Christmas is a time of year when we all seem to want to personally express ourselves. Our creative gene comes to the forefront and even for people who, at any other time of the year, wouldn’t care about personalizing what they share. . . at Christmas, getting personal becomes very important. The spirit of togetherness, of connection, is at the core of the holiday.
One way you can do this is with cards you send to family and friends, even to business associates. Sure, you could go out to the local store and pick up a few boxes of commercially-made holiday cards. There’s nothing wrong with this—it still gets your message out. It is, however, generic and shows little of your own personality.
What about visiting, from the comfort of your own computer, a website created specifically for creative printing, a site that allows you to pick and choose what you want on your card . . . whether it’s a personal picture, a greeting you wrote yourself, a different font and a color to accompany your message, or a Christmas graphic you designed. If you can dream it, it can usually be made to your specifications. And that’s when personalization comes to the forefront.
Here are a few tips to help you create that very special card, a card which can come only from you:
Are you sending a photo card? If you want to use a picture of your family, or a shot of your new dog, or for business contacts, a sneak preview of a new product—skip the usual portrait idea. Try something new and have your picture show you, or your family, or your dog, doing something you love to do . . . decorating the tree, playing catch in your back yard, or if you have a crazy sense of humor, doing something funny—maybe giving the dog a bath!
Even if you want to communicate with your product, if this is a holiday card to business associates—put it in a unique light . . . if it’s a book, show someone reading it on a beach but wearing a Santa hat; if you’re a real estate broker, show yourself handing over the keys to a new house (use a model as your home owner)—decorated for Christmas. I’m sure you get the picture.
The message inside your card is so very important. Why just say, “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays,” when you can customize your sentiment and give it added impact? If you’re good with writing a verse or two, take a turn at developing your own words for that message. Or if you have a favorite quote and it relates to good friends, good family, or heartfelt emotion, such a quote could be a perfect addition.
Another option is to turn to the internet or the library for just the right quote or saying to fit exactly what you want to share this holiday season. If it’s worth expressing, chances are someone out there has already expressed it, and done so eloquently. A personal quote is perfectly acceptable for use without prior permission, as long as it’s short and not expressly protected otherwise.
When you’re designing your personalized Christmas cards, you have freedom to play with fonts, colors, and sometimes paper stock. Take full advantage of these options. Certain fonts evoke pointed response. Some are old-fashioned, some whimsical, others bold and unique. Consider not only the words you want to convey, but also the emotion you want to go along with those words. This feeling can be brought on with fonts and colors and paper.
Once you’ve selected a specific font, try out different colors. It’s Christmas so obvious choices, besides traditional black, are red and green. Yet there are a whole host of possibilities out there . . . play around before you buy and see what works best for you. And if you have the chance to pick your paper stock, either ask how heavy a certain weight feels or, if you have the chance to feel it yourself, hold the paper in your hand and decide if this paper is solid enough to carry your special message.
Another option – think about sending a postcard. Still allows you many different ways to express yourself, gives you room for a short greeting and signature, a graphic or photo on the front . . . all on one mailing. One major benefit—if you’re sending to a lot of people, this is an economical way of sharing the holiday without busting the budget.
Don’t forget the envelope in your personalization. The envelope, if it’s not a postcard, is the first part of your greeting which gets attention. Will you use personalized, self-addressed return labels or will you write out your return address on each card? Should you write out the addressee’s name or can you use attractive computer-generated address labels? Do you want a plain white envelope or something with a bit of color to it?
And one more point to consider . . . what about your stamps? Are you going to post your Christmas cards with traditional USPS stamps, or do you want to buy holiday stamps showing any number of Christmas or seasonal scenes? Just something else to think about.
Making sure the Christmas cards you share this year are cards which could’ve been sent out by no one else is a project unto itself, but it is a rewarding one. Knowing that you are giving of yourself, knowing that when the people special to you hold your card in their hand, they smile and think only of you . . . these are the reasons we make the effort to offer only our very own greeting to folks important to us.