Christmas cards

Love it all, but only have a few ( will be 5 at home this year, 3 absent) to wrap for. I compound it though by wrapping some ‘mock’ presents with poems which are clues, so there’s a bit of a treasure hunt for the real (wrapped) present. It’s fun and makes the unwrapping last longer as we only unwrap one present at a time and take it, roughly, in turns.

A woman after my own heart, allium

Do as little as possible.

If you don’t like doing these things, then stop. It’s as easy as that.

Wrapping is now quite a marathon for me with four children, three IL’s and five GC. Because we’re scattered around, we tend to use Amazon for gifts to each other. I now have so many gifts bags, I’m reusing those with a new label on them. It’s quick to do and it’s recycling something so it’s win:win!

Writing the cards can be a bit of a chore and my writing gets scrappy so I do 10 at a time on 4 different days.
I enjoy gift wrapping unless it’s something round ?

No cards and only the children get presents all the family agree and like the idea. I just hate Christmas and New Year is no better .I just wait for January to arrive and breath a sigh of relief .

I don't send any, and those I get go in the recycling.
Bah! Humbug!

I’ve begun to choose for the family putting them into my basket but not purchased ant yet.

I love old fashioned snowy scenes.

I do like writing Christmas cards but my arthritic hands don't so I just do a few at a time. As for present wrapping I leave that to Mr J who is much better at it than I am.

FannyCornforth

I think it’s sad that I am writing a mere fraction of the number of cards that I wrote a few years ago

Same here Fanny.

Well sodapop my husband only ever wraps mine. Thinking about it, they always look OK. I might give him the job this year!

Same here Kate1949 love sending and receiving cards. My gift wrapping is dreadful fortunately my husband is very good at it.

I buy Charity cards but hate writing them or wrapping presents. Every year I say I will wrap as I buy but never do.
Last year I did make the cards less arduous I wrote a pile with just our greetings in, when I got one from someone I added a note about family happenings addressed and sent. It did mean quite a few trips to the post box but not the chore of sitting all night.
I also dreaded in the past sending a card and not getting one back from elderly friends we had made in all the places we lived and guessing what had happened to them.

I don't mind the cards. I like sending and receiving them.
I hate the wrapping. My parcels always look like a dog's breakfast. Sellotape stuck to the table, to my hair my clothes, to the floor. Constantly ripping the paper off and starting again. I'm OK with anything square and flat but other than that I'm hopeless. I put bows and ribbons on them and they look totally ridiculous. Other people's, like my daughter's, look pretty and professional.

I will definitely be sending cards but sadly fewer and fewer each year and I love to receive them. DD1 always says she isn't sending cards but donating to charity - why cant she do both she can certainly afford it ( anyway buy charity cards).

As for present wrapping I dont like it only because I am useless at it. All my gifts look as though I have trapped a live rodent in them. Gift bags and tissue paper for me now.

Me too and sadly it's mainly because several are no longer with us.
My mum used to sit writing her cards at the beginning of November - many were to people that my parents knew from years ago that they used to work with, grew up with or distant relatives - the annual Christmas card was the only contact they had and they only knew that any of them had died if a card didn't arrive.

I noticed last year that four people who'd sent us emails to say they wouldn't be sending cards again, sent cards.... Perhaps the pandemic made them rethink.

I think cards are dying off. Which is sad because I used to love getting them. But I don't send any now.

We send around 900,000,000 Christmas cards a year in the UK, Zoejory, so no need to mourn their demise just yet!

I only dislike them, if I’m doing them in a last-minute rush. As was too often the case when I younger and busier/less organised.

If I can do them at leisure, with carols playing and v likely a glass of something winter-warming - mulled wine or sherry - I can quite enjoy them.

I think cards are dying off. Which is sad because I used to love getting them. But I don't send any now.

As for wrapping presents I loathe it. I am totally useless at it. They always end up looking like a 5 year old has done it. And the sellotape is always covered with either thumb prints or dog hair or both.

I do try to get help with the job by bribing and/or blackmailing but don't get far.

I like receiving cards, so the chore of writing them to other people is necessary.

Christmas can be/is a chore , best to rationalise , send cards to nearest & dearest & buy things that count / or give money . Things aren't remotely as they were 50 - 60 years back !

I think it’s sad that I am writing a mere fraction of the number of cards that I wrote a few years ago

Well, I admit I put the job off every year, but once I get started, I quite like writing the cards, putting a little message into each one and thinking of the people they're going to. It's a bit of a change after the months of firing off quick texts and emails.

And I actually enjoy wrapping presents. I do them all at once, set myself up with a good Christmas film on the television and get into the festive mood.

No, I hate both. I also hate the price of stamps.