Tag: holiday greeting cards

Why Not Send Thanksgiving Cards?

Believe it or not, it’s September already! While most people are mourning that summer is over, I am thrilled that fall is right around the corner and the holidays are near. Many people are gearing up to send out Christmas cards this holiday season but I say why not be different and unique and send out Thanksgiving cards! With so many diverse designs to choose from at The Gallery Collection, sending out a Thanksgiving card to your clients & customers is a great way to show your appreciation.

Thanksgiving Cards

With Thanksgiving being my absolute favorite holiday, I love to send out cards to show my employees and clients that I am thinking about them during the holiday season. Receiving holiday greeting cards is such a warm and thoughtful gesture from a business. It really makes the holidays so much more meaningful.

Thanksgiving is a holiday when we give thanks for all the blessings in our lives and a time to reflect on the past year with our family, friends and loved ones. And more than ever during this time, sending out greetings cards such as Thanksgiving  shows your fellow employees and clients that you are grateful and thankful for them during this special time of the year!

My Holiday Greeting Cards Dilemma – Imprint or Hand Sign?

Some things were just simpler when I was single – I knew everyone I was sending holiday greeting cards to and could just take care of writing and addressing them when it suited me. I have traditionally hand signed my annual cards and very often – depending on the recipient – added a personal note. I didn’t have to consult anyone when picking out a design or deciding on the greeting for the inside. Some years I wanted a winter scene or snowflakes while other years I’d gravitate towards one with a beautiful ornament – a personal favorite of mine. With so many gorgeous cards to pick from, it’s always a challenge to choose just the right one.

You’ll notice the overabundance of “I” so far?   Well up until last year, I only had to consider “I”.  Now that I’ve been fortunate enough to find the most perfect-absolutely-fabulous man in the world and was smart enough to marry him, many, many things have changed.  While some adjustments are obvious, some are less so.  All of a sudden my (now our) mailing list just about doubled in size.  The chosen design has to represent both of us – no longer just me.  We also have to agree on the greeting and of course, how do we deal with who signs which cards?

Luckily, friends of ours (also recently married) made a great suggestion which eliminated this problem. Over a leisurely lunch, laptops at the ready, we were able to agree on our first design together along with which greeting we wanted to send to our friends and families.  Now for “who’s going to sign them?”  Imprinted holiday cards solved this for us.  We had both of our names and a short message printed at the bottom of the cards and there was still plenty of room if either of us wanted to handwrite something.  They looked great and our problem was solved.  We also decided to include our new address on the flap of the envelope so everyone would have it.   As a couple, we were really happy with the cards we sent out and intend to do it again this year.

How Unique Are Your Holiday Greeting Cards?

Every year, starting around Thanksgiving, our mailbox starts filling up with lots and lots of holiday greeting cards. Several of our friends also send ecards but somehow it’s just not the same as getting one in person. It’s always fun to open them and see what delightful design our friends and family have picked out this year. I like to guess who sent it by looking at the card itself, so I try to not look at the return address. Sometimes it’s easy to tell who sent it – a festive Christmas tree is the customary choice of one of our favorite neighbors. My husband’s business partner often sends a very distinctive winter scene while his secretary almost always chooses a beautiful ornament. I’m constantly amazed at the variety we receive. There are casual, light-hearted, fun cards as well as beautiful, time-honored traditional designs. Of course, there are always surprises when someone picks out something totally out of the ordinary.

My sister’s card is usually the most colorful and glitzy of all and she has her six kids’ names, along with their ages, printed inside. Over the past few years, we’ve received more and more imprinted holiday cards and we’ve decided we’re going to be smart this year and have ours imprinted too. Now, if I could just decide on which design! We actually have it narrowed down to five or six – we’re getting there!

Design 739CX – Thanksgiving Berry Garden Holiday Card

When shopping for holiday greeting cards I’ve never actually considered Thanksgiving cards.  Automatically I head straight for the Christmas cards.  You know the ones with snow scenes, wreaths, ornaments or Christmas trees as the cover design.   I might choose a card depicting a Nativity scene for those friends who celebrate the day as a religious holiday or maybe a card that observes Hanukkah for Jewish friends.  But in my search I discovered Design 739CX – Thanksgiving Berry Garden Holiday Card, which caught my attention and drew me toward it.  The design isn’t quite what one might come to expect from Thanksgiving cards.  Typically I would describe most Thanksgiving designs as robust, featuring the bold colors of autumn, pumpkins, covered bridges, cornucopias and turkeys.  This card, on the other hand, is a delicate display featuring a spray of berry branches adorned with soft, pastel colored foil berries.

