Christmas Calligraphy: 40+ Examples & Tutorial (& Other Phrases)
It's the most wonderful time of the year... the use your calligraphy skills!
Calligraphy never needs to be "productive" to be worthwhile - you can (and should!) create beautiful compositions for your own enjoyment.
But there's a special magic when you can put your skills to practical use. At the holidays, this can be:
Place settings for parties
Home decorations
Holiday cards
Name tags
Gifts
Let's look at how to write the most common holiday phrases, plus we'll share 40+ examples of beautiful Christmas calligraphy from our talented students.
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How To Write Merry Christmas In Calligraphy
In calligraphy, all letters are based on the basic calligraphy strokes. We'll break down Merry Christmas stroke by stroke since it's the most popular phrase. For Happy New Year and other seasonal phrases, we'll show calligraphy examples that you can reference along with our lowercase alphabet tutorial for the exact strokes.
How To Write “Merry”
Reference the image below to see each letter broken down by stroke.
M = overturn + overturn + compound curve
E = entrance + underturn + hairline to finish
R = overturn + straight hairline + comma dot
R = overturn + straight hairline + comma dot
Y = compound curve + descending stem loop + exit stroke
How To Write “Christmas”
C = entrance + half of an oval + little comma
H = entrance stroke + ascending stem loop + compound curve
I = entrance + underturn + dot halfway between header and 1st ascender
S = entrance + half of an oval (crescent) with shading on the right side + exit stroke
T = entrance stroke + long underturn that starts at first ascender (similar to d) + cross line
M = overturn + overturn + compound curve
A = entrance + oval + underturn
S = entrance + half of an oval (crescent) with shading on the right side + exit stroke
Download your free basic strokes worksheet here for help writing these strokes:
Here's Merry Christmas in another style. This elegant script is called the Spencerian script, and you can see it written here on iPad:
Merry Christmas In Other Languages
Calligraphy students have joined our online courses from more than 150 countries. When we sent an email inviting everyone to submit their Christmas-themed projects, these were the lovely samples we got in other languages.
"Maligayang Pasko" (Filipino/Tagalog)
Here we have "Maligayang Pasko," which means Merry Christmas in Filipino/Tagalog, written in a Spencerian-inspired script on iPad by the talented Mai Lagdameo.
Spencerian is a less mainstream style than Copperplate, so we love seeing the Spencerian script being used. The flourishes are skillful and the background rounds out this entire composition.
"Boldog Karácsonyt" (Hungarian)
Next we have beautiful handmade Christmas cards from the talented Henriett Tóth that say "Boldog Karácsonyt," which means Merry Christmas in Hungarian.
She wrote this using a Zebra pen, and we love the use of color and the details on the fruit and plant elements. Whoever received these cards must've felt so special!
“Frohe Weihnachten” (German)
Here we have “Frohe Weihnachten” written by the talented Christel Treiber using a Gillott no5 Edinburgh nib and Finetec gold ink. The writing is beautiful on its own, but it’s a masterpiece paired with the flourish-inspired Christmas tree element!
“Joyeux Noël” (French)
Here we have “Joyeux Noël,” which is Merry Christmas in French. Written by the talented Kun Vechasilp with a Garage Woodworking JP holder and a Nikko G Nib, you can see incredibly delicate detailing in both the writing and the weather.
We love the use of brown paper, which creates a lovely contrast between the light ink color. The added color details makes this look like a polished masterpiece.
More Holidays
Between November and January, there are dozens of important cultural and religious holidays celebrated around the world. We're excited to share additional holiday works created by our students.
New Year
Did you know that New Year’s is celebrated at different times in some cultures?
We (Jordan and Jillian) celebrate the New Year when the calendar changes on January first. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated in September or October. Lunar New Year, celebrated in China, Vietnam, and Korea (among many other countries) is celebrated in January or February. Some countries, like India, are overflowing with many New Year’s celebrations!
