The drawings pile up on the fridge, and every December one of them deserves more than a magnet. This page turns a phone photo of a child’s drawing into something to give: it finds the paper in the photo, straightens it, and lifts the drawing off in its own colors, so the crayon stays and the paper, the shadow and the crease go. Then it lays the drawing out for the gift.
What it makes
| Make | On one sheet of US Letter or A4 | Paper to print on |
|---|---|---|
| Christmas card | one folded card, 4.25 × 5.5 in from Letter (A2 envelope) or A6 from A4, printed on one side | card stock |
| Stickers | as many as fit, 2 to 4 in, each with a white border and a gray cut line around its shape | sticker paper |
| Ornaments | round, 2.5 to 3.5 in across, the artist’s name and the year under the drawing | card stock |
| Wrapping paper | the drawing repeated over the whole sheet, 1.5 to 3 in each, as many sheets as the present needs | plain paper |
| T-shirt | the drawing mirrored, 5 to 10 in wide, with a trim line | iron-on transfer paper for light fabrics |
| A print | the drawing the right way around, 5 to 10 in wide | card stock or photo paper |
The card’s greeting (Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings or Love and Joy) and its lettering color are yours to pick; the front says who drew it and how old they were.
Taking the photo
Lay the drawing flat by a window and hold the phone straight above it, without the flash. Leave a little of the table around the paper so the page finds its edges; if it misses one, open The drawing and drag the four corners onto the paper. Bold markers or paint suits thick color, Light pencil keeps a faint line that crayon settings would lose.
Ornaments that last
Print the ornaments on card stock and cut the circles out. Glue one onto a wood slice or a cardboard round, the same drawing or a second one on the back, punch the small circle and tie a ribbon through. A coat of decoupage glue over the paper keeps it clean on the tree.
What it costs
Nothing. No account, no watermark, no limit on sheets. The photo of the drawing never leaves your device.
A child’s first written name makes a handwriting ornament. To sew the drawing into a toy instead, the stuffed animal pattern turns it into front and back pieces at full size. For a card with a family photo on the front, the photo Christmas card folds from the same one sheet. A photo ornament ball holds twelve photos of the year, and the photo gifts shelf has the rest of the bench.
Questions
How do I turn my child's drawing into a Christmas card?
Photograph the drawing flat in daylight and add the photo here. The card prints on one side of one sheet of US Letter or A4 and folds twice: the drawing on the front over your greeting, the artist's name under it, your message inside. Card stock folds best; score each fold first.
How do I make stickers from my kid's drawing?
Choose Stickers and a size. Every sticker gets a white border and a gray line around the drawing's own shape, as many as fit on the sheet. Print on sticker paper and cut along the gray lines with scissors. For a cutting machine, take the transparent PNG into its print-then-cut mode instead.
Can I put my child's drawing on a T-shirt?
Yes. Choose T-shirt: the drawing prints mirrored on iron-on transfer paper for light fabrics, with a dashed line to trim along, and reads the right way around once it is ironed face down. Transfer paper for dark fabrics is printed the right way around; for that, choose A print.
Why does the white of the paper disappear?
The page measures the paper's own color across the whole photo and keeps only what is darker or more colorful than it, so a yellow crayon stays and the paper does not. On a card or a sticker the drawing then sits on clean white, and the PNG has a transparent background.
Is the photo uploaded?
No. The paper is found, the drawing lifted off it and the PDF and PNG made in your browser. Closing the tab erases it.