Design 739CX - Thanksgiving Berry Garden Holiday Card
Design 739CX - Thanksgiving Berry Garden Holiday Card

Design 739CX – Thanksgiving Berry Garden Holiday Card, is also a great way to extend goodwill at the start of the traditional holiday season.  And since it is a secular holiday it offers the opportunity to express your feelings to one and all confidently.  There is never a need to concern yourself as to whether a specific card is appropriate or not for any of your friends or clients.

Don’t Lose Your Holiday Greeting Cards

It was a beautiful Christmas Eve day with just a hint of snow falling, enough to enjoy the spirit of the holidays but, thankfully, not enough to cause a traffic calamity. As we were getting ready to leave for our annual Christmas party I was sure I had planned everything that was necessary to make this day complete. As I was going over my checklist, the first item to cross off was gifts. They were all festively wrapped, something in which I take great pride; making sure the lid of the box and the box itself are wrapped separately so that only the lid needs to be removed to reveal the surprise inside. Although this takes “talent” and time (chuckle) it saves a lot of wrapping paper and the boxes can be reused with the same wrapping paper. After checking each name, one by one, and placing the appropriate tags on the presents, it was time to carry them to the car, and, luckily, the snow at that time had stopped completely. The next items to be crossed off on my list were the hors d’oeuvres I had prepared for the party along with my famous, absolutely delicious, baked lasagna. This, too, takes “talent” and a lot of time to make. (Chuckle again). After carefully covering the lasagna with heavy duty aluminum foil, and arranging an array of appetizers on trays, these goodies were also carried to the car. I was almost finished, so back to my checklist. There was one item left to check off. Holiday greeting cards. Where were they? After checking my desk drawers, night tables, credenza and every other place that I thought I may have put them, to no avail, I could not find them. I was grateful that there was still time to go to the store and purchase holiday cards. Fortunately the stores were still open and I was able to select individual cards for everyone on my list.

Is there a lesson to be learned? Yes, indeed. I now have a supply of holiday cards on hand at all times. There is an assortment box of holiday cards that I keep in my desk, ready for me to sign and send. What a pleasure to know that it will no longer be necessary to have to rush to the store at the last minute to purchase cards. These include not only Christmas cards, but an assortment of holiday cards. I now have on hand cards for thanksgiving, birthdays, sympathy, thinking of you, thank you notes, congratulations and more. Merry Christmas to me; this was a gift I gave to myself.

Holiday Greeting Cards Can Keep The Boss Happy

The holiday season is meant to be peaceful and joyful; travel to any mall, however, and I can assure you that “peace” and “joy” are not the adjectives you would use to describe the chaotic scene. While Christmas is for enjoying time with family and friends, there seems to be a certain level of stress that goes along with it. I felt this stress firsthand at my new job, and all over something as simple as holiday greeting cards!

I was hired in October, mostly as an assistant to the general manager. About two weeks into the job, my boss says, “I’m thinking of sending out Christmas cards this year. Get on that.” That was it. No directions. No follow-up. His directions were simply, “get on that”. Being new to the job, I didn’t want to let him down. But I had no idea where to begin! I thought I’d just head to one of those mall stores and buy cards, but my company was comprised of at least 300 clients. There was no way I could buy all those cards, and then write a personal message in each one! (I knew that was the direction this project would take; I was sure “get on that” meant my boss would in no way actually be touching or addressing his cards). So, left with no other recourse, I turned to the one place that had never failed me: the Internet. And there, I found the answer: imprinted holiday cards!

Imprinted holiday cards saved my job! I may be exaggerating, of course, but I was so eager to please my boss in those first early weeks that I really saw these cards as a miracle. I was able to choose a design and personalize a message inside; this saved me loads of time having to write something in each card. I imprinted the company name, as well as my boss’s name underneath. The cards were beautiful, and the imprint really shimmered and stood out in the gold foil I had chosen. Fortunately, my boss approved of the cards with his characteristic nod of the head. He’s not one for words. But the cards were a hit in the office; everyone loved them, and they kept commenting on how happy they were that they didn’t have to sign 300 cards! I loved how elegant and professional these cards looked, that I even decided to order some holiday cards for myself! I’ll be sure to “get on that” by ordering these cards again next year.

