| When November rolls around, just the thought of | | | | Order personalized photo Xmas postcards from an |
| getting started on holiday greeting cards makes me | | | | online store like The finished cards are shipped to you |
| groan. Not only is it about finding the time to do them, | | | | for addressing and mailing. Just upload the photos you |
| it's the cost. By the time you're done with cards, | | | | want to use, drag and drop photos into suitable layout, |
| envelopes, photos and letters for each recipient, you | | | | add your holiday cheer and you're done! Takes about |
| can easily be into it for hundreds of dollars. That's why | | | | twenty minutes! Personalized Christmas postcards |
| more and more of us are dropping out of the greeting | | | | cost just under $1.25 each for 50. |
| card game for the holidays. | | | | Send photo cards. These are the ultimate time-savers |
| In my case, where once I might have sent out a | | | | because they do double-duty as a Christmas greeting |
| hundred cards when I was first married, now I can | | | | and as a frame-able photo gift. The beauty of these |
| barely address, stamp, and mail twenty. The other | | | | cards is that they are less likely to be thrown away, |
| objection being heard more frequently is quite simply | | | | hence a bonus for eco-friendly households. Choose an |
| the waste of paper since most greeting cards end up | | | | alternative Xmas color palette, such as brown and |
| in the garbage or recycling. So, to send Christmas | | | | blue, light green and pink to give you more options for |
| cards or to not send Christmas cards-that's the | | | | using the card later in a frame. Or, use a photo without |
| dilemma. | | | | the usual Christmas trimmings, like Santa hats and |
| The alternatives are to drop the tradition altogether | | | | stockings, to get more mileage out of your photo. Try |
| (suitable for the humbugs among us), to send an | | | | a happy winter scene for example or studio style |
| E-card (the only truly "green" solution), which really only | | | | black and white family portrait. |
| works for the computer savvy, or to continue sending | | | | The cheapest option is to order photo cards printed on |
| cards following a few cost-cutting, eco-friendly, and | | | | photographic paper (like Fugi paper or Kodak paper). |
| time-saving tips. | | | | They're flat like a photo print, not folded, but you still |
| Send Christmas postcards. The postage is about half | | | | need to mail them in an envelope. Costs range from |
| the cost (27 cents vs 42 cents) of sending a regular | | | | $0.80 to $1.00 each. For more upscale cards, you can |
| size card and envelope, plus you consume less paper. | | | | find flat photo cards printed on matte cardstock |
| Create your own postcards using recycled cardstock. | | | | starting at around $1.39 each. For conventional folded |
| From one 8.5x11 sheet you can create two 4x6 | | | | photo greeting cards, expect to pay around 2.50 each. |
| postcards. To get four postcards, trim to 4.25x5.5. Add | | | | However, in many cases you can customize both the |
| a Christmas motif to the front of the postcard using | | | | inside AND outside of the card with your own photo |
| your laser printer and some classy clip art or digital | | | | and personalized greeting. If you think of these photo |
| photo, or rubber stamp an image right onto the card. | | | | cards as being both card and gift at the same time, |
| On the back of the card print your message and the | | | | the cost is reasonable. |
| address information. | | | | |