Spread Holiday Cheer With Christmas Cards

Each year without fail, a few days after Thanksgiving we get a Christmas card from my husband’s grandmother. It always makes me smile. And it’s a great reminder that I need to sit down and write my own Christmas cards. For a few days the card sits all by itself on a shelf in our living room… but before long, other cards start arriving and it’s time to think about a fun way to display them. More on that in a bit, let’s talk about sending out cards first.

Sending Christmas Cards

If you’re the organized type, you probably have a stack of personalized photo Christmas cards ready to go out. Sadly, that’s not me. I don’t usually think about it until it’s way too late to go have a pretty family picture taken and order the cards.

Instead, I head to the local dollar store and pick up a pack of pretty cards. I also make sure we have a few family snapshots on hand to add to some of the cards. Grandparents always appreciate pictures of the kids.

Next, I sit down and make a list of who we want to mail cards to this year. I also make sure I have everyone’s current address. Over the next few days, I write and personalize the cards. Everyone signs and they get mailed out as they get finished.

Postage can add up. The days where mailing a Christmas Card cost next to nothing are gone. If money is tight, don’t feel bad about hand delivering cards as you run errands or see friends and family members. It’s the thought that counts.

I have a lot of family overseas and postage there can get really expensive. Instead of mailing individual cards, I have my cards for my German family members ready to go when I send my annual package to my parents. They are more than happy to deliver them for me and throwing a few extra cards in there doesn’t make a difference when it comes to postage.

I’ve been buying boxes of assorted Christmas cards for years. I never use them all and keep everything in a shoe box in the back of the closet. This means I can mix and match cards and pick out just the perfect one for everyone on my list. It also keeps it fun and interesting for me as I work my way through my list.

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Receiving Christmas Cards

For me, the real fun starts as cards start to show up in my mail box. They are a lot more fun to open then bills 🙂

As the first couple of cards arrive, I usually display them on my book shelf, but after a while it’s time to get a little creative. I love using a piece of twine or string and stringing it up over the couch in the living room. Depending on the card design, I either drape them sideways over the string, or use a small cloths pin or paper clip to clip the cards to the string. It looks so colorful and festive.

At our old house we had a fireplace with a mantle in the living room. I would decorate the mantle and then run a loop of string across it. The bottom part (below the mantle) would hold the Christmas Cards.

Most cards get recycled after the Holidays, but there are a few special ones I like to hang on to. If you have just a handful of them, consider getting a large picture frame. You can arrange the cards in there like a collage and display the frame each year for the Holidays.

If it’s a larger or ongoing collection like mine, get a photo album or scrap book. I use two sided tape to add the cards and write a little bit of when I got it and the story behind it in the album. It’s nice to go back and look at the last Christmas card my grandfather wrote us for example.