He glanced up. “You can fix that. Christmas is coming – perfect time for a family letter.” He returned to work, leaving me to ponder how to begin such a project.

For those of you who, like me, are not natural letter-writers, below is a list of family Christmas letter ideas. Hope they help if you decide to start a new tradition this year.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!
While you can fit a few photos into a newsletter, more is better for your family Christmas letter. Try including a CD of favorite photos and special events. For more pizzazz, try using online services such as Smilebox. You can pick out a background and song to lend emotion to your slideshow. Then have fun and create! Include a copy with each mailed newsletter (or at least with Grandma and Grandpa’s). You can also share your creation with email recipients online.

The Countdown!
David Letterman loves them, Johnny Carson loved them, and we all love them too. The Top Ten List is the hit of the show! Include it in your newsletter or family Christmas letter. Ideas for lists range from sports activities for the kids to best moments on vacation. Include baby’s top ten new words, or your kindergartner’s top ten favorite new books, movies or games. The top ten dumbest/cutest things said in the household is sure to be a hit, but keep careful notes through-out the year to make sure you get them all down!

Make Them Laugh!
Ask each family member to include their favorite joke, riddle or pun. Sharing humor is always a family favorite. For humorous holiday jokes, search online or visit Funny-Christmas.com.

Use a Template!
Trying to format everything just right can lead to frustration, un-Christmas-like obscenities and un-mailed letters. Using a template makes layout easy and allows for more time to write and less to try to fit-it-all-in. You can search for printable Christmas letterhead online or for less than $4, download an awesome Christmas letter template right here at Christmas Letter Tips.com. Using these formats, you can easily summarize important evens of the year, insert family photos and get it done in time to get it mailed. Or, to save a tree and ensure on-time delivery, email your newsletter.

However you choose to share your lives with family members far away, it will be appreciated all year long. Keeping the family tie alive may be the best gift you give or receive!

Using a printable Christmas template for your annual holiday letter to family and friends is an eco-friendly way to make sure you’re not wasting paper – or running out! You’ll always have just the right amount.

What is a Christmas letter template?
A Christmas letter template is simply a document with a holiday design that has been set up for you to customize with your own content. Typically, they are saved as Microsoft Word documents, so they’re easy to edit. You simply download the document, open it in Word, and replace any sample text with your own. Basic templates may just have a Christmas background design inserted into Word with the text box already set up, or more advanced templates may include a place for you to add your own photo, or may be formatted as a newsletter with multiple columns, boxes and areas for you to write your own content.

Why Use a Christmas letter template?
If you’re concerned about our natural resources, a template makes sense for several reasons. First, you’ll never have to worry about having leftover paper that you can’t use. With a downloadable Word Christmas template, you’ll never have excess.

Second, you can always choose recycled paper. If you buy Christmas letter paper at the store, you may have a hard time finding a design you like on recycled paper, or the recycled content may not be up to your standards. With a printable template, you can print your holiday letter on the paper you prefer.

Third, there’s no shipping or packaging involved. Your stationery isn’t hauled across the country in gas-guzzling freight trucks or packaged in non-biodegradable plastic. So your purchase is greener and cleaner than stationery from the store.

You can find inexpensive printable Microsoft Word Christmas letter templates here at Christmas Letter Tips.com or at our partner site, ChristmasLetterTemplate.com.

Article Source: Go Green with a Christmas Letter Template

By Lisa Howard

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.)

]]> http://blog.christmaslettertips.com/2009/10/28/fun-christmas-postage-stamps-add-color-to-your-holiday-letters/feed/ 3 http://blog.christmaslettertips.com/2009/09/29/review-ideas-for-writing-creative-christmas-letters-by-janet-colbrunn/ http://blog.christmaslettertips.com/2009/09/29/review-ideas-for-writing-creative-christmas-letters-by-janet-colbrunn/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:51:04 +0000 xmastips http://blog.christmaslettertips.com/?p=405 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)

]]> http://blog.christmaslettertips.com/2009/09/29/review-ideas-for-writing-creative-christmas-letters-by-janet-colbrunn/feed/ 0