I have a rather complicated relationship with greeting cards.
I love them, but also hate them.
I’ve also always detested doing things for the ‘sake of it’ or ‘because I have to’.
You may recall this post. I’ve spent a lot of money on cards in my earlier days. This is because I am a sentimental person, and feel a need to extend that sentiment to others. And in most cases a greeting card hits the spot.
I’ve discovered the answer for me. That’s to hand make my cards. This works well for birthdays and other occasions. But Christmas, it doesn’t translate as well.
Firstly there’s the volume of cards required at this time of year. Then there is the painstaking act of delivering, or cost of posting, the cards. At the back of my mind there is also that niggling feeling of ‘it’s something you must do’. That never sits comfortably with me, where’s the sentiment and thought in that?
So, I thought I’d whizz through how I wish (on paper) my friends and family;
“A Very Merry Christmas!”
Step 1
Everyone who may want to be wished a Merry Christmas by me, will undoubtedly at some point have supplied me with their e-mail or mobile number.
So a festive photo and a generic message is on the cards (pardon the pun!) this year. I may adapt this favourite photo of mine (my tree, my basket and I took the photo – so not-mass produced) and add a personal greeting from The Wrights. This will get sent out to the majority.
The money that would have been spent on shop cards and postage will be donated to charity instead. I choose a charity with which I have a specific affiliation each year. This year it will be Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Step 2
Each year I purchase a handful of cards the Kids have designed at school. The school get a % of the revenue from orders. I wouldn’t imagine this is a large amount, but every little helps! and the Kids do love to see their artwork professionally printed. These will go to close family and best friends sent by the Children.
(I’ll add a photo when this year’s masterpieces arrive home in school bags)
Step 3
School friends will get hand-made cards – This’ll keep the Kids busy over the next few weeks!
Our kitchen table is used to a bit of ‘creative recycling’.
Step 4
Close family and friends (and close neighbours) will get my own handmade cards. These are reusable in that there is a tree decoration attached. A card and gift in one.
Time-consuming due to the cards being made. But weighed up against writing out lots of bog-standard, mass-produced shop-bought cards and posting them, I think this is a simpler way of doing it. But more importantly I believe it’s a more meaningful way of doing it.
I know ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ – so I’d love to hear how you send a Christmas greeting to your nearest and dearest. Please share!
I agree that writing and sending Xmas cards can feel a burden, which really goes against the spirit of the season, but like you enjoy the sentiment of card sending. I do buy mass produced cards but like to make more of an effort with close family and friends. I do this by buying individual cards or making my own. We have a friend who for years has made her own cards and I have kept several of them because they are so unique and beautiful. I don’t really feel comfortable with sending electronic Xmas cards but I won’t rule it out and I do think it’ll become more common.
That sounds like a good balance to me if you aren’t going ‘electronic’! As for keeping cards, I send my Mom the same Mothers Day card now each year – because it is indeed beautiful. Although I may start changing the message inside! 🙂
I agree that writing and sending Xmas cards can feel a burden, which really goes against the spirit of the season, but like you enjoy the sentiment of card sending. I do buy mass produced cards but like to make more of an effort with close family and friends. I do this by buying individual cards or making my own. We have a friend who for years has made her own cards and I have kept several of them because they are so unique and beautiful. I don’t really feel comfortable with sending electronic Xmas cards but I won’t rule it out and I do think it’ll become more common.
That sounds like a good balance to me if you aren’t going ‘electronic’! As for keeping cards, I send my Mom the same Mothers Day card now each year – because it is indeed beautiful. Although I may start changing the message inside! 🙂
I do the Christmas letter route and try to make them entertaining. Many have said that they look forward to them, so I continue to write them. I also like to include a page of pictures from the year. I also write an individual letter/message on each one. This is not the most efficient or cheapest way to go, but it’s the one time of the year that I try to honor old fashioned mail. We each have different things we like to spend time on at Christmas and this is one of mine.
Sounds fab!…you obviously put quite a lot of thought into the letters/cards/greetings you send. And they sound very personal! It most definitely is about prioritising what’s important to you this time of year (when we can all be spread too thinly)!
I do the Christmas letter route and try to make them entertaining. Many have said that they look forward to them, so I continue to write them. I also like to include a page of pictures from the year. I also write an individual letter/message on each one. This is not the most efficient or cheapest way to go, but it’s the one time of the year that I try to honor old fashioned mail. We each have different things we like to spend time on at Christmas and this is one of mine.
