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There are definitely fewer of them, but we still send them out.  Guess what I'll be doing tonight... after procrastinating for about two weeks.

 

We're even old fashioned enough that we still send out a family update letter.  Why?  Because I love getting them in from others instead of just a card and then wondering what's up in their lives.

 

We don't send cards to folks we see locally - just to those we keep in touch with from farther away.  Local folks we tell "Merry Christmas" (or Happy Holidays) to in person.

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We got our first one today, from the VP of DH's division at work.  I should probably hide it from DH so he doesn't realize that career ambitions include increased social obligations like Christmas cards.

 

We don't send cards, and we are not on Facebook either.  I prefer to remain a mystery.  Even among relatives.

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I've received 5 so far this year.  I love to receive them, especially the photo ones.  I have been cutting my list down over the past few years -- the ones where I send out each year, but never receive one in return (from non-family members).  I will still send to some family members that don't reciprocate though.  I'm on FB, but don't post a lot.  

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So far, we've only gotten one personal Christmas card and a few business ones.

 

I used to send quite a few Christmas cards, but the list has dwindled down each year. Now I only send them to a few of my favorite people.

 

ETA: We're not on Facebook, either.

Edited by Selkie
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Definitely dwindling.  I will send a couple that have gifts inside (checks) but other than that, it is just getting too expensive and time consuming. ETA....of the card I do send, I am in the conundrum of which card I sent last year. LOL I have about 4 boxes of cards and I usually remember which card I sent to who the previous year, but can't remember for the life of me, which it was.  So, I am just going to pick one and send it. LOL They may get a repeat of last years cards, but I hate to buy more when I still probably have 50 or so.  Maybe I will ask the neighbor if she wants to trade a few :leaving:

Edited by Tap
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We've received some. Most are photo cards with pictures of cute young families.  The older people send out "regular" greeting cards, with or without a personal note.  

 

We try to send either a greeting card with photo inserted, or a photo card, to a few long-lost relatives and old friends. Last year we never managed it. Getting a photo is a struggle. I figure people enjoy seeing what the kids look like (not so much the parents as we don't change as much).  This year we got a decent photo of both kids, but now I'm waiting for my daughter (who is in the middle of finals) to edit it and get a few prints which I'll stick into cards I have left over from years past.  Maybe we'll make it... maybe we won't.

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We send and receive fewer cards each year.  I used to send lots with a family picture, but now I figure most people see family pics on FB and it's too hard to get a family picture now that my kids are grown and don't live at home.  I send cards to family/friends who aren't on FB or who regularly send me cards and I feel like I have to reciprocate, but I try to keep the list very small.  I love receiving photo cards, newsletters, updates, and stuff like that.

 

 

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I got none so far. Most years I get maybe 3-5. 

I used to send every friend a handwritten letter some time during December, but I hardly ever hear back. It's like talking into a void and makes me feel that they don't really care to hear from me.

I have whittled down my list and am now writing much fewer cards and letters, but there are still some who I know will love to get a card.

Edited by regentrude
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We have gotten a few. I've never sent them and have never really enjoyed receiving them so as the numbers dwindle I'm ok. I don't like staged, outfit coordinated photos much so that is why Christmas cards don't really matter to me.

 

Funny enough, today on fb my dh posted what our Christmas picture would be if we sent them out. It was a picture of all 7 of us sitting in one section of our 4 section couch. It's the most genuine representation of our family life I've ever seen.

 

My parents still get a ton of christmas cards

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We have gotten a few. I've never sent them and have never really enjoyed receiving them so as the numbers dwindle I'm ok. I don't like staged, outfit coordinated photos much so that is why Christmas cards don't really matter to me.

 

Funny enough, today on fb my dh posted what our Christmas picture would be if we sent them out. It was a picture of all 7 of us sitting in one section of our 4 section couch. It's the most genuine representation of our family life I've ever seen.

