Tips for Making Memorable Holiday Cards

Do you send out holiday cards every year? Facebook and social media has really made Christmas cards and family newsletters a lot less necessary. Your friends and family have been seeing pictures and reading updates all year long. However, there is no reason that Christmas cards should be outdated, just the way that you approach them. People still absolutely LOVE getting snail mail. Plus, if you choose really beautiful cards (like the ones from Minted), they are like gifts in themselves. I’ve partnered with Minted to share our family’s holiday cards and to put together a few tips for making holiday cards that people will love to receive and maybe actually keep after the holiday season. Thanks for supporting the brands that keep Lines Across going.

Tips for Making Memorable Holiday Cards

1. Include a picture! This is a huge one for me. Even though there are a lot of beautiful cards that don’t have pictures, I just love seeing family pictures and displaying them around the house. And especially since a lot of your cards are going to family and close friends, I’m sure they will love to see a picture of you, your family, your kids, pets, etc…
2. Remember you don’t have to send cards to everyone on your list. Even though it’s fun to send cards to everyone, sometimes it can be overwhelming. Plus it can get expensive if you want to order some especially nice cards. At Minted, you can order just 10 ornament cards and just send them to family and a few close friends. They are also like a gift in themselves.
3. Get ornament cards. I just love how ours turned out, and of course we’ve got one hanging on our tree. These cards are so easy to display, and if you want to keep them from year to year they’re easy to store with your other ornaments.
4. Include a date. Especially with these ornament cards it’s nice to have the date written clearly on the card. It probably seems obvious what year it is now, but a few years down the line it might be more confusing.
5. Include a hand written note. It’s so easy to just mail the cards themselves, but a short personalized hand written message goes a long way (especially in this digital world).
6. Keep it real. I personally love family pictures that have a little personality. And I’m not saying to use a picture you took with your phone of your kids playing in your messy house. No one needs to see things that real. But when you’re choosing which photo to use (and worrying that none of them are good enough), just remember that people love seeing a glimpse of what your family is really like. I love the family picture that we used, even though it is a little quirky. It’s impossible to get a toddler to sit still long enough to get perfectly posed pictures, and I love how he is reaching out to go explore.
7. If possible, don’t share the picture that you are using on your cards until after Christmas. I did not do this myself, because I used a family picture we had taken a few months ago. However, if you really want people to get more excited about your cards, keep the picture secret until after everyone has received theirs.
8. Use them as gift tags. If you want to save time and money on shipping, you can attach your ornament cards to the front of a gift. They make a gorgeous addition to your wrapped present, plus they are a gift in themselves!

And here are a few more pictures of our Minted cards. Everything about Minted is the highest quality from the packaging to the envelopes to the ribbons. I also love how Minted’s cards feature and support individual artists from all over, so they all have a really unique look and style.

Honestly I had a LOT of trouble choosing which cards to go with because there were so many beautiful ones. The ones that have gold foil (like these) are also stunning! I almost went with a more modern design that wasn’t explicitly seasonal, but in the end I went with this beautiful hand painted watercolor wreath design. I love how it’s very Christmassy but it still has a bright and modern flair.

I also love how I was able to get addresses printed on the front in a matching design for free. Normally I do love addressing envelopes myself, but these are just so beautiful (and a time saver!). Also remember that these square envelopes will require extra postage.

 

What about you? Do you send out holiday cards each year? Do you have any tips for making them more memorable?