If your intention is to send out Christmas cards, but it seems like you never have time, then this is your year! The trick is to begin planning early. If you wait until December to think about Christmas cards, you will be way too busy.
A little research is in order for the Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today. Maybe you have clippings that you saved from old magazines with some cute
card ideas. Maybe you have saved a few of your favorite cards that friends have sent in the past. Maybe you just need to google “Christmas cards” to get the creative juices flowing. Be sure to jot down your ideas and findings in your Christmas planner.
Check out List Mama’s List of Possible Christmas Card Options.
This week’s Giveaway is for one of my favorite fall things: a Harvest candle by Yankee Candle! In my opinion, fall has not truly begun until I have smelled this candle burning in my home. You have several ways to enter to win this Harvest scent from Yankee Candle:
1) leave a comment on this post,
2) tell your friends & followers about 100 Days to Christmas on Facebook or Twitter(so easy to do when you use the Share This button at the bottom of this post) and leave a comment here linking to your profile,
3) subscribe to 100 Days to Christmas‘ RSS feed using a reader or by email and leave a comment here,
4) blog about 100 Days to Christmas then leave a comment here linking to your post.
5) become a member of the 100 Days to Christmas community
One of each of these per day please. You have until Sunday, September 26 at 6 pm EST to enter.
Thanks for the reminder. I make my own cards each year. I am a digital scrapbooker and this makes my job easy. I always add a photo or two in among the decorative card. I must get on to this and dig out my send to list.
Tamara´s last blog ..Haydens Birthday
You can add an extra holiday touch to your Christmas letters and Santa letters by getting a special holiday postmark/cancellation on your envelopes. One of the most popular holiday cancellations is the North Pole postmark from North Pole, Alaska, but there are nearly 100 towns and cities in the United States with names related to the holidays, and a number of these offer special holiday postmarks.
To get a North Pole postmark on your envelope(s), simply address and stamp your envelope(s) as you normally would. Then put them all in a bigger envelope and send them to:
North Pole Christmas Cancellation
Postmaster
5400 Mail Trail
Fairbanks, AK 99709-9999
To ensure delivery by Christmas, envelopes should be received at the North Pole post office no later than December 15.
You can also take advantage of this free service offered by other holiday-themed post offices by sending your sealed, stamped and addressed envelopes in a larger envelope to the attention of Christmas Re-Mailing at the appropriate post office noted below.
The United States Post Office published this list in 2008 of post offices with Christmas names. Some of these post offices offer a regular cancellation with the city name, while others have special graphic for the holidays. Cities in red with an asterisk are those that have offered special images in previous years. Images change from year to year, so be sure to check with the appropriate post office before mailing.
Advent WV 25231
Angeles PR 00611
Angels Camp CA 95222
Antler ND 58711
Antlers OK 74523
Bell CA 90201
Bell FL 32619
Bethlehem CT 06751
Bethlehem GA 30620
Bethlehem IN 47104
Bethlehem KY 40007
Bethlehem MD 21609
Bethlehem NH 03574
Bethlehem PA 18016
Blessing TX 77419
Chestnut IL 62518
Christmas FL 32709
Christmas MI 49862
Evergreen AL 36401
Evergreen CO 80439
Evergreen LA 71333
Evergreen MT 59901 (branch of Kalilspell Post Office)
Evergreen NC 28438
Evergreen VA 23939
Faith NC 28041
Faith SD 57626
*Frost MN 56033
Frost TX 76641
Garland ME 04939
Garland NE 68360
Garland NC 28441
Garland PA 16416
Garland TX 75040
Garland UT 84312
*Holly CO 81047
*Holly MI 48442
Hope AK 99605
Hope AR 71801
*Hope ID 83836
Hope IN 47246
*Hope KS 67451
Hope KY 40334
Hope MI 48628
*Hope MN 56046
Hope NJ 07844
Hope NM 88250
Hope ND 58046
Hope RI 02831
Joseph OR 97846
Joseph City AZ 86032
Joy IL 61260
Mistletoe KY 41351
Nazareth KY 40048
Nazareth MI 49074
*Nazareth PA 18064
Nazareth TX 79063
*Noel MO 64854
North Pole NY 12946 (community Post Office of Lake Placid)
Partridge KS 67566
Partridge KY 40862
Rudolph OH 43462
Rudolph WI 54475
Saint Joseph IL 61873
Saint Joseph LA 71366
Saint Joseph MI 49085
Saint Joseph MN 56374
Saint Joseph MO 64501
Saint Joseph TN 38481
Saint Mary KY 40063
Saint Mary MO 63673
Saint Mary MT 59417 (community Post Office of Browning)
Saint Marys AK 99658
Saint Marys GA 31558
Saint Marys IN 46556 (branch of Notre Dame Post Office)
Saint Marys IA 50241
Saint Marys KS 66536
Saint Marys OH 45885
Saint Marys PA 15857
Saint Marys WV 26170
*Santa ID 83866
*Santa Claus IN 47579
Shepherd MI 48883
Shepherd MT 59079
Shepherd TX 77371
Snow OK 74567
Snowflake AZ 85937
Snow Shoe PA 16874
Spruce MI 48762
*Star ID 83669
*Star MS 39167
*Star NC 27356
Star TX 76880
*Starlight PA 18461
Surprise NY 12176
Wiseman AR 72587
Wow! I had no idea!! Thanks for that info Kal. That would add a special touch to holiday cards, for sure.
