Greetings, friends! And welcome to Caroline Finds It: my weekly newsletter where I reply to submissions from YOU for objects and products you need recommendations for.
The leaves are turning, which is a sign that means only one thing in my household: it’s time for HOLIDAY CARD PLANNING! If you’re a psycho like me, you’ve been thinking up a plan and dreaming of envelope colors since January, but do not fret — there’s not actual that much you need to consider in order to send your very own.
They say that you have to send mail to receive mail, and that certainly applies to holiday cards. I’ve been creating my own cards, separate from my family, since I was 16, and despite what one might assume, every year I get more and more cards than I did the year before. The art of the holiday card is not dead, and it’s about time you get on the train with us!
Let’s start with a request from Josh in Scotts Valley:
“I’m looking for Christmas cards that stand out and I am currently in love with the 60-70s. Also something colorful. I have never done them before, if you have tips on that would be amazing. I have a fairly small list as they are mainly my pen-pals, around 30ish. I don't like the idea of plastering my face on cards.”
Dear Josh,
Woo hoo! I’m so happy that you’ve chosen to embark on this journey for the first time. You’re going to love it. The meditative nature of preparing holiday cards is, for most, a welcome project during an otherwise draining and stressful season. Make a day of it: turn on a move you love, light a nice candle and batch them out. My favorite step of the process is sticking all of the stamps and addressing the envelopes. Before I give you some recommendations for great retro-style card brands, I’d like to share a general shopping list for you and anyone planning holiday cards, along with favorite places to find these things:
Shopping list
Cards (duh)
Envelopes (if they don’t come with your cards already)
Stamps (check out the seasonal offerings at the post office, and scour eBay for great vintage ones. They *are* valid forever if they’re unused, just be sure that they add up to the current cost of first class postage, which is 60 cents right now)
Pens for addressing.
Pentel Sign Touch Pen is my favorite for helping my handwriting look fancy without trying that hard, and because it comes in a lot of colors.
Bonus points for:
Something to seal the envelope with that isn’t your saliva
Washi tape - MT is the stickiest, prettiest, best washi on the market. Trust me!!
Tip: Plan how much tape you need carefully! Assuming you will use about 4” of tape per card, and a standard MT roll has 23’ on it, you can get about 69 cards out of each roll. I always plan for 50 per roll and use the extra for gift wrapping and taping the cards I receive to my wall.
Stickers - There used to be an eBay seller called jrstickergoddess who had a stupid good selection of vintage Christmas stickers available. JR has disappeared, but eBay still houses hoards of vintage Mrs. Grossmans gems. Otherwise, consult this previous CFI edition for great sticker brands. Or, just pick up a pack of those shiny star stickers from your local office supply shop and cover your envelopes in them.
Option but recommended: a rubber return address stamp
This is handy to have just for general mail-sending, but especially when you’re addressing more than 20 envelopes in one go. Casey Rubber Stamps and make anything a stamp. Pick out your favorite typeface, type it out and send it over. Mr. Casey & Co. will have it ready for you quicker than you’d expect.
Josh, I hope you’re not overwhelmed at this point, but I have a feeling you’re invested in this process and feel invigorated by the prospect of choosing the right pen color for your envelopes, which leads us to the cards themselves.
You likely are thinking of readymade boxed sets stacked up at Barnes and Noble or a local gift shop. Sure, they’re probably fine, but there are also lots of indie card designers who also offer boxed sets. The median retail price for proper greeting cards these days is $5.50/each, so keep that in mind when looking at boxed set prices. They’re always priced lower than retail per card, but nice cards cost money! This isn’t the Hallmark sale section.
Lucky Horse Press - THE most 70s/80s cards out there. This, honestly, is my #1 favorite card brand and their holiday cards are as fun as they come. I especially appreciate the thought that goes into including not-white envelopes with many of the styles. Holiday cards are available individually, or in a pack of 6 for $17.50.
