Christmas Cards for Friends and Family

Even if you are using preprinted holiday cards, you still need to sign your name and write a small handwritten note inside them in order to make the recipient feel as though you have truly thought about them this holiday season. If you are signing the card for the entire family, you should begin by writing the father's name, then the mother's and finally the children. Whenever Christmas cards are being sent to either a couple or a family that has two different last names, you should always address the card to both people.

Christmas Cards for Business Associates

Unless you have met your business associate's spouse, their Christmas cards should always be sent to their office. Regardless of where the card is sent, you should always write in a more formal and secular style. You should never sign your spouse's name unless the recipient has met them in a social gathering. You also do not want to ever send your personal family newsletter to your business associates. Even if you are sending out hundreds of Christmas cards to a variety of business associates here, you should never use bulk mail. Always send your Christmas cards first class.

Christmas Cards for Special Circumstances

Every time that you send out a holiday greeting, you mean well. Unfortunately, sometimes your good intentions may be misunderstood. Therefore, in order to avoid any etiquette slips there are two important tips that you need to remember.

First, whenever sending Christmas cards to people from a different ethnic or religious background, choose a more secular card that is free of religious undertones. Even a winter scene card with a basic Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays or message of Peace is appropriate here.

Secondly, if you know that your recipient is grieving the loss of a loved one this year, take special care to find a card that specifically deals with holiday grief. They will appreciate your extra thoughtfulness in assuring them that their loved one has not been forgotten this holiday season.

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Etiquette for Sending Christmas Cards

What You Need

To make your own Christmas photo cards you will need card stock or premade photo card stock that you can buy in the office supply section. You will also need a picture, and idea of what you want to say on the card, and envelopes.

The Picture

First, a picture needs to be chosen for the Christmas photo cards. The picture you choose needs to be clear, sharp and closely cropped. The picture can be of your family, your pet dressed in a cute Christmas outfit, or your children dressed in their Sunday best. Scan the picture into your computer. Crop it, adjust colors, and contrast as needed with a photo editor like Photoshop. A good one called The GIMP is offered free on the internet.

Layout

Next, plan what you want your card to look like. You can design one from scratch or around templates that are provided with your word processor or photo editor. Microsoft Works has some good card templates.

Decide if you want the card to be a post card or a folding card and choose the greeting that will go on the card. This can be as simple as a “Merry Christmas!” or as detailed as a holiday letter.

Your photo will be on the front of the card. Any text or greeting will usually go on the flip-side of a postcard or on the inside fold of a folding card.

You may want to add some Christmas clip art to your Christmas photo cards. Free clip art can be found on the internet and many word processors come with nice clip art.

The Envelope

You may want to print a design on the envelope to match your Christmas photo cards to add a nice, finishing touch. This can be done by setting your word processor template to envelope and entering the size of the envelope.

Printing

When printing your card make sure that your printer is set to high-resolution color printing for card stock. If you are printing a folded card, make sure to set your printer to double-sided printing. Also, make sure that you follow your printer’s directions for printing two sided paper so that your Christmas photo cards will not print up-side down!

Finish

To finish your card; fold it, add your signature, and mail. Happy Printing!

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How to Make Christmas Photo Cards