8 Steps to DIY Your Greeting Cards

If you're looking to create a more personal greeting card and the thought of glue sticks and glitter scares you, try your hand at a video card. With Windows Live Movie Maker—which you can download for free here—you can create and share a great-looking video card out of your favorite photos in just a few simple steps.

You can make cards for birthdays, to share vacation pics, or to say “thank you.” Then take advantage of the easy-to-use tools that make it a snap to edit, add transitions, and music. When you're done, upload it straight to Windows Live SkyDrive, YouTube, or Facebook. Sound good? Let's get started!


1. Open Windows Live Movie Maker
Open Windows Live Movie Maker by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, typing Movie Maker into the search box, and then selecting it from the list of results.

Tip: If you've already been editing those photos and still have Windows Live Photo Gallery open, here's a shortcut: Select the images you want to use, click the Create tab, and then click Movie. (You can skip the next step.)

2. Add your photos
Now, it's time to add the photos you want to share. Just click the white box on the right where it says Click here to browse for videos and photos. Select all your files by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing A, or select just certain files by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking the photos and videos you want to include. Or just drag your photos into the box. When you've selected the images you want, click OK.

3. Add a title slide

In the Home tab, click Title to add a title slide to your video card. Name your card whatever you want. Get creative!

4. Get it all in order

Now that your title and credit slides have been added, it's time to make sure everything is in the right order. Move the title slide to the very beginning of the movie and the credit slide to the end (if it's not already there) by dragging it to the right place. This will frame up the beginning and end of your video card. And if you want your photos to appear in a particular order, you can arrange them in the same way.

5. Choose a theme and add music
Be sure to take advantage of the Windows Live Movie Maker AutoMovie themes, which automatically build in fun visual effects and transitions. To change your theme, navigate to the Home tab and select a different theme in the AutoMovie theme section. (Hover over a theme for a preview.) After you click a new theme, you'll be prompted to add music.

Tip: As you play around with themes, you may notice that a black screen or extra title screen sometimes appears in your picture sequence. Go ahead and delete any slides you don't want.

6. Include additional captions for each photo

Adding text to your video card is a snap (and you don't have to worry about penmanship). Click the photo you want to add text to, and then click Caption on the Home tab. You'll see a text box appear on the photo—just type in your caption. Then, if you want, you can change your font style, adjust size and color, and move the text box.

7. Don't forget credits!

Rolling credits can put the finishing touches on your card—so if you want credits to appear, make sure you choose a theme that includes them. Then, simply double-click the little pink box that appears under each credit slide and fill out the text box that appears in the picture.

8. Easily share your video card

You're done—that was easy, right? Sharing your video is just as simple. To upload to sites like Facebook, Windows Live SkyDrive, and YouTube, just click the appropriate icon in the Share group on the Home tab, and then follow the instructions. To burn your masterpiece onto a DVD that you can send in the mail, click Save movie, and then Burn a DVD.

So there you have it: a fun, digital alternative to the traditional greeting card.
From windows.microsoft