 

My parents still get a ton of christmas cards

I usually use candid shots of my kids. The pictures aren’t fancy, but they show the personalities of my kids.
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The tradition is definitely dwindling. I've received five so far.  I can't really tell how many I'll receive though because maybe people are like me and just getting them mailed. I sent a batch out today and the rest are ones dh really needs to add a personal note to. I have them addressed and stamped but he needs to do his part. Probably should have picked out New Year's cards for the ones dh has to tend to. 

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I used to send every friend a handwritten letter some time during December, but I hardly ever hear back. It's like talking into a void and makes me feel that they don't really care to hear from me.

 

 

I used to do this, too.  I still do for my friends who are not on FB.  

 

 

I usually use candid shots of my kids. The pictures aren’t fancy, but they show the personalities of my kids.

 

Love that! 

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I sent out fifty -- most to distant family and old friends and about a dozen to fairly local friends.

 

We're even old fashioned enough that we still send out a family update letter.  Why?  Because I love getting them in from others instead of just a card and then wondering what's up in their lives.

 

Same here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I had a year when I just didn’t get to doing Christmas cards, now I don’t even remember why. We received far fewer cards that year than the previous year. It really bugged me that people seem to only want to send cards to people they get them from. I have never gone out of my way to send cards since then - we don’t want people to feel obligated to send a card to us just because we sent one to them, that’s not why I send them. Instead I’ve gotten better about sending “thinking of you†notes and birthday cards throughout the year to the closest friends and relatives.

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We have gotten a few. I've never sent them and have never really enjoyed receiving them so as the numbers dwindle I'm ok. I don't like staged, outfit coordinated photos much so that is why Christmas cards don't really matter to me.

 

Funny enough, today on fb my dh posted what our Christmas picture would be if we sent them out. It was a picture of all 7 of us sitting in one section of our 4 section couch. It's the most genuine representation of our family life I've ever seen.

 

My parents still get a ton of christmas cards

 

Me too.  I meant to do them and then I never got into it.  Seemed like more $ that I would rather not spend.  And extra work for me.  Why? 

 

The people that I care about I am in touch with.  

I don't really enjoy getting the cards from others.  Cute I suppose, but if I am close to you I see your pics or you.   I don't want the extra clutter.  So now I have to figure out do I get rid of the card and picture with you on it (which I feel bad about) or do I keep clutter. 

 

There just seems no need for them now.

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Last year I had a new baby and lost my address book, and so didn't get cards out.  I haven't received many this year, but that may be because of my laxity.  It's getting so the ones I do get are impersonal, for example from the agent that sold us this house.

 

I like them, I have been unsure if I'll send any this year, but I think I will.  I like to hang them up on a string.

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I get that a lot of people don't care about cards. It is clutter and extra work. We make the effort because we live far away from all our family and many of our friends.  Several of the cards this year are going out to friends who have lost a family member this past year. It's been a nice way to let them know we're still thinking about them.  Other cards have been sent to people who really helped us through the year since it really sucked. I'm pretty sure while we were going through this past 18 months we didn't always  let people know just how much their support meant to us.   

 

Many of the cards are sent for my own little year in review. Card to the friend who hosted my sister and me in Waco this fall when we visited for the quilt retreat. Or the guy who was dh's best friend in high school who we hadn't heard from in a decade but showed up when dh's mom passed away...he drove from out of state and surprised us.  Another friend who moved away this year and is having trouble adjusting to a new state and missing old friends. 

 

I love writing and receiving Christmas cards but it's a busy time. Maybe I need to send Fourth of July cards instead!

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My friend and I were talking about this the other day.  She feels that a lot of recipients send her a card only because they receive one from her.  If she knew they weren't interested, she would whittle down the numbers she sends.  I don't really do that, but if I take someone off the list that sends me a card for once, I will add them back in next year -- LOL.  She agonizes over stuff like this though.  I think I'm getting to not care as much as I hit 50 this summer  :lol: !!!

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The people that I care about I am in touch with.  

I don't really enjoy getting the cards from others.  Cute I suppose, but if I am close to you I see your pics or you.   I don't want the extra clutter.  So now I have to figure out do I get rid of the card and picture with you on it (which I feel bad about) or do I keep clutter. 

 

There just seems no need for them now.

