Christmas in July Day Twenty Nine

Last year I failed at the family Christmas letter. Actually, my whole card-sending tradition kind of fell apart.

This year with the virus sweeping the country (and the accompanying craziness) I've often thought about what I will say in my letter. I can't decide if I'll go for funny, matter of fact, or all out frustrated.

Anyway, here's some creative templates for the Annual Christmas Letter:

CIJ: The ABCs of Christmas ~ In Touch

One of my favorite things about the Christmas Season is staying in touch with friends and family. I love to send Christmas cards and I usually include an annual letter to bring everyone up to date on our family happenings.

Annual letters can be difficult to write. It's not always easy to determine how much you want to share. Should you include photos? How long should it be? How creative do you want to be?

Here's some examples I found on Pinterest:

This is a creative layout

I like this scrapbook page style

I like this - short and to the point

I like this theme, but the layout is too busy for me

This is clever and fun!

If this is your first attempt at writing an annual letter, here are some tips to make it easier:

1. Be positive.

2. Shorter is better.

3. Don't brag.

4. Think about your recipients.

5. Keep yearly achievements to a minimum.

6. Talk about interests/hobbies.

7. Mention the whole family, not just the kids.

8. Include appropriate pictures.

9. Be you.

10. Be personal.

And don't forget to check your grammar and spelling! It's difficult to remember all of the highlights of your year when you start your letter in December. Keep notes throughout the year of things you may want to include in your annual letter. And most of all... have fun!

Annual Christmas Letter

The annual Christmas letter gets more difficult to write each year. If I just write about Dan and I it's boring. If I write about all the kids, some accomplishment might get left out and then I catch a lot of grief. Of course, I could just write about the grandkids. There's plenty of material there!

This year as I contemplated my letter, I decided to skip the whole thing and just put a really good photo of the grandkids in our card. Sounds good, right?! Yeah, I forgot one thing. The grandkids have to be willing to take a photo in which they all look at least somewhat cheerful.

As you may have guessed, the photo was a bust and now I'm back to writing a Christmas letter. I started it today and will finish it up tomorrow.

I think to avoid the grief this year, I just won't send a copy to my kids...

Christmas in July: Letters

Each year I write a letter to go with the Christmas cards I send. As last year approached, I wanted to find a new and creative way of approaching the annual Christmas letter. I found tons of good ideas on Pinterest and ended up writing a "by the numbers" letter. With our move, I didn't really have a lot of time to design it, so although it was a change, I wasn't really pleased with it.

As soon as Christmas was over, I started laying out the letter for this year. I've been writing on it occasionally, and will be ready to work on it's completion in October. 

Here are some very creative Christmas letters I found on Pinterest. They look like fun!

Christmas Countdown: March

I've been thinking a lot about Christmas 2014. I'm not obsessing over it, I'm just musing about it. Since Christmas 2013 was so out of the ordinary for us I have a lot to mull over for the upcoming Christmas season.

One of the things I've been considering is my annual Christmas letter. Last year's edition was written in a hurry. OK, it was written in a panic. I ditched my traditional method and went for a new (to me) style of "by the numbers". I only had three items on it, but I got so many compliments on the letter that I decided to use that format for 2014. I've already outlined the occasions I want to highlight. As the year goes by, I plan to write up the text and add the photos for each item.

Koons Family Annual Christmas Letter 2014 - not written in a hurry or a panic!

Christmas in July: Annual Christmas Letter

I started writing an Annual Christmas Letter a few years ago. One thing I didn't do which I wish I had, was to keep each year's letter. It would have made a fun addition to the holiday scrapbook pages! Now that the kids are grown and gone, the Christmas letter has become more of a challenge. I will admit that although I want to write one each year, I am bored by it.

I decided to turn to the source of all things creative: Pinterest! It did not fail me. I found lots of examples of cool Christmas letters. Of course, I'm going to share them with you...

This game board idea really intrigues me. It's visually appealing, yet really short and sweet. This would definitely take some planning and could not be a last minute choice.



I have several friends who use this newsletter approach. I really like because it's very easy to read.

A few years ago, a friend of mine who has four kids still living at home used this ABC style. Oh my goodness, I was so impressed with the thought that she put into each entry. Here again, this would have to be well thought out early start.


There are several examples of Top Ten List letters. I could really get into this style.

This is the newspaper style. It's similar to the newsletter style, but with more text and less graphics.

http://www.brassyapple.com/2011/12/creative-holiday-family-letters.html

Look at this illustrated Christmas Letter. I definitely do not have the talent to pull this off, but I really like it. It's got such a contemporary look.

Here is another illustrated example. I could definitely do this one. But I don't think it has room for my 13 family members!

This reminds me of a handout from a business meeting. I really like the style of it.

I am definitely going to check out the site listed above. It has free templates for your annual letter. Even if I don't use the templates, I figure it will be a good source for inspiration.

http://blog.christmaslettertips.com/christmas-letter-templates-2/



I found a couple of sites that provide tips for writing a great annual letter. I plan to check them out:
http://christmas.organizedhome.com/celebrate/seven-tips-sparkling-christmas-letters

and

http://blog.christmaslettertips.com/2009/05/02/creative-christmas-letter-ideas/

The Year in Numbers style is one that I may try next year. I love lists. I really love lists that involve numbers. I could pick the categories this year, keep track of the numbers next year, and have a unique letter to send out at Christmas!



http://www.purpletrail.com/partytrail/holiday_parties/christmas/christmas-letter-ideas

I found this example at the same site as the Numbers letter. Here again, this is creative, short, and since I'm addicted to  "To Do" lists, it's right up my alley!




http://itsagirlthing1.blogspot.jp/search?updated-max=2008-11-13T18:04:00-08:00&max-results=12


"The Top Ten List" on David Letterman has long been one of my favorites. I'm considering this style for my 2013 letter also.



So, there you have it. Are you inspired or overwhelmed at the possibilities for your 2013 Annual Christmas letter? I'm inspired!