Holiday Planning (part 2)

I don't know about you, but I always have the intention on sending out holiday cards with a family newsletter in them.  This has yet to happen.  So this year I am planning ahead!  I put together a printout to list out all of my family and friends whom I would like to send out our holiday cards to.  (Because, you know, it is way more official if it is actually written down, then I will have to do it!)

To continue on the Holiday Planning series, I have included another free printable: Holiday Cards.

Use this printable to keep track of all your friends and family members you will be sending your cards and letters out to.

Along with this freebie, I am going to offer some advice from my own experience in receiving letters over the years and things I have online about composing a letter.

A holiday newsletter about your family is a great way to let your family and friends have a glimpse into your past year, and it should be just that, a glimpse.  Keep your newsletter simple and include major events that happened over the year.  Receiving a multiple paged newsletter can be very daunting and discourage people from reading all the way through it.

Always start off the letter in a positive note.  Most often people tend to start off these letters with something like, "I can't believe how fast this year went by!"  Time does go by fast, and most of us want to savor our lives and the reminder of how quickly it passes us by isn't the happiest of openings in a holiday letter.  Some alternatives for starting out your letter are, "We are so thankful for all our friends and family that have shared in our memories over this last year!" or "What an amazing journey these past twelve months has been for our family!"

If you have children, consider allowing them to write a paragraph about their year.  You may want to brag about her making the honor roll, but she may be more excited to share about winning that one volley ball tournament.  Even if they are too young to write the words down themselves, you can transcribe what the little ones want to say.  Don't worry about editing their stories, it will be from the heart and family will think it's adorable you have included them in the letter composing.

A great alternative to a traditional letter is an infographic holiday card or letter.  This is a great way to keep it simple and interesting for your readers.  Here is an example I have found from minted.com:

(source: Minted.com)

Infographic holiday letters are a neat way to simplify your year in review and make it easy and fun for your readers to understand what you were up to.  Websites, such as minted.com and shops on Etsy, can put these together for you.  Or, if you know your way around a design program, you can put together one yourself and save some money.

What are your plans for holiday cards this year?