Little Harvest Stories Thanksgiving Cards

Old-fashioned autumn picture-book scenes cover all ten of these printable Thanksgiving cards. Rosy-cheeked children in caps, bonnets, aprons and blue or red coats gather apples, bake pies and share a porch table with grandmother, against wide valleys of orange and gold trees, lakes and stone walls. The picture sits in a thin colored frame on a cream card, with a two-line greeting above it in red, slate blue or green serif type and a short line of italic text below.

Ten scenes

• 01 Happy Thanksgiving: a boy and a girl in a red cape pull a wagon of pumpkins and apples down a country lane, with a white rabbit in the grass.
• 02 Gather Together: grandmother and two children set a round table with a pumpkin pie and a bowl of apples.
• 03 With a Grateful Heart: children pick apples into baskets under a tree, watched by a rabbit and a hedgehog.
• 04 Sweet Autumn Wishes: three children roll dough and top a pumpkin pie in a farmhouse kitchen with a wood stove.
• 05 Kindness to Share: two children crouch by a garden gate scattering grain for a turkey.
• 06 Harvest Blessings: three children unpack a picnic basket of fruit under a pear tree, a rabbit close by.
• 07 Home for Thanksgiving: two children with a lantern and an apple basket walk a leafy path past a cottage, a puppy at their heels.
• 08 Thankful for You: a boy holding a bouquet and a girl greet grandmother at her front door.
• 09 A Season of Gratitude: children and grandmother share pie and tea at a table on the porch, a cat by the chair.
• 10 Grateful & Blessed: angel children ride a crescent moon with a basket of apples and a pumpkin, high above a lake valley.

From sheet to card

Every card is one landscape page. The left half is the back of the card, with a small sprig of autumn leaves, the line “A little autumn kindness, sent with love.” and a small Doodlora name. The right half is the cover. Print at actual size on white or warm-white cardstock your printer can feed, and test on plain paper first. Cut along the four corner crop marks for an 8 x 6 inch piece, score between the small ticks at the top and bottom center, and fold with the picture outside. You end up with a 4 x 6 inch card. On the cover the illustration measures about 2.89 x 4.33 inches, which works out to roughly 354 ppi.

The Warmest Thanks verses

If you would rather not write the whole message yourself, each card has a matching inside verse. All ten carry the heading “Warmest Thanks” with a leaf sprig, and the verses differ, for example “May your table be full, your home be warm, and your heart be happy with the people you love.” for card 02. The verse prints on the right inside panel and leaves the left panel empty, so there is still room for a signature or a few lines. Print it on the back of the outside sheet before you cut. Printers flip paper in different ways, so mark a corner on a test sheet and check that the verse comes out upright and lined up after folding. The exact 8 x 6 inch verse files have no crop marks and suit a print shop or centering on your own paper.

Postcards from the same art

The ten pictures also come as plain illustrations with no greeting, sized for single-sided 4 x 6 inch postcards. At 1024 x 1536 pixels they work out to 256 ppi at that size. For color right to the edge you need a borderless printer or a print service, and borderless enlarging may trim the edges, so printing slightly smaller inside a white margin is the safer choice at home. Leave the back unprinted for writing, and use an envelope if you mail them.

Questions

Can I print my own words inside instead of the verse?

The verses can't be edited. Print the outside only and the blank back of the sheet becomes the inside, ready for a handwritten note.

Are envelopes included?

No. The finished card is 4 x 6 inches, so look for envelopes sized for a 4 x 6 folded card.