 

I have many people who are very dear to me and whom I see only once a year in the summer. I would love to see a picture of them and their families at Christmas time.

 

ETA: And I would gladly take an email, doesn't have to be a physical card on paper.

Edited by regentrude
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Me too. I meant to do them and then I never got into it. Seemed like more $ that I would rather not spend. And extra work for me. Why?

 

The people that I care about I am in touch with.

I don't really enjoy getting the cards from others. Cute I suppose, but if I am close to you I see your pics or you. I don't want the extra clutter. So now I have to figure out do I get rid of the card and picture with you on it (which I feel bad about) or do I keep clutter.

 

There just seems no need for them now.

We display the cards on our pantry door until we take down the tree. I then put the cards on a circular clip and we pray for each family for a week throughout the year. The next year when I’m putting the Christmas decorations away I go through the cards, I toss the impersonal ones, or the college buddies of my husband that we haven’t seen in years. I save the ones of my nieces and nephews as my family doesn’t really post on FB. We keep a small keepsake box for stuff like that. Given than my one nephew nearly died a couple years back, I’m thankful I had pictures of him without having to ask my sister.

 

If people toss our picture cards, it doesn’t bother me a bit. I think the majority of people we send them to do enjoy getting them though. I know our grandmas all take the pictures to church to show off their great grandchildren.

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I'm a scrapbooker and carmaker ... I hand make, hand sign and hand address my cards and include a wallet sized family photo... I made 130ish this year - about 80 mailed and the rest for members of my church choir (these get a note but no envelope)

 

 

 

 

How thoughtful of you! I love handmade and appreciate the work and time that go into them.

Edited by Kassia
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I'm a scrapbooker and carmaker ... I hand make, hand sign and hand address my cards and include a wallet sized family photo... I made 130ish this year - about 80 mailed and the rest for members of my church choir (these get a note but no envelope)

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

A good friend of mine from high school hand makes cards too. She always remembers my birthday and I appreciate the work and love she puts into the cards.
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I have missed some years due to just being overwhelmed with other things.  When I do send them, I enclose a photo of my kids, because I assume people like to see how the kids have grown.  I didn't enclose anything before kids, and probably won't after my kids are grown.  I used to try to write in pretty letters and so on - address the card with red and green markers and draw little pictures or whatever.  Add a few words where it made sense.  I figure people appreciate something a little different.  But I don't write our life story because I don't think it's all that compelling, LOL.  Crazy whirlwind vacations, lippy tweens, and just plugging along with the rest of it.  People who are dying to see our travels and sports pics can friend me on facebook.

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I'm inconsistent.  It seems less and less necessary since all the people I'd send one to are on FB.

I'm not sending them this year because it's just not in our budget.  We've had an expensive health year (broken collar bone, kidney stones, liver biopsy, and most recently, an ER visit for symptoms resembling an atypical seizure and we still have testing coming up for that).  Christmas is scaled down a bit, and that includes not doing cards.

I like receiving them, but I open them, look at them, put them on dh's desk, and never look at them again.  

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I love sending and receiving Christmas cards. I think we get most of ours within the few days before Christmas. There are usually a couple of New Year's cards too. We have 9 displayed in our living room so far. I just got ours out today. We've done a photo card for all of our 26 years of marriage and a year-in-review letter since we moved to Oregon 24 years ago. It's usually a pretty entertaining letter and we get appreciative comments on it. The card and letter go in our Christmas scrapbook, along with photos from family. We all love looking back on the whole family history in those letters/cards. I send fewer than I used to; I think our max was around 60 and it was 43 or 44 this year.

 

I'm loving the Costco cards. We can find templates we like that hold the number of pictures we want in the orientation we want. Many of them let you write a fairly significant amount on the back. I think when the kids are in college we may shorten the letter to whatever fits on the back of the card. And they print your return address on all of the envelopes. 50 cards for about $35.

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We've done ... a year-in-review letter since we moved to Oregon 24 years ago. ...

