Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

I love Christmas cards. If you are on my "snail mail" Christmas card list, ours may be the first one you receive.

Ever since I started sending out cards--in high school--I have always been striving to send greetings that will stand out from the cardinals-perched-on-frosted-tree-limbs cards that seem to be a dime a dozen (not that those cards can't be beautiful).

Every year I think I have topped myself. First, there was the baby carefully arranged in a Longaberger basket with wrapping paper taped to the dining room wall to serve as a backdrop. Later, there was the Halloween holdover card where Ryan was the tractor, Justin was the little pig and our Christmas tablecloth served as the holiday scenery.

Last year I discovered Scrapblog and I used their site again this year.


But let me tell you, every year I am stunned by the wonderful cards I get that put my efforts in their place. In the past few years I have received photos of pensive babies bathed in the soft glow of the tree lights, cards with photo-illustrated timelines of the year's events that ALSO included a rhyming Christmas letter, multi-photo cards that not only showed off the kids but the gorgeous parents raising them, cards with professionally taken photos, cards with babies reacting to pets who are so cute you just want to write a caption, and cards with pigs on them that let us know we're not the only ones who celebrate milestones with swine.

For me, displaying Christmas cards is as important as sending them and so I use a wire card holder that I bought a few years ago. The finished product looks like a beautiful card wreath--so festive.

So, take it from the woman who ruined her printer running cards with glitter through the paper tray, it's not really about who has the best card or who figures out what rhymes with kindergarten, it's the heartfelt message and that annual connection between friends and family that really matters.

But just in case... I am already working on a plan to top a full-bleed card with cherubic boys in matching pajamas.

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