Do you send out Christmas cards? Sending out a card can be a way of showing friends and family that you were thinking about them, especially if you don’t see them often throughout the year. Mailing out a Christmas card to a colleague, acquaintance, or even to your clients or customers makes good business sense.
You have three choices when it comes to Christmas cards – you can use store bought cards, you can order personalized cards, or you can make your own Christmas cards.
Store Bought Cards
There’s nothing wrong with going to the store this holiday season and buying a box of Christmas cards if that’s all that you have the time to do. It’s better to send out store bought cards than to not send out any greeting cards at all. There are store bought cards of all kinds – some with beautiful Christmas scenes, others with cute and whimsical scenes; there are traditional images and more modern abstract images. You can purchase a box full of the same card or a variety pack with an assortment of scenes.
With store bought cards – although there are some lovely designs to pick from, you’re limited to what you find on the shelves. You can only buy what hundreds of other people are also buying.
Personalized Picture Cards
But if you have the time, personalized picture cards do add a special something that shows you went the extra mile. Personalized picture cards are more welcoming, and not only are they a great idea for friends and family, they’re also a great idea for a business entrepreneur to send out to business contacts as well. People like seeing who they’re working with – it gives that personalized touch many businesses lack.
Store bought cards, no matter how lovely, cannot take the place of that personal touch. They don’t allow the essence of what makes you who you are to shine through. By choosing personalized picture cards, you can pick out your own Christmas photo or a photo of a scene that has a special meaning for the front of your card.
You get to choose the color options, the fonts for outside and inside and you get to pick out just the right words to get across the message you want to say. Did you know that if you’re sending out personalized picture cards to business contacts, you could even use a picture featuring your business product?
Don’t aim for those same old, tired pictures – give your personalized Christmas card a twist. Breaking out from the ranks of being one in thousands will stand out and customers will remember you and your business.
Also don’t opt to choose the same bland “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” greeting. Having a personalized picture card is a great way to express yourself to say what you really feel in your heart.
You can include the words from a favorite passage from a book that’s in public domain (they’re free and legal to use) or you can search quote collection sites for just the right words for those special individuals in your life.
DIY Christmas Cards
If you’re handy with the computer, you can easily make your own Christmas cards. Import a holiday picture of your family, or another image you would like to use, choose your fonts, colors, and words, arrange everything just how you like, and hit print. There are software programs and online programs that can make it a snap to create the perfect card.
If you’re crafty, get out the construction paper, scissors, glue, and other craft items, and create your cards by hand. If you have young children or grandchildren, they can join in the fun and create truly one-of-a-kind Christmas cards for their friends and relatives – ones that are sure to be treasured by their recipients.
This is a tradition in our house. We save old Christmas cards and wrapping paper and cut out the images on them to paste onto new cards and create new scenes. We use ink and stamps, colored markers, and glue small items onto the cards, like holly berries or sequins (they look like snow flakes).
There is also a little drawing involved. If you’re artistic, and have a lot of time, you can draw your own Christmas cards.
Again, there isn’t any right or wrong to buying store bought cards, choosing to go with a personalized picture card, or making your own cards. Just choose whichever option suits your time frame and your personality.
