Braille Greeting Cards: Where to Buy and How to Make One

A braille greeting card is a card with its message in raised dots, so a blind or low-vision reader can open it and read it alone. You can buy ready-made ones from a few charities and card makers in the US, the UK and Australia, or make one at home with a slate and stylus, a braillewriter or braille label tape. The message is short, so what matters most is getting the cells right: Happy Birthday in contracted braille is ⠠⠓⠁⠏⠏⠽ ⠠⠃⠊⠗⠹⠐⠙, 14 cells counting the space.

Below you will find where to buy braille cards, the common card messages already written in braille, how to braille a card yourself, and the mistakes that make one hard to read. To braille any other message, type it into our braille translator.

Key points

• Ready-made braille cards come mostly from charities: National Braille Press in the US (holiday cards), RNIB's online shop in the UK (Hallmark cards with braille) and Hallmark with Guide Dogs Australia (12 cards at A$8.00 each, checked on October 28, 2026).
• Most adult English braille readers read contracted braille (UEB grade 2), where Happy Birthday takes 14 cells instead of 16. The table below has the common messages in grade 2.
• To make your own, braille the message on a separate insert or sticker and attach it inside. A slate pushes the dots out on the far side of the paper, so brailling straight onto a folded card leaves the dots on the wrong panel.
• With a slate you write from right to left, so every cell is a mirror image while you write. It reads correctly once the paper is turned over.
• Glue dots, beads and puffy paint make bumps, not braille: placed by eye, they don't land at braille spacing. Use them for a tactile picture, not for the words.

Where to buy braille greeting cards

National Braille Press, in Boston, puts out holiday cards in print and braille, sold in packs with envelopes. The design changes every year: "Comfort & Joy" in 2024 and "Peace" in 2025.

RNIB, the UK's sight loss charity, lists Hallmark cards with braille in its online shop: birthday cards for a mum, a grandma, a sister, a son or a daughter, and cards like "Big Love" and "Friend in a Million". The range changes, so check the shop for what is in stock.

Hallmark Australia sells 12 braille cards made with Guide Dogs Australia, at A$8.00 each on its website when we checked on October 28, 2026. Six are birthday cards: a general one and one each for Mum, Dad, Grandma, a son and a daughter. The other six are Congrats, Thank You, Big Love, Thinking of You, Friend In A Million and one for a grandad.

Etsy sellers and small makers take orders for custom cards with a name or a message in braille. Before you order, ask whether the dots are real braille at standard size or decorative dots: only the first can be read.

If you need a card by a set date, order early, especially from a shop in another country.

Common card messages in braille

These are the messages people put on cards most, in contracted braille (UEB grade 2), the form most adult English braille readers use every day. We generated them with liblouis, the open-source braille engine behind our translator, and checked that each one translates back to the same words.

The cell counts include the space between words. Each capitalized word starts with the capital sign, dot 6 (⠠); in "Thank you", "Thinking of you" and "With love", only the first word has one.

Grade 2 is shorter because it uses one cell for common groups of letters, such as th, er, ch, st, ing, con and tion, and one cell for some whole words: you is just ⠽, and of and with take one cell each. Someone still learning braille, or a young child, may find grade 1 easier, where every letter is spelled out. In grade 1, Happy Birthday is ⠠⠓⠁⠏⠏⠽ ⠠⠃⠊⠗⠞⠓⠙⠁⠽, 16 cells. If you don't know which one the reader uses, ask; for an adult who has read braille for years, grade 2 is the safe choice.

Happy Birthday, cell by cell

To add a name, as in "Happy Birthday, Sam", type the whole line into the translator: names follow the same rules, including the capital sign, and I love you in braille has twenty popular names already done.

How to make your own braille card

You need one way to raise the dots:

• A slate and stylus, the cheapest: you press each dot by hand from the back of the paper. Our guide to the braille slate and stylus shows the mirror-image letters.
• A braillewriter such as the Perkins Brailler: faster, and the dots come up facing you, so you write left to right.
• A braille label maker or a slate on clear adhesive tape: the braille labels guide covers both. A strip of tape inside the card is a quick way to add a message.
• A braille printer, if a school or a library near you has one: see braille printers.

Then:

1. Keep the message short. Braille takes more room than print, so one or two lines fit an insert best.
2. Check it in the translator before you braille it. One wrong dot changes the letter.
3. Braille it on a separate piece: an insert card, a strip of braille paper or a clear adhesive label. Use heavy paper; thin printer paper doesn't hold the dots well.
4. Attach it with the dots facing the reader, gluing at the edges and never under the dots.
5. Don't fold across a line of braille: the fold flattens the dots on it.
6. Send it in a stiff envelope, or hand it over in person, so the dots arrive raised.

The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) shows another way in its tactile greeting card tutorial: braille the message on sticker paper with a slate and stylus, then stick it over the printed words, so the same card reads in print and in braille. Their example adds a simple raised picture on the front.

A raised picture gives the front of the card something to explore. A shape cut from felt, card or foam, or a line of puffy paint, works well; one simple shape is easier to recognize by touch than a detailed drawing.

Mistakes to avoid

• Bumps that aren't braille. Glue dots, beads and puffy paint placed by eye don't land at braille spacing (dots about 2.5 mm apart), so they don't read as letters.
• Writing left to right on a slate. With a slate you write from right to left and every cell is mirrored. Written like print, each cell comes out reversed on the reading side.
• Braille on the inside of a folded card. The dots rise on the far side of the paper, so they end up on the wrong panel. Use an insert or a sticker.
• No print at all. Add the printed words too, so sighted family can read the card along with the person it is for.

Learn the cells yourself

If you send braille cards every year, learning the alphabet takes less time than it looks: the first ten letters, a to j, use only the top four dots, and most of the rest repeat them with dot 3, or dots 3 and 6, added. A printable braille alphabet is a good start.

Braillito, our app, teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder. Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I buy braille greeting cards?

In the US, National Braille Press sells holiday cards in print and braille. In the UK, RNIB's online shop lists Hallmark birthday and greeting cards with braille. In Australia, Hallmark sells 12 braille cards with Guide Dogs Australia, at A$8.00 each when we checked on October 28, 2026. Etsy sellers also make custom braille cards.

How do you write Happy Birthday in braille?

In contracted braille (UEB grade 2), the form most adult readers use, Happy Birthday is ⠠⠓⠁⠏⠏⠽ ⠠⠃⠊⠗⠹⠐⠙: 14 cells, with a capital sign before each word, one cell for th and two for day. Spelled letter by letter (grade 1), it is ⠠⠓⠁⠏⠏⠽ ⠠⠃⠊⠗⠞⠓⠙⠁⠽, 16 cells.

Can I make a braille card without a braille machine?

Yes. A slate and stylus costs little and raises the dots by hand. Braille the message on a separate insert or a sticker, from right to left, then attach it inside the card. Check the message in a braille translator first.

Does Hallmark make braille cards?

Yes, in some countries. In Australia, Hallmark sells 12 braille cards made with Guide Dogs Australia. In the UK, RNIB's online shop lists Hallmark cards with braille.

How do you write Merry Christmas in braille?

In contracted braille, Merry Christmas is ⠠⠍⠻⠗⠽ ⠠⠡⠗⠊⠌⠍⠁⠎, 14 cells: grade 2 uses one cell for er, one for ch and one for st. National Braille Press also sells ready-made holiday cards in print and braille.