Creating Joy-Filled Christmas Cards

Christmas Cards are one of my very favorite Christmas traditions. There’s something so special about taking time to remember everyone you love and care about while writing out cards. I also can’t help but have a sentimental moment as I open the Christmas cards that we receive. Seriously. I get sappy but I just love seeing the new babies, reading the Christmas letters, watching kids get older, and thanking God for the blessing of our families and friends. Even though Christmas Cards can be so wonderful, they can also become a stressful tradition to maintain. I’m all about keeping the JOY in Christmas, and doing anything you can to keep traditions like these Joy-Filled, rather than stressful.

This year I’m partnering with TinyPrints to help keep the joy in this wonderful tradition. Here are my tried and true tips for Creating Joy-Filled Christmas Cards.

1. Tell a Story- Anyone who knows us knows that we have been in a LONG drawn out adoption process. Over three years to be exact. We are only WEEKS away from finally bringing our daughter home from Haiti! Because of this I feel like these, “counting our blessings” cards were absolutely perfect. There are SO many creative cards out there, I feel like choosing one that fits your life stage can be such a creative way to send a greeting!
2. Take Photos Early- We had family photos taken in July, and those are the pics I ended up using on our cards. It was so nice not to stress over a getting pictures taken during such a stressful and busy time. You can guarantee we’ll be having our next family photo session as a family of FIVE!
3. Return Address Envelopes- One amazing feature that Tiny Prints offers is that they will pre-print your return address on your envelopes. This eliminates the hassle of having to either purchase a stamp, or order stickers and then have to place them on the envelopes. Or worse, not hand writing your address on every card… how’s that for adding some joy back into this tradition?
4. Print your Letter on your card- Many of the card design layouts have space to include a letter right on the card. This saves time and energy because you don’t have to print and fold a separate letter.
5. Include your new Address- Our family has NEVER spent more than one Christmas in the same house! I know, it’s crazy, but what’s even crazier is for our family and friends to try and keep track of our address. In order to save them the hassle of having to reach out for our address, I’ve learned to include our new address right on our card.
6. Gather Addresses Early- This year I posted a quick Facebook message asking any friend who had moved to PM me their address. Amazingly I was able to round up a majority of the addresses I needed that way. I also found that by grabbing a copy of the church directory and school directory I had most of the rest there. If you’re really on the ball Tiny Prints will even print the recipient’s addresses on your cards for you!
7. Postage- I’ve learned to save a trip to the post office and order my postage online. Anytime I can avoid a trip to the post office during the holiday season that puts more joy in my life! This way you also have every stamp option available to you, rather than whatever your post office happened to have in stock.
8. Do Something that Makes Your Card Stand Out- For years I went with the cheapest photo card possible, and ended up feeling like our card really wasn’t a good representation of my style. This year I went with Tiny Prints personalized foil cards, and I love them! They totally fit my style and would fit nicely into our “black and brass” home. I feel like they’re a card I can be proud to put our name on!
9. Envelope Liners- Aren’t these pine tree liners the perfect little accent that to bring some extra joy? Being that we live in the North Woods in the midst of the trees I felt like these were the perfect accent for our cards.
10. Washi Tape- This is probably the best Christmas Card tip I’ve got to share. There’s nothing like having to lick envelopes to steal your joy. Last year I started sealing envelopes with Washi tape and I’m NEVER going back! There’s so many fun patterns out there it’s also a fun little detail! Say goodbye to ever licking envelopes again.

I’ve been collecting addresses all week, and my stamps should be arriving any day! I’m hoping that this is the year that I’ve got my cards ready to mail by Thanksgiving! Just yesterday I pulled this red shutter out of storage and hung it to display Christmas cards on. I can’t wait to fill it up!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.