envelope—try abstract shapes, swashes or blocks of color, squiggles and lines and dots.
- If you’re going to layer colors, make sure you let one dry before adding another.
- When it’s all completely dry, pull off the tape and paper scrap and add the address.
- With the right pen, you can write the address on a dry swash of color.
Bold Lettered Envelope Art
Supplies for hand-lettered envelopes
- Crayola Gold Metallic paint markers with bullet-shaped tips—not chiseled or angled—to make lines with a consistent weight (that’s called monoline lettering) or Metallic Markers
- Crayola Signature Metallic Outline Paint Markers & Project Glitter Markers or paint markers in white, red and green (or another fun, limited color palette)
- Pencil
How to create envelopes with bold lettering
- Before you start, lightly sketch out the name and address—and maybe any other designs you want to add. It’s easy to draw pine and holly branches and berries, stars and diamonds, accent marks and simple doves.
- Make the name the star—go big and bold, but don’t forget to leave room for the address. (Unless you’re hand-delivering a card! Then the name can be super huge.)
- Let each color dry before adding the next.
Easy Painted Envelope Backgrounds
Supplies for painted backgrounds
- Crayola Brush Markers or acrylic paint and brushes
- Crayola permanent markers (for addressing)
- Scrap paper
How to paint backgrounds to make addresses stand out
- Play around with techniques and designs—like translucent washes or snowy circles—on scrap paper or extra envelopes. Test the markers you’ll use for addresses on your backgrounds once they dry.
- Slide a piece of paper into your envelope before you paint to prevent bleed-through.
- Paint designs on your envelopes and let them dry.
- Once you’re absolutely positively certain they’re dry, add the addresses with permanent markers.
Bonus Tip: Wrapping Paper Envelope Liners
Supplies for wrapping paper envelope liners
- Envelopes
- Wrapping paper
- Ruler
- Scissors or craft knife
- Glue stick
- Optional: Chipboard (cereal boxes are perfect) or poster board for templates
How to add envelope liners
If you’re just doing a few liners, follow the directions below. If you decide to make a whole bunch, make a template using chipboard or poster board (first three steps). Then trace the template onto the wrapping paper and follow the last two steps.
- Open the flap of an envelope and lay it open and flat on the reverse side of a piece of wrapping paper.
- Trace the envelope shape onto the wrapping paper and cut it out.
- Cut a sliver (1/8″ or less) off each side and about 1/2″ off the bottom.
- Slip the liner into the envelope, design up, and close the envelope, creasing the liner.
- Open the envelope and glue the liner in place.

Another Bonus Tip: Christmas Card-fetti
What’s a Christmas card party without confetti? We much prefer the giant kind, cut with paper punches from tissue paper. (Find the easiest DIY tips here.) Sprinkle a few pieces inside a card or use a glue stick to decorate the envelope. Circles are classic and perfect…but snowflakes or trees or other holiday icons would also be pretty great, too.
NOTE: All envelopes shown are decorated with made-up names and addresses so we don’t violate anyone’s privacy.
Shop Christmas
See allYou may also like
See more-
Valentine's Day 100+ kids valentine messages: From kid-to-kid, for teacher and more
Refrigerator doors everywhere will soon be covered with valentines from kids. The right message added inside can make...
-
Christmas Check out these must-have ornaments for any fan of “The Office”
There’s nothing quite like the holiday season at Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company. The beloved Scranton branch Regional M...
-
Christmas Christmas Wishes: What to Write in a Christmas Card
Get sample messages, tips and watch our new video guide to write the perfect Christmas card.
-
Gift Wrapping 4 cute and creative ways to wrap gifts for kids
There’s something extra fun about wrapping gifts for kids. Maybe it’s the look on their faces when they’re handed a r...
-
Christmas 2024 Keepsake Ornament Sneak Peek: Catch a glimpse of our upcoming Magic Snowball Claw Game ornament!
SNEAK PEEK ALERT! As our Keepsake artists put the finishing touches on their new 2024 ornaments, we’re stealing a gla...
-
Christmas 2024 Keepsake Ornament Sneak Peek: Catch a glimpse of our upcoming Up On The Housetop ornament!
SNEAK PEEK ALERT! As our Keepsake artists put the finishing touches on their new 2024 ornaments, we’re stealing a gla...
-
Christmas Happy 50th birthday, Keepsake Ornaments!
As we close out 2023, we’re taking time to pause and celebrate! Our Keepsake crew is tossing the confetti and blowing...
-
Christmas Keepsake Ornaments: The next 50 years
As we look forward to the next half-century, our artists are sharing their thoughts on what the future might bring. T...
-
Winter What is Lunar New Year?: Shining a light on a celebration shared by billions
Lunar New Year is celebrated by an estimated 2 billion people around the world. It’s a holiday that marks the arrival...
-
Winter Find your Chinese zodiac sign just in time for Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year is the longest, most celebrated event for billions of people in Asian communities around the world. Ea...
-
Christmas Celebrating you
In life, there are moments you wish you could hold onto forever. That’s why we’ve been creating ornaments to help you...
-
Kids Free Black History Month coloring pages to celebrate with the family or in the classroom
There are so many way to celebrate Black History Month. And we absolutely love the ones that can be done as a family ...
-
Birthday 60+ winter birthday party ideas for kids and adults
Having a winter birthday can be pretty bittersweet. On one hand, there’s literally magic in the air around your big d...
-
Christmas 60+ Christmas appetizer ideas for any kind of holiday gathering
Gathering to share joy with the people we care about is one of the best things about Christmas. And while sitting dow...
-
Christmas The Cousins’ RV Funko Pop!®
Relive the shenanigans of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation with an ornament featuring Clark’s eccentric relative...
-
Christmas Merry Grinchmas! 🎄
Time to get down and dance with this Dr. Seuss™ Grinch plush with sound, motion, and light. Find it in Hallmark Gold...
-
Christmas Nutcracker gifts for everyone on your list
Whether it’s because of the ballet performances we performed or saw with loved ones, one of at least a dozen movies (...
-
Christmas Ski with Snoopy through a winter wonderland!
This Snoopy plush with sound and motion plays a jazzy piano version of "Jingle Bells" as he laughs and dashes through...
-
Christmas 100+ inexpensive Christmas gift ideas
I was a Christmas-gift-giving cautionary tale. It was the last day I could hand off a gift in time for the holiday. I...
-
Parties & Entertaining Photo-worthy holiday tablescapes: 40+ Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s Eve table decoration ideas
I’ve always loved interior design. This has resulted in hours of gazing at stylish tablescapes, reveling in the color...