If you have gone to the trouble of having your cards printed or have made them yourself, you do not want the inside to be a letdown.  Rather you want your recipient to fondly accept the humour or sentiment of the message inside.  Have a think about what kind of message would suit your creation.

If you choose an amusing photo for your holiday card, you might think about coming up with a witty caption or funny punch line.  Alternatively you may wish to keep it simple and print a nice formal photo and express simple Christmas wishes inside.

If your card is more traditional in style, think about using a quote from a story such as the Christmas Carol.  A simple line from a story or quote from a writer will add sentiment without being too gushy.  Similarly, Christmas carols offer a host of lovely lyrics; why not insert a few sentimental words from your favourite Christmas tune?

If your card has a religious element, think about using a quote that has the nativity as its subject.  There are many hymns and verses that would supply you with a few suitable lines to be inserted into your card.  Angels and nativities make attractive subjects and most of the more traditional verses associated with them are particularly tuneful and express the Christmas message in a traditional sense.

If you are feeling creative why not have a go at making up some verse yourself.  This will make the message personal.  It need not be long; a couple of lines will suffice, however, if the poet inside you is desperate to come out, why not have a go at being more adventurous.

The internet has plenty of sites which you can use to research quotes so take a look at what might be on offer before you simply write ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup dried apricots

½ cup softened butter

¼ cup sugar

1 cup sifted flour

1/3 cup sifted flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup chopped nuts

confectioner’s sugar

Rinse apricots, cover with water.  Boil 10 minutes.  Drain.  Cool.  Chop.

Mix until crumbly: butter, sugar, 1 cup flour.  Put into greased 9” square pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly brown.

Sift 1/3 cup flour, baking powder and salt.

Beat brown sugar into eggs.

Add flour mixture.

Mix in vanilla, nuts and apricots.  Spread over baked layer.

Bake 30 minutes.  When cool, cut into squares and dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Enjoy!

Post offices are more than busy at Christmas time with it being the busiest time of year for businesses and families alike.  Remember to check the final dates of postage well in advance so that you do not miss out.  In fact there is nothing to say that you cannot have your cards signed sealed and ready to be delivered before Advent has even begun.

In addition, think about postage.  Be careful with homemade and larger cards.  These may not pass on a standard postage fee and might require an extra stamp or two.  As much as your recipient will love receiving a card, they might not love traipsing to the Post Office and paying to retrieve the post.  This is especially important if you are a business as it will look disorganised and untimely (family are likely to forgive you… eventually)

Remember that you will need to be extra organised if you are sending cards abroad, unless you fancy sending Happy New Year cards instead. Air mail can take a long time as I am sure you are well aware given the reliability of holiday postcards arriving.

Some cards might be hand deliverable.  This might be time consuming but it might mean a free mince pie and a chin wag before Christmas.  If time is an issue, dropping a card through the door will appear personal and in the long run will save you the postage.

Make sure your cards contain a sentimental and personal wish.  In addition, you could add an element of surprise and fill your cards with confetti so that your recipient gets a little shower of sparkles when they open their card.  This might be particularly fun for children who will love the effect when lots of metallic Santa figures fall out of the envelope.

Finally, ensure your address book is up to date.   This will ensure that your cards will bring all the joy that is intended to the right recipient.

For the less creative among us, many kits exist in stores to help us out.  There are kits for painting plastic ornaments, making photo mugs, having your child’s art work laminated into a placemat, etc.  You can also order a photo mat for your computer mouse.  Another very popular item is a 12 month photo calendar.  You simply supply the photos and the calendar is mailed to you. Smiles abound every month of the year as a new page is flipped open.

If you want to spend less money and watch your children have a fun, creative time, there are many other options as well.  My children always enjoyed making Christmas Tree ornaments (to keep for themselves or give to others).  The round metal tops to frozen orange juice cans make an excellent backing for a child’s photo.  Simply cut the photo out to fit the circular metal top, glue it on, and add sprinkles if you like.

Another photo ornament can be easily constructed using popsicle sticks.  Take 4 sticks and glue them together in a square shape.  Place the sticks over a photo so that they become a frame for the picture.

Nature is a great resource for creating your own ornaments.  One of my favorites that my son made was created by taking a pine cone, brushing on glue and sprinkling with glitter.  Then some yarn was added to hang it from the tree.

My 22 and 25 yr. olds still hang their special ornaments, which they created when they were age 3-10, on the tree each year.  It is a reminder of Christmases past, and makes trimming the tree a very memorable experience.

It is so easy to show you care by making your gifts, whether it be baking bread or pies, creating ornaments or calendars, etc.  There is no limit to what you can do and have fun doing it!

Firstly think about a charity you wish to help at Christmas time.  It might be that it is for the homeless or for mistreated animals.  Whichever takes your fancy you can contribute by creating yourself a little venture.

