 Writing
Your Christmas Letter from A Unique Point-of-View
• Try writing your letter as if written by the family
pet.
"Dear Two Legged Creatures,
My family seems to be doing well. They pet me, walk me and
feed me well.
The two biggest ones in our family brought home a tiny screaming
thing 3 months ago. They call it their "little bundle
of joy". I call it LOUD and sleepless. She is pretty
cute, I hope she doesn‚t want to sleep in my bed."
 •
How about from the pen of your 2-year-old
• Write from the viewpoint of
the new house
• What about writing from your
cookie jar's point of view?
Condense Your
Year into a Top 10 List
"Top 10 Reasons Why Christmas
Will be Different for the ******* Family This Year"
10.********** will learn that spending Christmas on the outside
is much better than on the inside.
9. We now have a third caroler, who sings loud, off key and
at the most inappropriate times.
8. The majority of the gifts under the tree make noise, have
flashing lights, move or a combination of all three.
7. Christmas lights are no longer just for decoration, they
also serve as nightly babysitters.
6, 5, 4, 3, 2 , and the number one reason...Three of us, instead
of just two can wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
If you can't condense it into a top 10, try going month by month
with just a few highlights for each.
"Dearest Loved Ones,
This January,***** and I were able to visit New England. It
was a wonderful opportunity to see the sites and work on our
family history.
February brought us a winter wonderland in our own front yard.
We had 15 inches of snow at one point! I think we shoveled snow
everyday.
In March, ********* married ******* in a beautiful ceremony
at the Logan Temple. It was a joyous time for our family."
Sum up Your Year
in Numbers
Sometimes it's hard to write the
same thing year after year. If it seems your life hasn't changed
much from last years letter, mix things up a bit and think about
how you could sum up your year only using numbers.
1437 miles in the car visiting family in
4 states over
7 days.
45 minutes each day are spent in the car taking kids to and
from school.
15 times a day I hear _____________.
Make your Christmas
Letter an Interactive Game
Write a quiz, or crossword puzzle
for your readers to answer in order to learn about the different
events from the past year. Questions, clue or answers can be
interesting facts from the year. They can be multiple choice
or fill in the blank.
________ ran her first marathon this year.
We have now lived in __________ for ___ years.
Alyson's is now the _________ president at church.
Kyle loves playing ________ on the high school ________ team.
We are very proud of their 4-2 record this year.
Be sure to include the answers and some additonal information
each question of your game so your readers don't walk away wishing
they knew more about your family this year.
Write a Movie Script
Have a conversation with your family (you and your husband...
you and the dog/cat/fish... you and the children... etc.) about
what to put in the family letter for the year. Record it (voice
only or video) and then transcribe it (maybe just a condensed
version if it's too long) as your family letter.
Dad: Well kids, what should we tell everyone about this year
for our Christmas letter? Anything memorable we should talk
about?
Alex: We could tell them about our visit to Door County with
Grandma and Grandpa this summer.
Summer: Ooo that was fun. And what about Mom's trip to New
York.
Write a Fun Christmas Rhyme
With a little more time you can create funny poems or rhymes
about your family. If you are new at this, Dr. Suess makes for
a great template.
" It is Christmas time for the family of Klim.
Our letter this year will be kind of trim
You see, Jeff‚s on his mission in Timbuktu,
And Sara‚s away at B.Y.U.
We are all doing well, couldn‚t be better.
The weather is cold so we all wear a sweater.
You get the gist of it."
Try using one word
a certain amount of times in your letter.
" Dear Friends and Family,
The objective of this letter is to see if we can use the word
Santa at least ten times!
We hope that this letter finds you in good spirits. As for the
******‚s family, it has been a very memorable year. Most
significantly, ******* was born on July 22. You might say that
Santa can‚t duplicate our joy this past summer."
| WHAT
YOU NEED:
• Die cut hearts about
2 1/2 inches in size.
• String, twine, raffia, ribbon or yarn.
• Hole punch or decorative paper punch
• Computer printable address labels
• Pictures of family, optional
STEP-BY-STEP: |
|
1.
Purchase die-cut hearts, or cut them out yourself.
Here is a formula for determining how many you will
need:
# of family members * # of letters to send = Total
# of hearts
ie: Five family members * 20 out going letters
= 100 hearts.
2.
Punch a hole in the top and bottom of each heart
(or sides, depending on which direction you want
the hearts to go).
3.
Using the address labels, print out the message
for each heart.
Example:
Laura - 11- Sixth Grade.
She loves playing the flute in band.
Earned a blue ribbon at the County Fair.
Loves being the oldest.
4.
Glue picture to one side of the heart and attach
the label to the other.
5.
Tie the hearts together with bows.
6.
Place into your envelope and you are ready to send.
