Strollerderby : holiday cards

Are Email Holiday Cards Tacky?

Brett Singer — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:00:00 GMT

You know the drill. The holidays are coming and you need to get the family card ready. In my house, my wife takes the lead on this, mostly because I'm not inclined to do it. Some people are tremendously organized and take the whole process very seriously — photos taken by a professional no later than the 1st of November, cards printed by Thanksgiving, in the mail by December 1. Most people (our family included) use Shutterfly or another online photo service to get their cards made, which is a little boring but very easy.

Even easier, though, and certainly cheaper since there's no printing or postage, is the email card. I've received many from acquaintances and merchants, but I've only gotten a couple so far from family types. I'm not knocking anyone for doing it, especially if the reason is financial. At some point its fair to call The Annual Holiday Card a luxury item, even if it doesn't cost that much. I haven't priced them out so I don't know how much the cards will set you back. But they certainly aren't free, nor are the stamps. So if someone chooses to go this route, whatever the reason, that's your choice. (That's a disclaimer meant to make up for what I'm going to say next.)

Still, it's not the same, is it? The email card? Maybe I'm just old-fashioned but I still like to get regular mail (when it isn't a bill, catalog, or junk), and I enjoy hanging the holiday cards I receive on my door for everyone to see. I suppose you could print out the email card, but that seems a little silly.

So what do you think? Are the email cards tacky? (The Obamas did one in 2006 [see image at right], but I imagine that was for general supporters, rather than family and close friends.) And have you gotten/sent one yet?

image: respublica

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Seven Holiday Card-inal Sins

Jen Chaney — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:33:00 GMT

Thanksgiving is behind us, even if the turkey leftovers are not. Now it's time to move on to the next task: sending holiday cards.

Before you start drafting that family Christmas letter and licking all those envelopes, you may want to pause for a moment and read this blog post. In it, you'll find a list of the seven most heinous holiday card sins, a series of yuletide-greeting faux pas that are both egregious and, sadly, very common. Before you embarrass yourself and your children, or potentially alienate friends and family for the entirety of 2009, make sure you don't commit any of the following Christmas card crimes.

1. Do Not Include a Family Photo in Which Everyone is Dressed in the Same Outfit: You are members of a family. You are not a Catholic school, a cheerleading squad or a bridal party. For the love of God, acknowledge that and act accordingly. P.S. That goes triple for anyone even considering dressing their children in the same reindeer sweater.

2. Do Not Brag Excessively About Your Children's Accomplishments: Yes, it's wonderful that 18-month-old Madison can count to 100 in German while standing on her head. And sure, it's impressive that, at the age of five, Wyatt has already read the complete works of Tolstoy. But here's the thing: no one wants to hear that s@*! in their holiday card. So just say the kids are doing well and leave it at that.

3. Do Not Write Freakishly Long Paragraphs About Your Pet: I love animals. I adore my dog. I'll admit to tearing up while reading portions of "Marley and Me." But even I don't want to read a monthly summary of everything that happened to your labradoodle in 2008.

4. Do Not Break News in Your Holiday Card: Here's a pair of sentences your parents do not want to read for the first time when they open your holiday card: "After careful consideration, we have withdrawn Jacob from the Wilshire Academy. We are now homeschooling him so he can focus more time on training to compete in his first ever 'Guitar Hero' battle." Here's another: "Our family has decided to move to Abu Dhabi for an indefinite period of time. Actually, we haven't just decided; we're already there." News should never be broken in a holiday card, at least not one that gets delivered to close family members and friends.

5. Do Not Forget to Send the Holiday Card to Certain Relatives, Especially the Year After Having Your First Child: It's an honest mistake. Anyone could make it. But that won't matter to your Aunt Phoebe, who will repeatedly point out that she didn't get a copy of that adorable photograph of Fiona with that sweet ribbon in her hair even though everyone else in the family did. Still, she knows this was probably a simple error even though the same exact thing happened back in 1974 when cousin Marjorie didn't send a Christmas card the year after little Tommy was born, so could it really have been an accidental oversight or is the entire family conspiring against her as she has suspected ever since the Rump Roast Incident of '65 and don't play dumb because you know exactly which one she means?