Design #850CS – Midnight Snowflake Sparkle

Design #850CS – Midnight Snowflake Sparkle Holiday Card, really catches your attention. I think it’s a perfect design to send to business associates. I don’t often know which holidays are celebrated by each of them, but I do know that not all of them celebrate Christmas in the religious sense. These holiday greeting cards even work for sending good wishes to my myriad of friends. After all, who could take offense at Mother Nature’s beautiful snowflakes? Both the lovely falling snowflakes and the gorgeous color scheme of shimmering foils and deep blue card stock make this a design that anyone can treasure, no matter what they celebrate.

Design #850CS - Midnight Snowflake Sparkle Holiday Card
Design #850CS - Midnight Snowflake Sparkle
Holiday Card

Like a 3-D movie, the brilliant starry snowflakes of this design seem to be floating in and out of a midnight blue background. The glow of solid silver and solid teal foils are magically balanced with reflective silver foils, in exquisitely embossed lacy detail. What a rich way to send my Season’s Greetings!

What To Do With All Those Old Personalized Holiday Cards

If you’re like me, you receive dozens of personalized holiday cards in the mail each year. You may choose to display them on your mantle or on top of your piano, or you may tape them up around the doorway to your kitchen or pin them to a bulletin board. But once Christmas and Chanukkah and New Year’s pass, what do you do with all those personalized holiday cards? If you throw them away, then it’s a good thing you’re reading this because I have some really great ideas to share that will reduce waste and maximize your creative potential!

The easiest way to reuse your old holiday greeting cards is to make gift tags from them. All you’ll need is scissors, a hole punch, and ribbon. To start, sort through the holiday cards you received and set aside the ones featuring images or graphics that you’ll want to use. If you’re making Christmas-themed gift tags, look for cards with Christmas trees, ornaments, and wreaths. If you’re making holiday neutral gift tags, set aside cards with snowflakes, snowmen, and gift boxes. Next, cut out the images with a pair of sharp scissors. You can even use an X-Acto knife accompanied by a ruler as a guide. After cutting out the images, punch a hole in each tag and tie a piece of ribbon through the hole. Use the back of each gift tag to personalize with the “To” and “From” information. And voila! That’s one less thing to spend money on next holiday season.

If you can handle making gift tags from your old personalized holiday cards, then you can definitely do this next project. How about reusing the holiday greeting cards you receive to make garland? You’ll need the same materials from the last project: scissors (or an X-Acto knife), a hole punch, and ribbon. Most people associate garland as being very Christmassy, but you can make holiday neutral garland as well. Similarly to the gift tag project, you’ll start by sorting through your old holiday cards and setting aside the ones featuring large images and graphics that suit your fancy. Again, if you’re making a Christmas-themed garland, look for cards with Christmas trees, ornaments, and wreaths. If you’d like your garland to be holiday neutral, use cards with graphics like snowflakes and gift boxes. Next, use a pair of scissors or an X-Acto knife to cut out the images (the amount of images you cut out will depend on how long you want your garland). On a large flat surface, lay your images next to each other; rearrange them as you see fit. Except for the two end pieces, punch two holes in each image – one to the far left and one to the far right. Attach each image with a small piece of ribbon. And there you have it…garland made of recycled holiday cards to string across your Christmas tree, decorate your staircase, or droop along your mantle.

This next and final project is even simpler and easier than using your old personalized holiday cards to make gift tags and garland. Do you have any favorite holiday dishes that you make each year? If so, you can share them with your family and friends by making recipe cards from the holiday greeting cards you received. To start, sort through your old holiday cards, setting aside the ones with your favorite overall designs. To make your life easier, you’ll probably want to pick cards with the same horizontal or vertical orientation. Next, using an X-Acto knife along with a ruler as your guide (or sharp scissors if you have a steady hand), cut each card along the crease, keeping the front piece with the design and discarding the piece with the inside greeting. For the recipe, you have several options. If you’re computer savvy, you can type up the recipe and print it directly onto the back of each card, or you can use a label template that is compatible with your computer and printer. If you’re uneasy about the two previously mentioned options, you can still type the recipe, print out as many copies as you need, and cut and glue each copy onto the back of each card. Once your recipe cards are complete, you can tuck them into your thank you cards or hold on to them and send them in your holiday greetings for the following year.

Now you know three easy and fun ways to reuse your old personalized holiday cards. So when the holiday season comes to an end and you’re left with a pile of cards sent to you by your family and friends, don’t just throw them away! Be creative and recycle your cards into something useful. Not only will your efforts be appreciated by the important people in your life, you will also ease the strain on your wallet.