Crafty
Chic Note: Some crafty ideas may weigh more
then the average Christmas card. Make a sample card
first and take it down to your local post office
to determine the postage.
|
ACCORDION
FOLD CHRISTMAS CARD |
|
WHAT
YOU NEED:
• Letter-size paper or cardstock
• Business-size (#10) envelopes
• Pictures, optional
• Colored pens, markers, optional
STEP-BY-STEP:
1.
Take a piece of letter-size paper (8 1/2 x 11) and
turn it so the 11-inch-side is on the top.
2.
Using a pencil, lightly divide and mark the page
into equal sections -- one for each family member,
but don't fold yet. In each section, you could include
a picture and write a small paragraph for each person.
The
accordion card is so versatile. Make it classy
or adorable or something in between. You could
even have a theme -- "What the [INSERT FAMILY
NAME HERE] Want for Christmas" or "2003
and the [INSERT FAMILY NAME HERE] Family."
3.
After creating the master copy, duplicated using
your scanner and printer or take it to your local
copy shop.
4.
Accordion fold additional copies and place in a
business-size (#10) envelope to send.
|
WHAT
YOU NEED:
•
Paper or cardstock
• Pictures
• Colored pens, markers
• Other scrapbookin supplies
STEP-BY-STEP:
Create a scrapbook page with all of the information
and pictures you want to share. Scan and print
additional copies or take to your local copy
shop.
|
 |
|
PHOTO
CARDS and POSTCARDS |
| WHAT
YOU NEED:
A
favorite picture from the year or a series of pictures
STEP-BY-STEP:
1. Using photo editing software crop and color correct
your favorite photo from the year - vacation photo,
picture of your christmas tree, the house, a new
baby, or family pet , etc. - to your desired look.
2. Add a text message
and other graphics if desired.
3. For cards, print them
at your local photo processing lab, or print them
yourself using photo paper. Mount photo on blank
cardstock card. Stamp, hand write or print a holiday
message on the inside.
For postcards, print
picture on special computer paper for making postcards,
or print photo at your local photo processing lab,
cut to size and mount on cardstock. Write or print
your holiday message on the back.
ANOTHER OPTION:
If you aren't all that computer or photo savy, there
are lots of companies out there that can help you
create custom holiday photocards. You provide the
picture, they provide the design and do all the
printing for you.
Heather
Hales Designs - unique and creative flat holiday
photocards
At $.75 (4x6) - $1 (5x7) per card this company
is very affordable, and you'll love her designs
- everything from classic to retro, traditional
to funky. They are prefect for color and black
and white family pictures.
Polka-Dot
Design
$1.00-$2.00 per flat or foldover card. They print
your photos and custom text on their exclusive
artword. Lots of sizes and designs to choose from
- elegant, whimsical, contemperary, and more.
Martha
Stewart & Kodak Easy Share Foldover Christmas
Cards
Prices range from $.64 - $3.99 per card. Lots
of simple, chic designs to choose from. Single
and multiple picture cards available.
Shutterfly
Christmas and Holiday Foldover Cards
Price depends on quantity purchased. $1.43/card
when purchasing more than 20 cards. Step-by-step
process allows you to choose and select format,
pictures, greetings and messages easily.
|
•
Draw your own comic-book-style Christmas letter.
• Copy a piece of artwork your child has done
for the letterhead or for the back ground of your
letter.
• Make a Christmas brochure to send to friends
and family.
• Cut out hand prints of each member of your
family and write what they have been doing on them.
• Make a card that gives the "stats"
of your family like a baseball card. Your letter could
be printed out in the shape of a Christmas tree or
a snowman. |
|
|
|
Taking the
Prefect Family Portrait
Read expert
advice from professional photographers in this Style
Chic article for tips on getting the right photographer,
what to wear and more.
• • • • •
• Keep it
Simple
Don't overload your friends and family with long letters. The
front-side of one page will do nicely.
• Keep it
Upbeat & Happy
If you need to tell someone about Aunt
Martha's passing, write it in your own hand in a separate part
of the letter. Family tragedies or illnesses should not be announced
on a type written, copied Christmas letter. Nothing is sadder
at Christmas then to get a letter full of woe and hardship.
• Have fun
with it!
Everyone gets a Christmas letter every
year from someone, so make yours stand out. Make it enjoyable
for the readers and yourself.
• Immediate
Family Only, Please
Try to keep the letter only about your immediate family. Does
everyone you send the letter to know your sister's cousins triplets? |
| • • • • • |
| Electronic
Christmas Letters
If you use your computer for all of your correspondence,
why not use it to send your Christmas wishes. You can create your
own Christmas eCards this year by using your email program and
attaching a picture or by going to a web site designed to create
and send your personal messages.
Three free, fun sites include:
>
Its-Party-Time.com
This site has the option of sound, different letterhead, multiple
sending, color writing , and html.
>
WebShots.com
eCards with music, multiple addresses, relatively easy , and 55
styles to chose from.
> 101Christmas.net
This site also has sound and cute cards, easy to use, and multiple
sender as well. |
|