Jen
Thanks for sharing the great card info!
I have a friend who has given up totally on sending Christmas Cards. She sends Happy New Year cards instead!
In order to cut down on sending SO MANY cards, I have found that if certain people don’t send reciprocal cards (or I don’t hear from them at all) in a couple of Christmases, they are probably not going to miss my “card a year”. I then drop them off the list. No one has complained yet!
@juliebavi (retweeting this too!)
Julie Bavington´s last blog ..Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom
I am leaving a comment.
I twittered.
I blogged.
I subscribed.
Thanks for the giveaway!
htp://www.busymomscancook.com
We usually send a picture card of the kids to close friends and relatives and send a nice card with no pictures to associates that we know through business or such.
I always send a photo or two in the Christmas cards, but this year, I think I’m going to include a copy of my son’s hand-print. Thanks for the reminder to get started early!
This is great! I posted a link on Facebook to share it with my friends! http://www.facebook.com/elliscrivner
Elli´s last blog ..Day 331
Please enter me in the contest. Thank you!
I twittered.
I facebooked.
Later I will do my blog.
And I am commenting. Great ideas and help as always!
Marcia “HDMac”´s last blog ..Matthew’s Taggie Blankie
We haven’t done christmas cards yet in our 2 years of marriage but I really think this might be a good year to try it.
I am a subscriber.
And a member of the community.
Just signed up for emails. I’m hoping to get enough time to stamp my own cards this year. I have already picked out my stamp, now to just find the time!
I bought Christmas cards last year after the season was over. I already have this one taken care of. Yeah!!
Taryn´s last blog ..And another…..
Just signed up! Looks like this will be very helpful to stay on top of things
I use snapfish for our christmas cards…we do the photo kind. I try and get a picture of my girls by the end of October and get them ordered early in November, so I can get them mailed early. Like Julie said…I’ve been keeping track of who recipriocates with cards to us, if we don’t get one for a year or two I too drop them off the list. Might sound a little harsh, but I found I was sending a ton and not getting many back. Now I feel more balanced in that respect…we pretty much get one back from everyone we send too. I LOVE cards! Especially the photo kind! I love to see how much the kids change!
Ok. I have now blogged!
This is my second year to get involved in this and I love it!!!
Marcia “HDMac”´s last blog ..Christmas Card Consideration – 93 Days to Christmas
My daughter has drawn a picture of a snowman and I’m going to scan it in to my computer and print it out to put on cards. I got the idea from a Gooseberry Patch book
Next year we’ll do a family photo again as it’s been a couple of years since we did one.
Denise´s last blog ..Playing Catch-up
I am still deciding what I am going to do. Handmade or store bought.
Tricia´s last blog ..Bought or Handmade
Hello,
Super post, Need to mark it on Digg
Thank you
I usually buy some Christmas cards after Christmas is over in order to get the best deals. I have my address list set up to print out on Christmas labels for the addresses to and teh return address. I keep all of the cards I have received from the last couple of years and make sure to note any address changes or if any of the cards come back to me, and I then modify the labels accordingly. The first weekend of October I pull out my new cards, labels and the cards I have received from the last couple of years. Then I put the address labels on all of the envelopes and begin to write a short sentiment to each of our recipients. I allow this process to take me several days spread over the month on weekends, while waiting in doctors offices, on my lunch breaks, at half time of our children’s games. I am always finished before Halloween and I have them all stuffed and sealed and sitting on my mantle until the weekend before December. I then go to the PO and get holiday stamps – I buy about 10 more than what I think I will need, as I will occasionally receive a card who I have not sent one to and will need to reciprocate. On December 1, I take all of the stamped cards and drop them in teh post office. then I take the cards from several years ago and use cookie cutters as a guide to trace holiday shapes on the fronts of the cards and I allow the kids to use these to decorate their mini trees, the bathroom and some of the packages under our tree. It save a little money on name tags, and it is a fun project to do with my kids. I have even taken it a step further and decopaged the cutouts on to trays to serve our guests or to give as gifts to relatives – that and a picture or two of the kids works wonders. I have even taken to using this decopaged look to put behind glass in frames to put on our walls for decoration, and when the season is over I just put the regular pics back in front of the collage. I also put the left over pieces of ribon and paper in a baggie and tie it to the tree in teh back yard in teh spring. The birds love to use this to build their nests and then the nests are beautifuly colorful.
Just a few ideas…
Ginger
I printed out a new listplanit contact list and updated all my addresses on Monday. I dont know how I am so on the ball this year, I hope I dont get lazy and fall off at the end! Loving all the ideas and motivation!!!!
Debra Smith´s last blog ..Happenings in the Country……..