Sounds fab!…you obviously put quite a lot of thought into the letters/cards/greetings you send. And they sound very personal! It most definitely is about prioritising what’s important to you this time of year (when we can all be spread too thinly)!
I do some cards, mostly to my older relatives in the UK and to some family in NZ who we only keep in touch with by Christmas card! I usually buy fancy NZ design ones, but I have found a stack of cheaper cards out in my storage cupboard in the garage that need using up, so I’ll be sending those this year. Quite soon too! Must get onto that 🙂 It always makes it feel a bit more like Christmas when I get the cards out and start writing letters. I suppose that’s what you get when you live on the other side of the world from half your aunts and uncles (and some great-aunts and uncles!) and cousins! The more causal Christmas greetings are usually emails with a Christmas message, though last year the kids wanted to do a video of them singing a really funny carol (and they want to do it again! argh!) but I am tempted to not even do that this year. I’m definitely scaling back from the number of cards I’ve sent in past years, but I’m not sure whether I just won’t send any, or whether I will send a few special ones. But I better get deciding as the sign at the supermarket yesterday said there are only 35 days left till Christmas!
Clare – you sound very organised! Coincidentally my Kids did a video message, that was to be sent to our relatives in NZ. It is quite time consuming, but worth it. We may do another this year!
The supermarkets are piling the pressure on counting down like that!
I do some cards, mostly to my older relatives in the UK and to some family in NZ who we only keep in touch with by Christmas card! I usually buy fancy NZ design ones, but I have found a stack of cheaper cards out in my storage cupboard in the garage that need using up, so I’ll be sending those this year. Quite soon too! Must get onto that 🙂 It always makes it feel a bit more like Christmas when I get the cards out and start writing letters. I suppose that’s what you get when you live on the other side of the world from half your aunts and uncles (and some great-aunts and uncles!) and cousins! The more causal Christmas greetings are usually emails with a Christmas message, though last year the kids wanted to do a video of them singing a really funny carol (and they want to do it again! argh!) but I am tempted to not even do that this year. I’m definitely scaling back from the number of cards I’ve sent in past years, but I’m not sure whether I just won’t send any, or whether I will send a few special ones. But I better get deciding as the sign at the supermarket yesterday said there are only 35 days left till Christmas!
Clare – you sound very organised! Coincidentally my Kids did a video message, that was to be sent to our relatives in NZ. It is quite time consuming, but worth it. We may do another this year!
The supermarkets are piling the pressure on counting down like that!
I write individual letters on the store-bought cards I send. I find that I like to send different types of news to different people on the list, so this works for me. For example, older relatives want to know more about family things, while people my age from school or university are more interested in my life as a whole. If I will be seeing people in person, I don’t send a card, except for our parents. The price on the nicest cards is scandalous – last Valentine’s Day I saw them at $12.95 Cdn. (According to the online converter, that’s over 8 pounds!)
Christmas is a great time to touch base, I agree. It’s a natural winding down time. Handmade cards are very expensive… more economic to get the glue out yourself!
I write individual letters on the store-bought cards I send. I find that I like to send different types of news to different people on the list, so this works for me. For example, older relatives want to know more about family things, while people my age from school or university are more interested in my life as a whole. If I will be seeing people in person, I don’t send a card, except for our parents. The price on the nicest cards is scandalous – last Valentine’s Day I saw them at $12.95 Cdn. (According to the online converter, that’s over 8 pounds!)
Christmas is a great time to touch base, I agree. It’s a natural winding down time. Handmade cards are very expensive… more economic to get the glue out yourself!
Thank you for your post! I really like your stars on the cards. I don’t recall if you have shared this recipe, would you be willing to tell me once again? Thanks very much from Canada!
I do an annual newsletter that I mail or email out to family and friends. Since we live far away from most family and friends, it is a way to catch up and share. Each family member includes what they would like to share in the newsletter, a real family project.
Thank you for your post! I really like your stars on the cards. I don’t recall if you have shared this recipe, would you be willing to tell me once again? Thanks very much from Canada!
I do an annual newsletter that I mail or email out to family and friends. Since we live far away from most family and friends, it is a way to catch up and share. Each family member includes what they would like to share in the newsletter, a real family project.