How to Embroider a Christmas Card on Paper: The Woven Wheel Rose Tree ~ Part 1

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The holiday season is creeping up fast, and there is nothing quite like sending—or receiving—a holiday greeting that feels truly special. While store-bought boxed cards are convenient, a handcrafted, tactile card is something family and friends will display on their mantels year after year.

Welcome to Part 1 of our Handmade Holiday Card Series! Over the next five weeks, we’re taking the techniques we practiced during our Beginner’s Guide to Stitching on Paper Series and turning them into modern, festive keepsakes. If you’re brand new to paper embroidery or need a quick refresher on the basics, be sure to check out the earlier guides on essential paper prep, thread tension, and mastering foundational stitches before you start!

We’re kicking things off with one of my absolute favorites: The Woven Wheel Christmas Tree.

The Secret to the Look: Dimension on Paper

At first glance, this card looks intricate, but the entire tree is built by mainly using one foundational flower technique: the Woven Wheel Rose (sometimes called the spider web rose).

By stacking varying sizes of these rosettes in shades of forest green, sage, and mint, you create a rich, tactile evergreen silhouette. We then accent the negative space with tiny red French knot "ornaments" and delicate gold starbursts to give it that magical, glowing holiday finish.

If you’ve never worked the woven wheel stitch on paper before, don't worry! With the right paper prep and tension, it’s remarkably easy and incredibly satisfying to watch come together.

Materials You’ll Need

• Heavyweight Cardstock: 80 lb to 110 lb smooth white cardstock. Heavy cardstock is essential to prevent tearing or warping under the tension of the woven floss.
• Embroidery Floss:
• 2–3 complementary shades of green (for depth across the tree branches)
• Festive holiday red (for French knot ornaments)
• Soft gold or yellow (for star accents)
• Embroidery Needle: Size 5 or 7 embroidery needle with an eye large enough for multi-strand floss.
• Piercing Tool / Awl & Foam Pad: For pre-punching your spoke holes cleanly.

Step-by-Step: Stitching the Woven Wheel Tree

1. Pre-Punching the Base Spokes

Every woven wheel requires an odd number of base spokes—we use 5 spokes for each circle.

• Place your unfolded card front onto a foam piercing mat.
• Pierce a small hole in the exact center of your first rose circle.
• Pierce 5 inner and outer holes evenly spaced around the perimeter like the points of a star.
• Paper Tip: Keep your center hole clean, small and spaced just far enough apart. You don't want to stretch or rip the cardstock fibers before you even begin weaving!

2. Anchor Your 5-Spoke Wheel

Thread your needle with 6 strands of green floss, knot the end at the back, and come up through one of the spoke holes. Take the needle down through the outer hole. Repeat this for all 5 outer holes until you have a neat 5-spoke "wheel" anchored on the front of your card.

3. The Weave (No Paper Piercing Required!)

Here’s the fun part: once your base spokes are stitched, your needle stays entirely on top of the card!

• Bring your needle up right next to the center hole.
• Begin weaving: go over the first spoke, under the second spoke, over the third, and so on.
• Continue rotating around the wheel in a continuous spiral.
• The Golden Rule of Tension: Keep your thread completely relaxed. Do not yank! If you pull too tightly, you’ll bend the paper upward and flatten the petal edges. A gentle glide allows the floss to naturally fluff up and create a raised, domed rosette.
• Once the spokes are fully covered, push the needle down through the cardstock just underneath the petal edge and knot it securely on the back.

4. Layering the Evergreen Silhouette

Work from the bottom of the tree upward, alternating your larger rosettes at the base and smaller wheels toward the tip. Mixing deeper greens with lighter sage tones mimics the natural shadows and highlights of evergreen branches.

5. Ornaments & Finishing Touches

Fill in the small gaps between your roses using French knots with 2–3 strands of red floss (head back to our Beginner's Guide: French Knots on Paper post if you need a refresher on knot tension!). Finally, stitch delicate 5-point star stitches using gold thread along the edges to capture that vintage twinkle.

Short on Time This Holiday Season?

If your holiday schedule is already filling up and you’d rather have these ready to address, write, and mail, you can order the completed, hand-embroidered cards directly from my shop! Each card comes paired with a matching envelope and is individually packaged in a clear protective sleeve so it arrives pristine and ready to gift.

👉 Shop the HandmadeWoven Wheel Christmas Tree Card on Etsy

Catch Up On The Beginner's Guide Series

• Back Stitch - Part 1
• French Knots - Part 2
• Lazy Daisy - Part 3
• Stem Stitch - Part 4
• Straight Stitch - Part 5

Products available on Amazon (Commission Earned)”

• Gold plated embroidery scissors 
• Needle minder 
• Corner cutter 

(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

What’s Coming Next

Next week in Part 2, we’re putting our lazy daisy stitch to work with the Classic Holiday Botanical Wreath Card featuring centered script and holly berry clusters.

See you then, and happy stitching!

Becca

***While I'm thrilled to share my step-by-step directions, the good and the bad, these are intended for your personal use. I'm always happy to hear and see what my bloggers have been working on. BUT a lot of work goes into these creations and while I have no issues sharing so you are able to create the work for your precious homes please understand that selling an exact duplication of my designs is highly frowned upon. :( Please always be considerate of another artists work. Thank you!***

Don't forget to stop by and Like my Facebook Page and Follow me on Instagram!