If you are involved with a church or a school or even fancy setting up your own project, think about selling cards at a profit to raise money for charity.  The most common way to do this is to make the cards yourself and sell them at school fairs, church coffee mornings, even at car boot sales.  You can get into making all sorts of Christmas cards, something that in itself may be enjoyable.

You can get plain cards and crafting kits from the shops or internet.  If you are a good painter, why not paint a few winter scenes to put on the cards.  If you don’t fancy doing lots, draw a selection and colour copy them.  Similarly, you could use decoupage, embroidery or pencils.  Add some ribbon to make your cards more luxurious.

The cards do not need to be fancy but they do need to be worthy of their price.  Think about getting friends and family to join in by making some cards to contribute to your venture.  Crafting accessories can be found in most good craft stores and consist of stamps, glitter and stickers.  If you are stuck for ideas check out some craft books or magazines, particularly those geared up to the Christmas season.

If you are holding a charity event, it could be fun to have a DIY table for children.  Raise money for charity for asking for a donation in return for a turn at creating your own Christmas card.  You will find that children of all ages will have great fun taking part whilst knowing they are contributing to a good cause.  This idea will work well at school fates or Christmas craft events.

Why not have a think about getting yourself an advent calendar this year (or leave not so subtle hints around so that someone else might get one for you).  Chocolate, after all is universal and there is no age limit on enjoying the countdown to Christmas.  Once you reach a certain age no one can say anything to you for having chocolate before breakfast, or even a stealthy opening of tomorrows door to have a peak (although this is ill advised as it ruins the fun and means you will be lacking chocolate for the following morning).  Adults can enjoy advent with chocolate just as much as children and many chocolate manufacturers realise this.  Many luxury chocolate companies offer upper class calendars designed for adults.  These double up as a great gift for a loved one before Christmas.

If you don’t fancy the extra calories, even during the countdown to Christmas, think about getting a calendar that will offer you pretty pictures or non-chocolate surprises, or even better, hint at someone else to fill one for you.  The basis to an advent calendar can be found in many craft stores or on the internet.

If a calendar does not excite you, how about you light an advent candle every night for the run-up to the big day?   These are guaranteed to gently light up your room giving it a nice atmosphere in which you can sit wrapping gifts and drinking mulled wine or eggnog.  Why don’t you compliment it with a candle that offers the aroma of a Christmas scent?  This will add to the atmosphere of your living room even more.  Although be warned, you might find productivity on the wrapping presents front a little diminished.

Candles can come in many shapes, sizes and colour and tend to make celebrating advent a little more grown up although I am sure children will love watching it slowly burn too.  You can find them in many shops in the lead up to Christmas.

String could be your answer.  How about hanging some string or yarn along one of the walls in your home?  You can pin it up with drawing pins or strong tape and you can drape it in an attractive manner.  Then using clothes pegs you can pin up your cards at an angle so they look attractive.   You might even like to decorate your pegs with paint or glitter to make them less like clothes pegs and more like Christmas decorations.  Alternatively you can drape your cards over the string picture side up.    These Christmas card garlands look lovely pinned up in the hall or over the fireplace.

If string is not that appealing to you and you fancy something a little different you could pin up your cards on a door or wall space.  You might like to make a picture out of your cards.  To do this pin them up in a circle like a wreath.  You could add a few faux flowers and ribbon to add to your artwork.  By using your imagination you could make any Christmas shape you fancy.

Cards are attractive on their own merit, so you might find pinning or tacking cards up on internal window panes or on the edge of shelves add, to the Christmas cheer in the house alone.

If you like the idea of showing off your popularity but without the fuss of using your creative skills try heading to a good Christmas decoration department.  You will find many great card holder designs.  Some will be a variation on the ideas already suggested above while others will involve cardboard designs which have slats in which you can slip your cards.

Christmas cards do not have the longest life span so hang them up and show them off to visitors, they will definitely add to the cheer in your household.

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.   Laura Ingalls Wilder

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.   W.T. Ellis

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!   Hamilton Wright Mabie

Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.   Author unknown

For the spirit of Christmas fulfils the greatest hunger of mankind.   Loring A. Schuler

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes or bags.  And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.  Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.  What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.   Dr. Seuss

Christmas – that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance.  It may weave a spell of nostalgia.  Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance – a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.  Augusta E. Rundel

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.  Calvin Coolidge

Whatever else be lost among the years,
Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing;
Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears,
Let us hold close one day, remembering
It’s poignant meaning for the hearts of men.
Let us get back our childlike faith again.  Grace Noll Crowell

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.  Charles Dickens

Design something bright and fun for the elementary school kids and something a little more mature for the older students.  Choose from sports themes, floral designs, abstract patterns, or anything.  Try uploading a photo and adding text, too!

Custom notebooks are simple to create.  Just upload a design, or customize an online template.  Customized notebooks are a thoughtful gift for kids, or anyone! Try creating customized pens too!