Greeting card ideas

Handwritten cards, e-cards, FB, DIY family photos, anonymous letters to strangers. The list goes on...

 We've all gone to the 99cent stores or that section at Walgreens with the typical "Happy Holidays" or "Warmest wishes this winter" card with a watercolor reindeer and glittery snowflakes. I feel like those are cheating! All you do is sign your name at the bottom and scribble someones name on it. I always like to try and make personal touches so they know it came from the heart. I'm not saying that store-bought cards go unappreciated but it always means more and makes you feel more special that someone took the time to make it personal. You don't need excellent penmanship or beautiful stationary. And you don't need a professional photographer to snap your family photo.There are quite a few ways to send some holiday love! 

Handwritten

 This one's kind of self explanatory. You can buy a blank card or you can even make your own. Write or draw on the inside, don't forget the envelope. That's all it takes! Just 20 minutes out of your day to sit down and write. You don't need to be a poet either. (that's what Google is for duh!) When I was a little girl I would look up sweet short poems and songs on Google, write them in the prettiest handwriting I could in all different colors and give them to my mom on Mother's day and her birthdays. And she loved them! Little kids are pros at heartfelt gifts. Just remember to dress 'em up! Make 'em pretty! Nothing says I love you more than handwritten cards.

Ecards

This one's for the oldies. We all have that aunt or grandma who has recently become an internet user. Or that distant uncle on the other side of the country who still uses Hotmail. E-cards are perfect for them. Something about those digital elves and reindeer with falling snowflake graphics just make them happy. It takes less than a minute and tons of ways to personalize them. Over the years some of them have gotten cuter! But personally, the cheesier the better.

A few silly places:

Jibjab.com

 SomeEcards.com

Egreetings.com

CardFunk.com/

BlueMountain.com

Facebook & DIY family photos

Yesterday I made a simple and cute picture to use as my Facebook cover photo (see above). I think this counts as somewhat of a greeting card, right? I just used a random tree ornament and stuck a bunch of snowflakes all over it as a border. I have yet to get a family photo together simply because I don't have many days off from work. And the ones I do have off I don't want to do anything. PLUS not everyone is willing to get dressed with hair and makeup to take pictures. womp womp. But maybe I can coax them... This is where Pinterest comes in. There are endless tutorials and inspiration for making your own photobooths. A professional camera is not needed. You can use a plain digital, poloroid, disposable, heck you could even use your phone! Anything with picture-taking capabilities will do just fine. For props you can make your own or hop over to the nearest dollar store and go crazy! Just have fun with it!

You can find props to purchase on sites like Etsy or Target

(click for etsy listing)

Or you could even check out these tutorials to make your own photo booth!

Images: Sarah Hearts, Project Wedding,Oh Happy Day, Poppytalk, Oh Happy Day,  Josh Dookhie vía Bridal Musings.

Anonymous letters

Have you ever heard of random acts of kindness? What about More Love Letters? (Click the link for more information on that) This is the exact same idea. But I thought it would be nice to open it up to my internet friends as well, so for me it's half-anon. It works the same way it would for someone you already know.

Here's a snippet of their information:

"The world doesn’t need another website. It doesn’t need another app or a network.

What it needs is really basic. Simple. Bare-boned.& often forgotten in the race to get followers, likes & status.

LOVE. Pure, old-fashioned, never goes out of style Love. Ridiculous, oozing, cannot pack this thang into 140-characters kind of love. Fearless, bold, unstoppable love.

And that’s where we come in… We’re going to tell you that we leave love letters all over the world for others to be blessed by. We’re going to ask you to write letters for Love Letter Bundles for people you’ll probably never meet.  We’re going to invite you to nominate someone you know for a Love Letter Bundle. You are going to think we are a bit crazy. A tad loopy… But let’s be honest,  you’ve been looking for a website that leaks love all this time.

Fair warning, we could really care less about love letters.

We’re only interested in you. The cracked parts of your own story & how you can use them to lift someone else. It’s about how each of us can morph our lives into love letters… lamps… lanterns… to light the paths of others who needs kindness and love today.

It’s official. Now, more than ever, the world needs more love letters. So get involved."

 (photo credit: moreloveletters.com and coffe&honeycomb.blogspot.com)

It doesn't take much. And you never know what someone is going through. A few kind words may be just what they needed most. So get writing! And have fun!