6. Do Not Go Into Excessive Detail About Your Pregnancy: This may go without saying, but the words "happy holidays" and "gestatational diabetes" should never be used in the same sentence. Neither should "merry Christmas" and "mucus plug." Keep the specifics to yourself. And if you really can't help it, at least have the sense to delete all those details from the copy of the Christmas letter that goes to your best friend from college with fertility issues. Honestly, that's just rude.

7.Do Not Get Too Cutesy With the Kid Pictures: Clearly this is a subjective area. One person's "totally adorable" is another person's "downright nauseating." So do your best to use good judgment. And remember this important tip: If your child is dressed in a Tweety costume and holding a sign that says "I tawt I taw a mewwy Chwistmas," um, yeah. That's wayyyy too cute.

Image: The Fun Times Guide

Delicious Droolicious: Not Too Late to Order Pretty Holiday Cards!

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:54:00 GMT

Posted by editors

If you’re like me and you justify procrastinating on your holiday mail by saying ‘well the season technically ends in January’ then there is still time to persuade you to check out the modern and fab holiday cards by Tiny Prints from Tea Collection. Personal, classy and easy to order, Tiny Prints has a variety of greeting cards as well as gift tags and return address labels. Bonus – enter the code TEAPAPERS at checkout and get 10% off your order. - April Peveteaux

Cards start at 1.24 each from Tea.

Also at Droolicious today:

Portable DVD Player round-up
Handmade heli-toy good for stockings or a snowy afternoon
Bunny bib for your little bunny

Strollerderby Playdate: Memorial Day Weekend Redux

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Tue, 29 May 2007 11:02:00 GMT

After a long week in Virginia celebrating a very Southern wedding, I was delighted to get home to y'allses and see the holiday weekend stretch out before me, uncluttered by commitments or schedules or deadlines. It felt like heaven. I unplugged the laptop (*gasp*) and uncorked a bottle of wine (*ahhh*) and we settled in for a few days of hanging out in the sun on the back porch, lazy walks through the neighborhood, napping, and an impromptu BBQ at a neighbor's house with loads of screaming, soaking wet, deliriously happy kids and very relaxed adults hovering by the grill and keg. It was exactly as a holiday weekend should be.

Now that it is all coming to a close, I feel better about plugging back in and, like a nosy neighbor, peeking in to see how my favorite bloggers spent their down time this Memorial Day weekend. Here's the goss from around the blogo-block:

Check out Thingamababy for the report on the Kinetic Grand Championship that took place over the weekend. The crazy pics are hilarious and I was so amped to see racers from Corvallis, Oregon mentioned. I ate many a felafel sandwich on the sidelines of many a kinetic race during my stint in Corvallis years ago. Good times.

Head on over to MUBAR where Jen's had an a-ha moment about why (other) parents ban pinwheels plucked from grocery store holiday displays.

While you're grabbing up BBQ supplies at the store, Becki from Cooking with Whine reminds you to get the fixins for watermelon sorbet that will delight your senses and stir up your total irritation at how lame schools can be for kids (and parents) who just want to get their end-of-year potluck on.

Grab a lawn chair and lemonade at Susiej's, where she's reflecting on her personal connections and political conflicts as soldiers are sent off to war. Sus has a way of giving pause during what could be detached Memorial Day madness.

While you're taking a moment, hang out on the porch with Kristen from Motherhood Uncensored for a bit. She's offering up links and good thoughts for the folks serving our country while we're busy serving up potato salad and fruit kabobs.

[photo credit: Maura McEvoy via Barefoot Contessa]

Moo NoteCards: Customized With Your Flickr Stream

Patti — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:02:00 GMT

We didn't do birth announcements. We have yet to get it together to send out holiday cards in all these years. It is seriously a wonder that we manage thank-you notes. And I am so far too lazy to upload any of our digital photographs to Flickr. But I think it's time to get my act together and kill all those birds with one beautifully printed stone, because Moo, the folks who brought you the adorable Moo MiniCard business cards, have now launched NoteCards, high-quality prints of your favorite Flickr pictures that you can pop into an envelope and mail out.

They're the same beautiful stock on which the MiniCards are printed, which, if you haven't seen those, you'll just have to trust me—they're impressive. And while the NoteCards might seem pricey (16 for $24.99, with envelopes) compared to a pack of pre-printed notes from the card aisle at Target, they're cheaper and more personal than anything you could order from a stationer.

Now, if I could only remember my Flickr login and get started uploading pictures right now, sending out cards for Holiday 2007 might just be within the realm of possibility.