Free Christmas Card Template | Messages & Images

Christmas cards are a nice way to send Christmas cheer, share good wishes, or connect with family and friends during the holiday season. Sending a Christmas card honors a long-standing tradition and serves as a personal gesture of thoughtfulness.

Christmas cards vary in sentiment and design. They can be religious, inspirational, whimsical, cute, funny, or sincere. The key to choosing the right one for you is finding the visuals and tone that convey what you want to say.

This article offers some Christmas card templates you can use and shows you how to create your own personalized templates with QuillBot’s free AI image generator.

Christmas card designs

Christmas card designs generally feature Christmas or winter motifs, such as:

• Santa Claus and his reindeer
• Christmas trees, lights, stars, and ornaments
• Snowmen and snowflakes
• Christmas decorations like candles, bells, wreaths, stockings, etc.
• Snowy scenes of cozy houses or cabins
• The Nativity (birth of Jesus) or the Epiphany (Three Wisemen) scenes
• Imagery from Christmas carols
• Secular designs with happy holidays wishes
• Minimalist designs featuring Christmas colors

Think about what types of Christmas card designs work for your intention; do you want to send a sincere, religious card, a cute and funny one, or a traditional but secular one? Identifying the designs you want to use will help you more easily create your Christmas card template.

Christmas card templates

Below, find ready-to-use AI prompts and the images they generate. You can use these prompts and images to create your own Christmas card templates. Feel free to customize the prompts to fit your desired style. Remember: the more detailed the prompt, the better the AI output.

Traditional Christmas card templates

Traditional Christmas cards focus on the most standard Christmas symbols and often have a cozy, vintage vibe.

Prompt 1: “A Christmas image of a vintage Santa Claus and his reindeer flying through the sky. Use a decorative script font to write ‘Merry Christmas’ overlaid on the sky.”

Christmas card template 1:

Prompt 2: “A Christmas tree, covered in lights, tinsel, and colorful ornaments. It sits in the corner of a cozy living room. Use soft, cozy, ambient lighting from the lights on the tree. On one of the most prominent ornaments, include the words ‘Merry Christmas.’”

Christmas card template 2:

Prompt 3: “The cover of a Christmas card. It’s a flat lay of different Christmas decorations (bells, candles, bows, lights, ornaments, holly, etc.) on a rustic wooden table. The decorations are spread around the edges, and in the middle are wooden blocks that spell out ‘Happy Christmas.’”

Christmas card template 3: 

Cute and funny Christmas card templates

You can use these images in your cute and funny Christmas card templates. These are perfect for children (and adults who enjoy the cute and humorous aspects of life).

Prompt 1: “A cute, waving snowman in front of a cozy house. He has a snowman wife and a snowman dog next to him. There is a word bubble coming out of the snowman’s mouth that says, “Merry Christmas.”

Christmas card template 1:

Prompt 2: “A Christmas card cover featuring cute woodland animals ice skating on a frozen lake in the middle of a forest.”

Christmas card template 2: 

Prompt 3: “Santa driving a snowmobile fast through the snow, with a sack of gifts on his back. Render it in a vintage style.”

Christmas card template 3: 

Modern Christmas card templates

If you’re looking for a more modern or minimalist touch, try out these images and prompts for your Christmas card templates.

Prompt 1: “A cover for a modern Christmas card. Show a woman’s hand, with well-manicured, long red nails, holding a Christmas ornament that says ‘merry christmas’ in all lowercase letters in a modern font face. Use a sleek, modern illustration style.”

Christmas card template 1: 

Prompt 2: “Create a Christmas card cover in a flat, vector style. Show a line of Christmas trees, each with a slightly different shape and decorations. The trees stand on top of a white snowbank, with a dark blue background. Beneath the trees, put the words ‘Merry Christmas.’”

Christmas card template 2: 

Prompt 3: “Show Christmas ornaments of various colors and designs rendered in a minimalist modern style using bright Christmas colors. Arrange them in rows, 3 in each row. Render them as flat illustrations.”

Christmas card template 3: 

Religious Christmas card templates

Try out these religious images and prompts to create Christmas card templates that deal with the story of Jesus’ birth.