Similarly graphic and retro, the cards artist Noah Pelletier does for Red Cap Cards, are so fun and bright. Priced at $18 for 8
If you prefer something a little more classic, I’d suggest Laughing Elephant, who make digitally printed cards that are reproductions from their massive old card archive. They have a vintage card for every occasion and every era 1960s and earlier. Be sure to check out the sticker section, too! (prices vary — many are only sold individually for $4.55)
Paula Skene’s cards are embossed, foiled and very endearingly classic. These cards are top notch quality and look like they came from your richest, chicest aunt’s roll-top desk. These Birds & Berries are sweet and non-secular:
Making your own cards
Here’s an idea for you that’s easier than you think: find a vintage card you love on eBay or in a bin at an antique store, get a high-res scan of it, and have it printed! I’ve done this before on Luxe Notecards from Moo and the whole process was so easy. Note: I don’t know the actual legal boundaries of doing something like this, but my assumption is that if you’re making a small quantity strictly for personal use, there’s no problem.
Making your own cards is a really wonderful thing, and just requires a little extra creativity and planning. If you’re going to go this route I’d suggest making a timeline for yourself, especially if your list is large. Here’s my timeline for tackling my list of 200-ish cards:
October 1st - Solidify concept and plan shopping list
November 1st - Have cards ordered/sent to printer, and have additional supplies in hand
Until Thanksgiving - Begin card assembly workflow.
Update address list
Address envelopes (+ return address)
Put stamps on envelopes
Sign and seal cards in three batches:
International addresses: mail before Thanksgiving
Out of state addresses: mail by December 1st
NYC/East Coast addresses: mail by December 10th
Katherine in Corning NY submitted a lovely little story about her mother’s handmade cards:
“Holiday cards nostalgic success story, not a question: my mom illustrates her holiday card every year in a goofy line drawing, inks it, and goes to the big box copy center: black and white copied onto letter size cardstock 3 to a page, then cut, they fit perfectly in a #10 envelope. When we had time, we'd add bits of color with watercolors or markers to personalize. There's a binder with 20 years of these, by now (and never a "our year in review" letter among them...)”
Katherine’s mom had the right spirit! You don’t have to be an artist or a graphic designer to make a thoughtful, memorable card to send to your people. My favorites are always the ones that were made by the sender, even if they’re not the flashiest or prettiest. And it doesn’t have to be a drawing! It could be a photo collage, a funny photoshop job, an upcycled card from last year, or something else entirely. My card last year was a pair of custom baseball cards, and the year before it was a giant sticker. Print out a fun photo from your year and stick santa hat stickers on everyone! It could be anything!
Recommended etiquette for holiday cards:
Have some sort of handwritten element. Whether it be a hand-addressed envelope, or a quick note or signature on the card itself — something to indicate that a real person sent it, and not just an online photo card machine.
Always keep a couple of extra cards on hand in case you realize you’ve forgotten someone, which is inevitable.
Because card-senders are becoming a rare breed, if someone new sends you a card and you don’t have ill feelings for them, add them to your list, even if you don’t have any cards left to send them this year.
Consider choosing a non-secular but just seasonal/generally festive message for your card if you have many people on your list who are non-religious, or don’t celebrate Christmas.
I love an updates newsletter in a Christmas card, and even send them myself. The thing is, social media exists now and most of your people likely know everything you’re telling them already. Try thinking of a creative way to share information they probably don’t already know. A story from the perspective of your family pet or a list of some things you’ve learned this year, perhaps.
I often hear from others that they don’t know who to send cards to, or that they’ll wait and do it when they have a family of their own. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself! It’s a nice way to end the year by sharing something with the people you care about and that’s it.
My mom has been drawing, printing and sending holiday cards since 1983, so I asked her to share her best advice with us:
“Don’t overthink it. Your friends and family won’t care if you made your cards or bought them at Target. They won’t care if you mailed it late or it turned into a Groundhog Day card. They won’t care if you didn’t send one last year. Just know that when they see that envelopes in their mailbox, it will make them smile.”
Is there a product you’re looking for? Submit your request here. See you next week for fresh recommendations! xo Caroline
Thumbnail: an Edwardian cat card from Etsy
Thanks, Caroline for the tips!!
I am hoping to make my own cards, I did a snail mail art exchange a while back and it was fun.
a few things that I think would be cool to add
You can make your own envelopes with gift wrap for an extra festive touch!
if you have extra cards at the end of the season r/RandomActsofCards can be helpful!
These cards from the MOMA store are very cool had my eyes on them for a while but they don't come with envelopes oddly and the only place to write is on the back of it.
https://store.moma.org/products/takashi-murakami-christmas-flowers-holiday-cards-set-of-12?variant=42994214764774