The holiday season is creeping up fast, and there is nothing quite like sending—or receiving—a holiday greeting that feels truly special. While store-bought boxed cards are convenient, a handcrafted, tactile card is something family and friends will display on their mantels year after year.

Welcome to Part 1 of our Handmade Holiday Card Series! Over the next five weeks, we’re taking the techniques we practiced during our Beginner’s Guide to Stitching on Paper Series and turning them into modern, festive keepsakes. If you’re brand new to paper embroidery or need a quick refresher on the basics, be sure to check out the earlier guides on essential paper prep, thread tension, and mastering foundational stitches before you start!

We’re kicking things off with one of my absolute favorites: The Woven Wheel Christmas Tree.

The Secret to the Look: Dimension on Paper

At first glance, this card looks intricate, but the entire tree is built by mainly using one foundational flower technique: the Woven Wheel Rose (sometimes called the spider web rose).

By stacking varying sizes of these rosettes in shades of forest green, sage, and mint, you create a rich, tactile evergreen silhouette. We then accent the negative space with tiny red French knot "ornaments" and delicate gold starbursts to give it that magical, glowing holiday finish.

If you’ve never worked the woven wheel stitch on paper before, don't worry! With the right paper prep and tension, it’s remarkably easy and incredibly satisfying to watch come together.

Materials You’ll Need

• Heavyweight Cardstock: 80 lb to 110 lb smooth white cardstock. Heavy cardstock is essential to prevent tearing or warping under the tension of the woven floss.
• Embroidery Floss:
• 2–3 complementary shades of green (for depth across the tree branches)
• Festive holiday red (for French knot ornaments)
• Soft gold or yellow (for star accents)
• Embroidery Needle: Size 5 or 7 embroidery needle with an eye large enough for multi-strand floss.
• Piercing Tool / Awl & Foam Pad: For pre-punching your spoke holes cleanly.

Step-by-Step: Stitching the Woven Wheel Tree

1. Pre-Punching the Base Spokes

Every woven wheel requires an odd number of base spokes—we use 5 spokes for each circle.

• Place your unfolded card front onto a foam piercing mat.
• Pierce a small hole in the exact center of your first rose circle.
• Pierce 5 inner and outer holes evenly spaced around the perimeter like the points of a star.
• Paper Tip: Keep your center hole clean, small and spaced just far enough apart. You don't want to stretch or rip the cardstock fibers before you even begin weaving!

2. Anchor Your 5-Spoke Wheel

Thread your needle with 6 strands of green floss, knot the end at the back, and come up through one of the spoke holes. Take the needle down through the outer hole. Repeat this for all 5 outer holes until you have a neat 5-spoke "wheel" anchored on the front of your card.

3. The Weave (No Paper Piercing Required!)

Here’s the fun part: once your base spokes are stitched, your needle stays entirely on top of the card!

• Bring your needle up right next to the center hole.
• Begin weaving: go over the first spoke, under the second spoke, over the third, and so on.
• Continue rotating around the wheel in a continuous spiral.
• The Golden Rule of Tension: Keep your thread completely relaxed. Do not yank! If you pull too tightly, you’ll bend the paper upward and flatten the petal edges. A gentle glide allows the floss to naturally fluff up and create a raised, domed rosette.
• Once the spokes are fully covered, push the needle down through the cardstock just underneath the petal edge and knot it securely on the back.

4. Layering the Evergreen Silhouette

Work from the bottom of the tree upward, alternating your larger rosettes at the base and smaller wheels toward the tip. Mixing deeper greens with lighter sage tones mimics the natural shadows and highlights of evergreen branches.

5. Ornaments & Finishing Touches

Fill in the small gaps between your roses using French knots with 2–3 strands of red floss (head back to our Beginner's Guide: French Knots on Paper post if you need a refresher on knot tension!). Finally, stitch delicate 5-point star stitches using gold thread along the edges to capture that vintage twinkle.

Short on Time This Holiday Season?

If your holiday schedule is already filling up and you’d rather have these ready to address, write, and mail, you can order the completed, hand-embroidered cards directly from my shop! Each card comes paired with a matching envelope and is individually packaged in a clear protective sleeve so it arrives pristine and ready to gift.

👉 Shop the HandmadeWoven Wheel Christmas Tree Card on Etsy

Catch Up On The Beginner's Guide Series

• Back Stitch - Part 1
• French Knots - Part 2
• Lazy Daisy - Part 3
• Stem Stitch - Part 4
• Straight Stitch - Part 5

Products available on Amazon (Commission Earned)”

• Gold plated embroidery scissors 
• Needle minder 
• Corner cutter 

(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

What’s Coming Next

Next week in Part 2, we’re putting our lazy daisy stitch to work with the Classic Holiday Botanical Wreath Card featuring centered script and holly berry clusters.

See you then, and happy stitching!

Becca

***While I'm thrilled to share my step-by-step directions, the good and the bad, these are intended for your personal use. I'm always happy to hear and see what my bloggers have been working on. BUT a lot of work goes into these creations and while I have no issues sharing so you are able to create the work for your precious homes please understand that selling an exact duplication of my designs is highly frowned upon. :( Please always be considerate of another artists work. Thank you!***