 

I was saying to my husband the other day that if the house were on fire, I'd grab the one photo album that contains our stack of yearly holiday letters.  Those letters are our family history.  (Odds are other family members would be able to share back photos with us if our collection were to be destroyed; the letters, no.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I kind of yelled at people on FB because I don’t want the Christmas cards to stop. I still send ours out, with a family photo and some brief personal message written on each. BUT! I am close to giving up. I have sent out SIXTY cards and so far, I have received SEVEN. Seven! Or, eight, if you count the one from my daughter’s college. And out of those seven I have received, one seems to be only because I ranted about it on FB and then messaged my cousin to get her address. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had my address either and I would have six cards.

 

I am still expecting several more; I don’t think it will still be seven (8) at last call, but I am noting who sends them this year and my list is going to be much shorter next year. I don’t want Christmas cards to go away, but i’m not going to be the Lone Ranger trying to keep it going. It costs a lot of money to do such nice cards and put postage on them all, and I spend several hours on it. I am happy to spend several hours if I get some cards in return and I know not every person will send them, but geez. Seven cards does not compensate for sixty sent.

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I got none so far. Most years I get maybe 3-5.

I used to send every friend a handwritten letter some time during December, but I hardly ever hear back. It's like talking into a void and makes me feel that they don't really care to hear from me.

I have whittled down my list and am now writing much fewer cards and letters, but there are still some who I know will love to get a card.

Yeah. There’s this one old lady who tells me how much she loves getting my Christmas cards and seeing pictures of my kids. I’m going to keep sending one to her until she’s gone! I feel like she appreciates it, so it keeps me going.

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I haven't sent out cards for five years for a variety of reasons (one year was too hard to reflect on).

 

I quit Facebook last summer. I just finished a family update letter and a Christmas photo card. I also just updated my address list. Facebook fulfilled 80% of this purpose before but does no longer for me.

 

Emily

 

 

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We display the cards on our pantry door until we take down the tree. I then put the cards on a circular clip and we pray for each family for a week throughout the year. The next year when I’m putting the Christmas decorations away I go through the cards, I toss the impersonal ones, or the college buddies of my husband that we haven’t seen in years. I save the ones of my nieces and nephews as my family doesn’t really post on FB. We keep a small keepsake box for stuff like that. Given than my one nephew nearly died a couple years back, I’m thankful I had pictures of him without having to ask my sister.

 

If people toss our picture cards, it doesn’t bother me a bit. I think the majority of people we send them to do enjoy getting them though. I know our grandmas all take the pictures to church to show off their great grandchildren.

That is so sweet! Makes me wish I was on your card list!

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I kind of yelled at people on FB because I don’t want the Christmas cards to stop. I still send ours out, with a family photo and some brief personal message written on each. BUT! I am close to giving up. I have sent out SIXTY cards and so far, I have received SEVEN. Seven! Or, eight, if you count the one from my daughter’s college. And out of those seven I have received, one seems to be only because I ranted about it on FB and then messaged my cousin to get her address. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had my address either and I would have six cards.

 

I am still expecting several more; I don’t think it will still be seven (8) at last call, but I am noting who sends them this year and my list is going to be much shorter next year. I don’t want Christmas cards to go away, but i’m not going to be the Lone Ranger trying to keep it going. It costs a lot of money to do such nice cards and put postage on them all, and I spend several hours on it. I am happy to spend several hours if I get some cards in return and I know not every person will send them, but geez. Seven cards does not compensate for sixty sent.

And this is why I don't like Christmas cards. Strings attached.

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I have gotten Hallmark or American Greetings ecards from close friends since I was in college in the 90s when internet was dial up. I just printed them on my engineering dept. color plotter that was free for dept. students to use.

 

I have rarely gotten a paper Christmas card through the mail.

 

ETA:

I do get a few invites to Christmas mass from Catholic family friends.

Edited by Arcadia
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I handmade my cards for years. Then, one year, I was too busy/sick and didn't get it done. We received far fewer cards that year. Each year we receive fewer and fewer with this year's number so far at 1. I don't anticipate receiving many cards.

 

I made one set of cards for my tennis team and another set of cards for my co-workers. I'll make and send some to family next week. 

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