Xmas Postcard
When November rolls around, just the thought of getting started on holiday greeting cards makes me groan. Not only is it about finding the time to do them, it's the cost. By the time you're done with cards, envelopes, photos and letters for each recipient, you can easily be into it for hundreds of dollars. That's why more and more of us are dropping out of the greeting card game for the holidays.
In my case, where once I might have sent out a hundred cards when I was first married, now I can barely address, stamp, and mail twenty. The other objection being heard more frequently is quite simply the waste of paper since most greeting cards end up in the garbage or recycling. So, to send Christmas cards or to not send Christmas cards-that's the dilemma.
The alternatives are to drop the tradition altogether (suitable for the humbugs among us), to send an E-card (the only truly "green" solution), which really only works for the computer savvy, or to continue sending cards following a few cost-cutting, eco-friendly, and time-saving tips.
Send Christmas postcards. The postage is about half the cost (27 cents vs 42 cents) of sending a regular size card and envelope, plus you consume less paper.
Create your own postcards using recycled cardstock. From one 8.5x11 sheet you can create two 4x6 postcards. To get four postcards, trim to 4.25x5.5. Add a Christmas motif to the front of the postcard using your laser printer and some classy clip art or digital photo, or rubber stamp an image right onto the card. On the back of the card print your message and the address information.
Order personalized photo Xmas postcards from an online store like Photoworks.com. The finished cards are shipped to you for addressing and mailing. Just upload the photos you want to use, drag and drop photos into suitable layout, add your holiday cheer and you're done! Takes about twenty minutes! Personalized Christmas postcards cost just under $1.25 each for 50.
Send photo cards. These are the ultimate time-savers because they do double-duty as a Christmas greeting and as a frame-able photo gift. The beauty of these cards is that they are less likely to be thrown away, hence a bonus for eco-friendly households. Choose an alternative Xmas color palette, such as brown and blue, light green and pink to give you more options for using the card later in a frame. Or, use a photo without the usual Christmas trimmings, like Santa hats and stockings, to get more mileage out of your photo. Try a happy winter scene for example or studio style black and white family portrait.
The cheapest option is to order photo cards printed on photographic paper (like Fugi paper or Kodak paper). They're flat like a photo print, not folded, but you still need to mail them in an envelope. Costs range from $0.80 to $1.00 each. For more upscale cards, you can find flat photo cards printed on matte cardstock starting at around $1.39 each. For conventional folded photo greeting cards, expect to pay around 2.50 each. However, in many cases you can customize both the inside AND outside of the card with your own photo and personalized greeting. If you think of these photo cards as being both card and gift at the same time, the cost is reasonable.
Leanne Tremblay is a successful freelance technical writer and publisher of several successful web sites. She has a special interest in cardmaking including rubber stamping, photo Christmas cards, photo greeting cards for birthdays and other holidays, and photo gifts for all occasions.
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