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It’s come to my favourite time of the year when we all start focussing on the festive season and get ready for Santa to make his annual appearance on his reindeer led sleigh.
The only quibble I have is about the boring, old chore of selecting Christmas cards or that’s what I used to think until a friend of mine sent me through a photo card a couple of years ago.
Since then I’ve adopted a new approach to sending out my Christmas salutations to my nearest and dearest.
Initially, I still get out the old contact book and scour it for the names and addresses of people who I want to wish a bit of festive cheer – I usually focus on family, friends and work colleagues.
Once I’ve done this process, which still seems to take forever and used to be the bit I didn’t like, I concentrate on each person individually.
Rather than concentrating on the old traditional “To…” “Merry Christmas” “From…” that always felt quite impersonal to me I write a short limerick, joke or message to each person I’m sending a Christmas card to.
The only quibble I have is about the boring, old chore of selecting Christmas cards or that’s what I used to think until a friend of mine sent me through a photo card a couple of years ago.
Since then I’ve adopted a new approach to sending out my Christmas salutations to my nearest and dearest.
Initially, I still get out the old contact book and scour it for the names and addresses of people who I want to wish a bit of festive cheer – I usually focus on family, friends and work colleagues.
Once I’ve done this process, which still seems to take forever and used to be the bit I didn’t like, I concentrate on each person individually.
Rather than concentrating on the old traditional “To…” “Merry Christmas” “From…” that always felt quite impersonal to me I write a short limerick, joke or message to each person I’m sending a Christmas card to.
This makes what used to be a boring chore enjoyable and fun, while letting me be quite creative and most of all keeping the Christmas greeting personal to everyone.
On top of this, I no longer buy the traditional box of 50 cards that all have the same generic picture or message on the interior – again I consider who I’m sending the card to and what their personality is like.
What I’ve learnt over the recent years is that I seem to get a lot of comical cards from the people that I work with, usually because there is always someone laughing and joking in the office.
So, for all my colleagues I pick funny cards, but I still consider each person on their merits because not everyone’s sense of humour is the same. And I truly believe that a one-size-fits-all approach is not the best way to send out cards.
However, I think I’m safe selecting ones with Santa stuck in the chimney while Rudolph and Dasher drink the wine and eat the mince pies left in the living room.
On top of this, I no longer buy the traditional box of 50 cards that all have the same generic picture or message on the interior – again I consider who I’m sending the card to and what their personality is like.
What I’ve learnt over the recent years is that I seem to get a lot of comical cards from the people that I work with, usually because there is always someone laughing and joking in the office.
So, for all my colleagues I pick funny cards, but I still consider each person on their merits because not everyone’s sense of humour is the same. And I truly believe that a one-size-fits-all approach is not the best way to send out cards.
However, I think I’m safe selecting ones with Santa stuck in the chimney while Rudolph and Dasher drink the wine and eat the mince pies left in the living room.
Once I’ve done this I turn my attention onto my large group of friends and have found that photo cards are becoming the perfect style for old school mates and university pals who I haven’t seen for a while. It also reminds us how much we’ve changed or what we’re doing nowadays.
Finally, I focus on my family (of which there are many) but I hand-pick each Christmas card for my parents, grandparents, partner and siblings so that the card reflects their personality.
I truly believe that taking the little extra time writing and selecting Christmas cards can send out the perfect festive message for the people I know.
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