Holiday Cards: Kokeshi

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My holiday cards for 2021 were inspired by Japanese kokeshi dolls, modified from the version I made for a pen pal earlier in the year. SO excited to finally have an excuse to use some of this gorgeous handmade Japanese paper! I'd had my eye on that green pattern since the first time I laid eyes on it. Bonus, I also found good holiday colors (for Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's) and a pattern appropriate for the Year of the Tiger.


Image of three colors/patterns of handmade Japanese paper, very fancy



The process is pretty straightforward:

  1. sketch what the final should look like (or, in this case, lift from a previous project to modify)

    Image of sketch

  2. trace into vector shapes in design software, resize to fit into regular-postage envelope (black rectangle). The lines are instructions for the Cricut – the gold lines are to be drawn with a gold marker, the magenta lines are for cutting a slot for the obi (waist sash) to slide through, and the vertical cyan lines are score lines for folding. I make 50-60 cards every year, I want to make sure they're as consistent as possible!

    Image of paper doll as vector shapes, as the final would look

  3. split out the shapes into individual pieces AND create one version that is a silhouette of the whole shape. The kimono looks weird because it will be folded in half so the pattern can be seen on both sides of the finished product

    Image of kokeshi paper doll pieces, vector shapes, split up by color

  4. cut out individual shapes from color paper AND one silhouette from cardboard. The silhouette becomes the jig to help with placement for gluing everything together.



  5. fold, glue, add message, mail!


There's a contrasting color line on all the obi. There was some trial and error there, I wasn't sure if I wanted to add that as tape or marker. I ended up doing some of both. The sparkly tape looked better but was also more work, the marker was the fastest and easiest but doesn't quite have the same flair.

The flowers were cut with a paper punch and the centers were colored by hand. The dolls were glued via glue sticks (so many glue sticks), and the message was attached by glue tape with less adhesion for easy removal. 

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