Prompt 1: “A Christmas card cover that, at the bottom right, shows the Nativity scene against a dark blue sky. The stable is illuminated by the warmth and glow of the baby Jesus, and an angel leans over Mary’s shoulder while Joseph stands proudly. Overhead, the star is pointing to the manger where Jesus was born. In the top left, write the words “Have a joyful Christmas” in a decorative font face.”

Christmas card template 1:

Prompt 2: “An adult Church choir dressed in red and green, singing Christmas carols inside a Church. They are lit by candlelight; the mood is dark and dramatic. Use an elegant, illustrative style. At the top, put “Merry Christmas” in an elaborate, decorative font face.”

Christmas card template 2:

Prompt 3: “An angel, dressed in white with a wreath of holly, blowing into a French horn. Next to her, include “Glory to God and peace on Earth” in an elegant script font face.”

Christmas card template 3:

Happy Holidays card templates

If you want to send a secular greeting that’s not tied to any specific religion, you could send a “Happy Holidays” card.

Prompt 1: “Use a rustic stamp style, with dark green ink on a cream background. In the middle, put the words ‘Happy Holidays.’ Around these words, create a border of pine tree branches and pinecones.”

Happy Holidays card template 1:

Prompt 2: “Use a minimalist style to show two penguins wearing scarves. They’re standing on snow, with a blue sky behind them. Over the sky, include “Happy Holidays” in a simple typeface.”

Happy Holidays card template 2: 

Prompt 3: “A cozy village nestled in a pine forest. It is snowing. Include the words ‘Happy Holidays’ in a delicate font face.”

Happy Holidays card template 3: 

Christmas newsletter template

Some people prefer to send Christmas newsletters instead of Christmas cards. These newsletters generally explain what the sender(s) have been up to during the year that’s finishing. They often feature fewer design elements but may include photos of the sender(s) to reinforce the text.

Christmas newsletter templates for headers

QuillBot’s AI image generator can easily help you create a unique header for your Christmas newsletter template. Below are a few examples, plus the prompts used to generate them.

Prompt 1: “Create an email header that features a grid of pixelated Christmas symbols: Santa, bell, candle, holly, cookie, candy cane, wreath, tree, angel, ornament, snowman, etc.”

Christmas newsletter header 1: 

Prompt 2: “A horizontal newsletter header that features the words ‘Merry Christmas’ in a white, minimalist font face. The background is red and green stripes, rendered flat without depth or shadow.”

Christmas newsletter header 2:

Prompt 3: “A horizontal newsletter header that shows, at the right, a Christmas tree. At the left, two hands are raised with an ornament, ready to hang it on the tree. The ornament reflects the tree. Render this in a vintage cartoon style. In the middle, put the words ‘Season’s Greetings’ in a bold, vintage font face.”

Christmas newsletter header 3:

Christmas newsletters templates for text

When writing a Christmas newsletter, you should include the following:

• If sending via email, a fun and festive subject line (e.g., “🎄The [Your Last Name] Christmas Chronicle 2025”).
• A greeting to readers (e.g., “Dear”)
• A brief introduction that sends Christmas wishes and sums up how your year has been.
• A few body paragraphs or a bulleted list with your highlights from the year. You could organize these by topic (e.g., travel, home, future). Or in the case of a family, you may want to dedicate a paragraph to each family member’s news.
• A warm closing to reiterate that you wish your readers well during the holiday season.
• A friendly signoff (e.g., “Love” or “Yours truly”).

Below is a Christmas newsletter template that you can modify and personalize with your own news and ideas.

Frequently asked questions about Christmas card template

What’s an example of a Christmas gift card template?

A Christmas gift card template should include:

• A Christmas message like “Merry Christmas”
• A “to” field with the recipient’s name
• A “from” field with the sender’s name
• A “value” field that shows what the gift card is worth
• Where the gift card may be used

Want to send your gift card with a longer, more personalized message? Try working the gift card template into a Christmas card template with help from QuillBot’s AI image generator.

What’s an example of a Christmas card template for kids?

A Christmas card template for kids could be:

• A printable, foldable coloring page
• A handprint craft (e.g., handprint reindeer)
• A simple DIY pop-up card
• A cute or funny printable card

Try making your own Christmas card template for kids with QuillBot’s AI image generator.