8th Day of Christmas

On the 8th day of Christmas: Cards

I like sending out Christmas cards. Each year I like to do something a little different with them, but I always seem to incorporate the same kind of things in the annual process: the card, the photo, the year's summary, and hand-writing.

This year, the card, photo, and year's summary were all separate from each other (this isn't always the case, though). So, I wrote a message inside each card (I feel that a handwritten message or hand-written signatures are important to include), folded the summary, wrote the date on the back of the photo, stuffed the summary & photo in the card, addressed the envelope, stuck the card in the envelope, and licked it shut. I {unfortunately} just barely got around to doing this all tonight--which is much later in the season than I intended. I've had the cards for a year (I got them clearance in January--something I've never done before). I've had the photos for a month (I ordered them when there was a great sale on snapfish). I made this year's summary two weeks ago ("Lists of 12 from 2012" for each person in the family). It was just a matter of time of sitting and putting it all together that was holding me back! December is a crazy, busy month!

I send out Christmas cards because I love to receive Christmas cards. I enjoy receiving mail, and looking at photos of my friends and family; I like knowing that people are thinking about me enough to send me a card. So, if you've sent me a card, please know that I deeply appreciate it! I display the cards during the Christmas season on my wall in the dining room, and when I sit at the kitchen table to eat each evening, I look at the cards and think of the people who sent them to me. A few years ago in Relief Socity, I made a Christmas card holder out of a 6' long piece of 1x4 board. I covered the board in green Christmas scrapbook paper, and then decorated coordinating clothespins to hold the cards. Unfortunately, I don't think it's quite big enough. I think I will need to come up with another solution, because this board gets so crammed with cards that I have to double up each clothespin by Christmas.  

One of my favorite things about Christmas time is the reaching out...either by goodies, or giving gifts, or sending cards to stay in touch with others. I like that there's a sense of belonging and caring in the air all around!