Christmas Cards

“Husband ran off with the milkman” ?

Love it sodapop!!

I am another one who doesn’t like the boastful round robins, and family photo cards sounds in the same league.

I second charity Christmas cards.
Nothing nicer.

Haven't been together enough to buy charity cards before lockdown. I'll have to look into buying online direct.
I think it's really important to send cards this year. We find ways of communicating to balance out not seeing each other. Personally I appreciate the gesyure of round-robins and enclosed photos.

I send Xmas cards with grandson, sister and bil etc. I buy them in our market and they are only 60p each. I do still send Xmas cards as many are to elderly relatives with no close family and they do not get many and it makes them know we are thinking of them.

I gave up sending cards a few years ago just let all know i was donating the money to charity instead which i have been doing.nt had any complaints yet

The Queen, politicians and other celebrities send cards with their pictures on them, so that those who receive them can show off by displaying the card. That is why aristocrats had photos of the royal family on their pianos etc to demonstrate their status by showing that they were intimate friends with them.

Don’t want to sound pious but we only send charity Christmas cards, as like to give and receive but feel money is better spent that way.

Photo card very bad taste.
We are celebrating Christmas not you and yours. Also as others said, it’s boastful and look at me!
I used to get the excruciating ‘round robin’ letter and it always put my back up.
Save your photos for another more appropriate time.

Willow50 why is it those round robins are always full of family achievements, new bigger houses and cars etc etc.
When this subject came up once before I said it was a great temptation to say my children were in prison, grandchildren expelled from school, husband ran off with the milkman. You get my drift.

I'm in the love sending and receiving cards camp. I like to see them all displayed and cheering up the room. Especially used to like the home made ones from children and grandchildren.
My family don't generally send cards but always to me because they know I love them.

Bought mine the other day, charity ones from the shop in the church. Among others, two packs of these - couldn’t resist! They’re very like the Advent Calendar I recently bought for Gdcs.
Will endeavour to get them all done and posted by 1st Dec. The very few dh needs to do - several are overseas ones - will probably not be done until about the 19th as usual.

I just took a close-up snapshot of my holly tree which now has an abundance of bright red berries and will use that as my Christmas card cover.

I don't think I've had a photo card but do dislike the round robin letters one person sends out - I'm not the slightest bit interested in any of the things this near stranger (ex colleague's wife) puts and don't really understand why they do it.

I used to make all my own cards but haven't done so for several years now. Going shopping for cards isn't going to happen this year either - luckily I do have some very nice ones left over from last year I can use but the personal ones for family members might have to be e-cards or sent from online companies.

You could send a family picture with face masks added. The new normal !

We always make our own as my husband is a keen photographer. We usually do winter scenes but this year is a happy photo of the two DGC. My friends in Holland love to see them - or so I am told!!

Lovely photo Woodmouse

Sorry, not a fan of photo cards but would gratefully accept one from the royal family as a collectors item.
What I love about gransnet is that I have a strong opinion about something e.g. I will message and email friends and donate to charity instead of cards. Then someone mentions buying charity cards helps not only the charity but the paper makers, card producers and our invaluable posties. Change of heart from me, thanks gransnetters.

Riverwalk

Christmas cards with pics of your travels? That sounds worse than the dreaded round robins!

That's what I was thinking !

Charity cards or just take a photo in your back garden or local park - I can't see the problem !
Or maybe recycle a holiday photo from previous years and say "Remember when?"
We are all in the same boat so surely the people that you normally send cards to would be daft expecting anything else??

Sweetchile

We all need cheering up charities need money . . Send charity cards cheer everyone up. . Lets keep as many people in jobs as possible card manufacturers paper makers shop workers and our brilliant Posties

Exactly, Sweetchile. And I think it’s also good to let people know you care by making a bit of an effort.

I can’t see anything wrong with the sort of personalised card OP sends, though we’ve only had them from American friends, who obviously put a lot of thought into the photos they came up with. They’d dress up and pose especially for them and it was good to see how their young family had grown over the year. Perhaps it’s more a thing in the US?

Just had a walk on our local prom and bought my Christmas cards at the Lifeboat shop before they close for the month. They were very busy with people queuing to get in as there was a limit of 4 people in at any one time.

I like receiving traditional and/or humerous cards, and think that we'll need as much cheer as possible this Christmas, if covid continues to drag the world down. I dislike e-cards, they just feel like a bit of a 2nd best thing. I usually do a mix of hand-made and cards from the local charity shops, but with the latter now locked down, I am planning a few days of enjoyable lockdown distraction crafting handmade cards. Might even start on handmade birthday cards for next year, depending on whether this current lockdown gets extended like the last one.

Why not gather up some individual pics of the family when they were toddlers, babies or pics from teenage years ... etc - and put them together on a card. You can send all your good wishes and give them a "guess who this was" or "do you remember when"?? A bit of nostalgia and memory provoking. Looking back over old photos is always a favourite here - it is quite amazing the stories that come out that you had forgotten.

Just imagine if everyone did as the OP - we would all have a row of cards with other families grinning at us on our Christmas mantelpiece: truly ghastly! I love the range of season specific cards that I receive. I, like many others here, only buy charity cards and that is particularly important this year. It seems that you have the perfect opportunity, Nanamar, to give up what appears from the replies to be a very unpopular practice. Don’t look back!

Simple answer is dont worry about the cards. Phone people instead, or email, or send Ecards. It really is not difficult. Whatever DS and DIL and DGS means I have no idea. But seriously this is simple to sort.

Charity cards every time - good in so many ways. You could add a photo for any close friends or family you think would like to see it. For birthday cards, I paste, inside the card, a photo of the recipient - especially good for children, and often these cards are kept by the family. It relies on my having a good photo of course - and in the pandemic, for family I can't see in reality but do see on FaceTime, I can take photos on screen, and sometimes they are very good.