Whenever you celebrate, we’re always wishing you a happy and prosperous year. Here's "Happy New Year" in a modern, flourished brush lettering style:
Hanukkah
The talented Rachel Rohan shared this beautiful Hanukkah quote that she wrote using a Tombow Dual Brush Pen. "It's beginning to look a latke like Hanukkah" displays an incredible amount of skill and spatial control to balance the flourishes and evenly space the letter shadows.
Diwali
Next we have another flourishing masterpiece, this time by the talented Ruta Kanade. Ruta wrote "Shubh Deepavali," which means Happy Diwali, with an Oblique holder using a Brause 361 nib. At first, this looked so perfect that we thought it was an iPad composition! The shine of the ink and the perfect flourished forms are masterful.
We love the way Ruta described her composition: "An offbeat, luxurious and classic expression of the festival of lights, Diwali."
Additional Seasonal Phrases
There are endless seasonal phrases and quotes to write. Here are examples of some popular phrases written in different calligraphy styles.
Season’s Greetings
"Season’s Greetings" is a lovely way to encompass all celebrations happening at this time of year. Here's our own take on this phrase, written on iPad using the Procreate App and the Spencerian Script (using our Spencerian Procreate brush).
Snowflake
This snowflake composition was written by Jillian in the Procreate App. While it looks complicated, this is very achievable using the symmetry settings! We can teach you how to use these settings in this video tutorial.
Merry And Bright
Something we love about calligraphy is how truly endless it is. There are always new styles to learn and new compositions to try, offering a calligrapher infinite creative opportunities. You can see that variety here by comparing these two quotes, which both say “Merry and Bright” written in very different styles.
On the left, you have a traditional Spencerian-inspired composition written on an iPad. On the right, you have a colorful, modern brush pen composition with flourishes.
We have videos of us writing both of these quotes on our YouTube channel if you’d like to follow along:
I’m Dreaming Of A White Christmas
New calligraphers generally focus on perfecting their basic letterforms, while experienced calligraphers will try more advanced techniques.
Here you can see two different techniques: first, bounce lettering. This is what provides the organic and playful feel to the letters. Second, different marker colors and blended together to create more depth and complexity.
Bonus: Holiday Wreath Tutorial
You’ve seen some gorgeous examples of calligraphy alongside illustrations and embellishments.
While some of these are complex works of art, you can start with something simple like this holiday wreath:
Handwritten Christmas Calligraphy Examples
We already hinted at some of the many practical uses for calligraphy during the holidays; let's dive into some of the examples from our students, starting with handwritten cards!
Christmas Cards
Handmade cards are probably the most popular Christmas craft, and our students have shown how fun and creative these can be. Flip through the gallery to see handwritten Christmas cards made by our talented students Angenise, Dale, Deepti, Francine, Helen, Pragya, Saher, Sarah and Shelley.
Gift Bags
This DIY gift bag by the talented Nikki Davis says "shiny, bright" written with Pentel Sparkle Pen and Pentel White Pen. We love the bounce lettering and elegant flourishes that manage to embellish without overwhelming the words.
It took so much skill to write this many words in pen without making a mistake while maintaining perfect spacing! Whoever received this gift must've felt so special! This is a masterpiece.
Gift Tags
These beautiful Christmas gift tags were written by the talented Anna Wright using a Brause Nib. This looks like a Pinterest idea came to life - the metallic ink contrasts beautifully with the green paper, and we love the pop of color from the red plaid ribbon.
Handwritten Christmas Ornaments
These wooden Christmas ornaments by the talented Chandra Osann were written using a Uni Posca acrylic paint marker. We love the different styles and how the bold hand lettering contrasts with the thin and elegant flourished words.
Christmas Sign
This Christmas sign was made by the talented Melanie Carnley using acrylic paint, glitter and snowflake ornaments. It's a 3 1/2 feet-long wooden sign that she made for her front porch. Since calligraphy is usually small, we absolutely love the scale of this writing and think it's so fun that your whole neighborhood can enjoy your talent.
Want more inspiration from our talented students? See more student examples in these round-ups:
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