Standing Tree Holiday Card Tutorial

Flourished calligraphy stand-up tree card tutorial

This standing tree card falls squarely into the category of “impressive yet approachable”. It’s quick to put together, relaxing to embellish, and it folds up neatly for mailing. With the help of a printable template, you can whip up several of these! Pro tip: keep one for yourself. It adds beauty and interest to any holiday display.

flourished calligraphy holiday card — This card folds neatly into a snail mail-friendly shape. Just tuck it into an A7 envelope and send!

1. Gather Your Supplies

You’ll need the following supplies in order to make this card:

Printable Standing Tree Card Template
5″ x 7″ (12.7 × 17.78 cm) tented dark-colored card (I used red)
X-Acto knife (affiliate link)
White mechanical pencil + black eraser
Bleed Proof White ink
Pointed pen nib and holder of your choice (I used a Brause EF66 nib in an oblique holder)

2. Cut the Template

Begin by using your X-Acto knife (and some scissors, if you have them at hand) to cut out the Printable Standing Tree Card Template.

A self-healing cutting mat (*affiliate link*) comes in handy if you’re using an X-Acto knife. If you don’t have one of these mats, though, you can always use chipboard (like a cereal box) instead.

3. Trace and Cut

Once you’ve cut your template, line up the dotted line in the middle of the tree with the middle of your tented card. Then, use a white mechanical pencil to trace around the template.

Now, take your X-Acto knife and use it to cut out the elements in the bottom half of the card.

Cutting components out of a standing tree holiday card

Then, use the X-Acto knife to trace over the outline of the tree. Do not cut out the tree! You’re simply tracing over the guidelines you drew.

Once you’re finished, the top half of the tree should pop out of the card, as shown below:

Standing tree card — If your tree remains stuck in the card, turn the card over and try to locate the sticking points. Then, gently cut them.

4. Add Flourishes

Next, tuck your tree back into the card and erase any pencil guidelines. Then, use Bleed Proof White ink to work your way down the tree with simple “S” flourishes.

Adding calligraphy flourishes to a standing tree card — If you’re new to using white ink, I highly recommend reading *How to Use Bleed Proof White Calligraphy Ink*.

You’ll find that things get a little awkward at the bottom of the tree. Once you get there, you can use some coil flourishes and short strokes to fill in the rest.

Once your ink has dried, you can go back through and add various sizes of solid circles to represent ornaments. This gives the tree a more festive look (and offers a good chance to hide any flourishing imperfections)!

Drawing a holiday card — Be sure to make your circles different sizes. (Doing this adds a bit of depth to the piece.)

5. Write a Greeting

You’ll finish up your card by writing a greeting at the bottom. I chose “Magic and Joy” from the TPK 2025 Holiday Calligraphy Worksheet; but you can use any holiday greeting.

Holiday calligraphy on a card — You can find instructions for writing this greeting in the *TPK 2025 Holiday Calligraphy Worksheet*.

Once the ink has dried (I expedited this process in front of my space heater), carefully erase any pencil guidelines. Then, you have two options! You can either fold up your card and send it, or keep it on display for a while, which is what I’ve opted to do.

Flourished stand-up tree card — This card is now part of my holiday decor. (I’ll create a couple of others to send in the mail.)

I’ve wanted to make an interactive card like this ever since the Twist-Out Tree Holiday Card Tutorial. I think it’s so cool when you can make unique card concepts that you’d be pressed to find in a store! I hope that you enjoy making this card as much as I did; and if you do, I’d love to see what you came up with. There are a lot of little modifications you could make, like using gold instead of white; incorporating stars or, of course, switching up the greeting. Feel free to make it your own!

Warmly,

1. Gather Your Supplies

2. Cut the Template

3. Trace and Cut

4. Add Flourishes

5. Write a Greeting

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