It’s that time of year again where I scramble to find affordable and meaningful gifts for my family and friends. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m cheap, but I definitely don’t have the means to purchase nose-hair trimmers willy nilly.

I turn to my thrifting and crafting skills during the holidays. I thought this year I’d share a couple of my moneysaving ideas each week until it’s crunch time and you’re desperate for ideas on how to glue random trash and recyclables together in your house and stick a bow on it — we’ll get there together.

So here we go.

Alaska Knit Nat’s DIY Holiday Guide 2014

#1: Make your own photo cards

I always have those friends who mail out holiday cards with professional family photos arranged on glossy photo paper with a side banner that reads in hipster calligraphy, “May your days be merry and bright.” Yes, I’m jealous of them. Yes, I want to copy them but without spending a lot of money. Yes, I want to mail mine out perfectly on time too.

Here’s how you can create your own family photo card with an awesome font on the side for a fraction of the cost.

What you’ll need:

• Digital photos of your family. Instagram and phone photos would work too.
• Blank 5×7″ notecards, like these
• Glue stick
• Internet access

You don’t have to be a graphic designer to make your own photo cards. Just visit canva.com. It’s like graphic design for dummies. Create an account for free and you have access to tons of banners, frames, fonts and digital doodads that are predesigned and ready for you to arrange into myriad media. Just today Canva added a Christmas Card category where you select the template you like and upload your photos. You can get a little more technical and design your own. Most of the graphics are free.

I spent about an hour tinkering around with a design and finally settled on this one:

Next, save your design as a PDF. Then upload your photo collage to any online drugstore photo processor. I prefer Walgreens because not only is it a block away from my house, but there is always a coupon code floating around the internet that works. *Note: I did have to change the PDF file to a JPG in order to upload it to Walgreens’ site. If you originally save it from Canva as a JPG it may not be high quality enough to print since it’s saved much smaller than a PDF.

Print one tester photo and see how it turns out. If it’s to your liking, print the number you need.

Then, glue your photo to the front of your blank card.

Revel in your thrifty, crafty genius.