How I design my Christmas cards

It’s no secret that I absolutely LOVE making and receiving Christmas cards. I’m not sure if it’s the nerdy English major in me or the remnant of childhood Jen who loved writing stories and sending letters to friends and family, but there is something about holiday correspondence that really brings me joy.

I have sent a holiday photo card and letter every year since Micah and I have been married. I save each card in a red linen photo album I bring out each December as part of our Christmas decor. It’s so fun to read through the past years’ greetings, and I hope someday the album is thick with decades of stories and photographs.

Katy Girl Designs – 2015 card

INVITEDdesignCO – 2021 card

The first few years we were married, I ordered cards through Shutterfly or Snapfish. They were fine, but since then I’ve realized I want a higher quality card that I am able to fully customize. I also want something where I can put a photo on the front with space to print my yearly letter on the back, so I don’t have to print and mail a separate piece of paper along with a photo. Here is what I do:

Get family photos. Although I would love to spend tons of money for a fancy family portrait session, we usually don’t budget for such an expense. In the past, we’ve asked a budding high school or college photographer, a close family friend, and even a friend of a friend (when we moved to California and didn’t know anyone yet) to take family pictures for us. I will give them a little cash or a gift card. I have also swapped taking photos with another family. You can also browse through the photos you already have from the year to see if there are any gems you would like to share. Some professional photographers offer “mini-sessions” for the holiday season where you can get a 15-20 minute shoot for around $200 instead of a full-length shoot that often costs $400+.

Choose a unique card design from Etsy. You see it every year. Once your cards from friends and family start arriving, you start noticing duplicate designs from common card vendors like Shutterfly or Costco. I always want to make sure our card is unique, so I turn to Etsy to make my selection. Get a glimpse of the offerings on Etsy here. Once I choose a card, I order it, send my pictures to the artist/shop owner, and I usually have my finished card within 48 hours.

Write a letter. Obviously, this is optional. Fewer and fewer people include letters in their cards these days (Don’t we know EVERYTHING from social media already?), but I hate to see this old-fashioned tradition fade away. In our letter, I include family highlights from the year and share the Gospel with friends and family. However, if you don’t have time or don’t want to write a letter, there are lots of fun two-sided greeting cards that allow room for extra pictures or even a quick blurb update in lieu of a full letter. I write my letter on a 5×7 page in Word/Pages, so it will already be the right size for my postcard. I proofread the letter a zillion times, read it aloud to Micah, and then save the file as a PDF.

Sign up for Rakuten. Before you purchase cards or anything else online during the holiday season, make sure you are signed up to get cash back through Rakuten. If you install Rakuten in your browser, it will pop up and tell you when an online store is offering cash back. During the holidays, the cash-back amounts often soar up to 10% and 20%, so you make money just by doing your normal Christmas shopping. I usually receive a check for $100-200 in cash back in February from my holiday spending.

Print your postcards using Overnight Prints. For the past nine years now, I have used Overnight Prints for our cards. They have high-quality two-sided 5×7 postcards that are very affordable. I upload my photo file (jpeg) from Etsy to the front and my letter (PDF) to the back. I love the quality of this product, especially since there are NO company logos anywhere on the card. You can also order envelopes with your order for an extra $5. These postcards are completely customizable and fit my dual photo/letter needs perfectly.

*Two notes about using Overnight Prints: 1) The postcard quantities are kind of weird. They jump from 100 to 250. I typically need about 110 postcards each year, so I do one order of 100 and then duplicate my order (an option in the shopping cart) and place another order for 25 cards (the smallest amount they sell). This works fine and gives me a few extras in case I need them. 2) Despite the name, Overnight Prints actually has fairly slow standard shipping. You can, of course, pay extra for overnight shipping or expedited 2-3 day shipping, but if you want to pay their standard shipping fee, expect to wait about a week for your package. It’s worth the wait to me because the product is so great. They also now offer full mailing services, so they can send your cards out on your behalf to the addresses you provide.

This is the process I use to create our Christmas card each year. It ensures a unique card for a good price. Here is the approximate cost break-down:

Photography: Free-$200

Etsy design: $10-12

100 postcards and envelopes from Overnight Prints: $100

Postage for approximately 100 postcards (save money by hand-delivering to local friends): $55

My total this year (with free photography) was: $134.00. To me, it’s worth every penny to share God’s goodness with friends and family and add another page to our family album.