Christmas Letter Tips.com » creative christmas letters

How to Create a Christmas Letter in the Shape of a Christmas Tree

xmastips — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:55:08 +0000

Looking for a fun idea for your annual Christmas letter? Why not create a Christmas letter in the shape of a tree? It’s not too difficult to do and you can use any word processing software to create your letter. Here’s one way to do it with Microsoft Word.

Creating Your Christmas Letter in the Shape of a Christmas Tree
Millions of people use Microsoft Word to create written documents every day and most of them want their text to appear in blocks and columns. So Microsoft has never automated an easy method of creating Christmas tree-shaped text. They have left the advanced features of wrapping text in the shape of an object to more advanced (and more expensive) photo editing and publishing software. However, you can create this effect in Word with a bit of effort.

To create a Christmas letter in the shape of a Christmas tree like the one shown here, you simply set the text alignment to center and then use manual returns to make each line slightly longer than the previous one. Start with very short lines and gradually increase the length of each one. To make sure your tree isn’t very short and stubby, you’ll need to have two or three lines in a row that are very close in length before you add one that’s a bit longer.

When you get to the base of the tree, you’ll want to create very short lines that are close to the same length to create the illusion of a trunk. To make it more fun, you can make the text of the tree green and the text of the trunk brown. You can also use the Insert>Shapes function to add a star on the top of the tree.

This method requires very little skill or technical knowledge. But if you’d like to try another option that requires the ability to wrap text around objects, see this post on WordBanter.com.

Then print your Christmas letter in the shape of a tree and let your friends and family enjoy your annual update in a whole new way!

More Creative Christmas Letter Ideas

Christmas Postage Stamps Add Color to Holiday Mailings

xmastips — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:37:43 +0000

Why should the inside of your holiday mailings have all the fun? Put some fun Christmas postage stamps on your envelopes!

The US Postal Service has been issuing special Christmas postage stamps since 1963, when it released its first holiday stamp with an image of a Christmas wreath and candles. Now the USPS issues Hanukkah and Kwanzaa stamps, too, as well as both religious and secular images for Christmas.

But digital technology means you no longer have to wait for the United States Postal Service to issue their official holiday stamps, nor do you have to settle for the images the print. Now you can make your own (see the post on how to create personalized USPS stamps) or you can buy great postage stamps created by thousands of artists around the country.

Just hop over to Zazzle and you’ll be dazzled by the variety of postage available for Christmas, other holidays and special occasions and everyday use. Here are just a few of the designs you’ll find there. You can buy any of these designs or even use the design as the basis for your own customized version of what you see here. (For instance, you could add “Merry Christmas from the Smiths” to any image here, and you can do the same with their selection of Christmas cards, letterhead, ornaments, shirts and more.)

Family Christmas Letter Template – Red Snowman Border

xmastips — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:58:33 +0000

This MS Word Christmas newsletter template is designed to make your family letter writing easy! Simply open the document in Microsoft Word (version 97 or newer) and edit. The Red Snowman Border template offers two columns for you to write your annual family newsletter, and all of the text can be simply edited to include your own information. There is also a place to insert your family photo.

The template is easy to modify and includes instructions on the page that explain how to replace the text and photos with your own. Give your family Christmas letter some new life with this easy-to-modify Word template!

Just $2.99
After clicking Buy Now, please allow a few seconds for the PayPal page to load.

Clicking the Buy Now button will take you to a secure checkout page where you can purchase this template with a credit card or your PayPal account. You do NOT need a PayPal account to make a purchase.
NOTE: You will need Microsoft Word 97 or newer to open this document.

Why Choose Our Printable Christmas Letter Templates?
- No Wasted Resources. When you buy stationery at the store, you have to buy exactly the amount in their package, whether you need that many sheets or not. With a downloadable Christmas letter template, you only print what you need.
- Easy to Use. Your Christmas letter template is saved as a Microsoft Word document, so it’s easy to edit, and there’s no guess or measuring to figure out if your text will line up with the artwork on stationery you bought at the store. You’ll be able to see exactly what your Christmas letter will look like before you print it.
- Immediate Delivery. As soon as your secure order is processed, you’ll get an email with a link to download your template, so you can customize and print it immediately.

Review: Ideas for Writing Creative Christmas Letters by Janet Colbrunn

xmastips — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:51:04 +0000

When I saw Ideas for Writing Creative Christmas Letters That People Are Actually Eager to Read by Janet Colbrunn on Amazon, I quickly purchased the book based on the title alone. Many people make fun of Christmas letters, but few celebrate them. So I was thrilled to find a kindred spirit in Colbrunn.

Unfortunately, the book’s publisher must not have provided a description for bookstores because neither Amazon or Barnes and Noble has any details on the book. That’s a shame because I’m sure the lack of information will discourage many people, and this book is well worth the money if you’re looking for creative Christmas letter ideas.

The author’s website says, “You can quickly learn to transform a traditional letter into one that is so entertaining that even the busiest holiday reveler can’t lay it aside.” In fact, I enjoyed reading all of the sample letters inside the book, despite the fact that I don’t know the author or her family. Colbrunn’s creative examples prove that holiday letters don’t have to be boring or bragging.

The author doesn’t just give a list of ideas. She gives real examples of actual letters she has sent over the years, from the 1988 Diary letter to the 2005 End of Year Statistics letter and many in between.

Personally, I really enjoyed the 1995 Monopoly-like trivia game, which included a game board with squares around the outside with answers such as “Surprise Un-Birthday Party” and trivia cards you had to match up, such as “Stick around longer at Cousin Corrie’s and Christy’s graduation party and it magically turns into Grandma Chamber’s 75th Surprise Birthday Party…” (At least, I think that was the card that went with that square. There’s no cheat sheet in the book!)

I also enjoyed the Christmas letter that was a compilation of fake letters to Santa and the “2003 by the Numbers” letter that included info such as:

3 times we visited the Toledo Zoo with friends and family. The kids liked the monkeys best
30 toddler teeth brushed at the beginning of the year
60 toddler teeth brushed at the end of the year
98 hours per week that Jen works as a full-time triplet mom

The book inlcudes a brief explanation of each letter and then offers work space for you to make notes for your own version of each one. It’s broken into four sections, with a general section on creating your letter and sections for each of the types of holiday letters she describes: list letters, format letters and perspective letters.

There’s something in here for everyone, and you’ll almost certainly find some ideas in Ideas for Writing Creative Christmas Letters That People Are Actually Eager to Read that will help you improve your own writing. If not, you’ll at least fun reading these.

More links:
Creative Christmas Letter Ideas

How to Write Christmas Letters People Will Actually Enjoy Reading

(This article originally appeared on HubPages: Review: Ideas for Writing Creative Christmas Letters by Janet Colbrunn)