It’s day 12 of Bower Power’s 12 Days of Christmas! You know what that means, right? It means that today is Christmas Eve. The night of Mary’s screaming labor (that is unconfirmed by anything but my vivid imagination). It was the night of no-room-at-the-inn. The night of Jesus’ birth. The night of all holy nights.
I hope that you enjoyed reading about the different ways that we prepared for the ultimate birthday party…CHRISTMAS! I know that it was really a challenge for me to decide what to share during this busy time – it seemed like there were A MILLION ways to celebrate – parties, presents, shopping, family, friends, and decor.
Last but not least, there is the ever popular way to share well wishes with loved ones – CHRISTMAS CARDS! So it is only fitting that you, our cyber-friends, get a peek at our 2009 Christmas Card. Consider it personally sent from our house to yours:
And we were able to save a pretty penny this year by not sending out a card to all our friends and family via snail mail. In fact 90% of our mailing list got a electronic e-card which we were certain most people appreciated just as much as a regular card. We feel it’s pretty responsible financially since we drop about $100 on cards and postage normally…and not to mention, we are being a touch of green since most cards end up in the trash anyway.
For the other 10% we went with the cheapest route possible by ordering prints online and just handed them out with a candycane. And then we joyfully dropped the extra cash into our baby fund (which is a classy empty mayo jar on the kitchen counter for future baby purchases). We figure that the peeps who normally would receive a hard-copy of the Bower christmas card can be thanked the day that we purchase the stroller or the wipes.
So now the question is – did we make the right choice? Or did we deprive the mailing list of an important fridge decor item? Or maybe you feel very strongly about all or nothing when it comes to christmas mailings? Whatever your position, I would love to hear your view on the great card debate.
I think you made the right choice even though I like receiving cards, I hate displaying them and end just tossing them.
Great Choice anyways!
You absolutely made the right choice! I love the silhouettes! A very merry Christmas to you and your boyfriend and little love child!! xoxo
I like having hard-copy Christmas cards, because I love decorating with recent pictures and greetings from loved ones. But I’m kind of a die-hard Christmas traditionalist, I think it’s the German blood pumping through my veins.
You could always do personalized postcards (vistaprint does them) to save on postage.
I LOVE the e-card idea, but I have to admit that I also love getting other people’s cards – especially the photo ones. We do a photo card with pictures of our daughter and they are sent to family, extended family and friends. For many, it is the only picture they receive of our daughter during the year and many don’t usually see her in person. That’s why we went snail mail again this year!
I’m old fashioned and like the REAL Christmas cards 🙂 I save them every year and make them into a book for that year. It is fun to go back and flip through them.
I like to decorate our kitchen cabinets with Christmas cards. I especially like receiving very personal cards, like your design. Take my opinion with a grain of salt, though, because in 5 years of marriage we’ve never sent cards. We bought cards two years ago, but still haven’t sent them. I know, I know…
I love getting Christmas cards in the mail because I love to display them and feel surrounded by friends and family far away during the holiday season. With that being said, I haven’t sent one out in a few years which means people would be lucky to get an e-card from me! 😛
i’m all about the snail mail christmas cards. everyone has gotten so high tech with everything that it is nice to receive something in the mail from a family member or friend. It totally means they took the time to think of us. I love getting them in the mail and sending them out.
you must have like a bazillion friends cause $100 bucks for christmas cards is crazy. we take our own pic, stick it in a handmade card, and mail them out!! easy peasy.
All about the hard copy Christmas cards! Love checking the mail every day for them and decorating the house with them!
I think you can definitely get away with e-cards for most people–especially friends your own age will understand. I would say that grandparents should probably get hard copies; I know my grandparents don’t even own a computer.
This year we are being SUPER classy and sending out post-Christmas cards. We didn’t get around to a family portrait or even buying cards in time, so we are hoping to grab a bunch on clearance. It’s a Greek Orthodox Christmas here in Gainesville.
Hi. Your choice is as good as others’ choice. Personally I appreciate old Christmas cards. To send via air mail a Christmas card, that is just I highly appreciate. It is too easy to send a card from computer. A real Christmas card must be seleceted with good taste in a shop. To fill it in home. To buy stamps and finally to mail it. This means work for sender and all the bought cards are giving job = money to somebody.
I like old style cards as You can see in my blog.
Anyway Merry Christmas!
I’m still torn! I love receiving cards but sending them…not so much. Jerry and I ended up sending out 15 cards and sending the rest of our family and friends to a post on my new blog:
http://thepurplepeach.wordpress.com/
I figured that it would be a good way to say “Merry Christmas” and “I’m blogging now” at the same time! Problem solved. 🙂
-E
I look forward to photo cards delivered to my mail box from distant friends and family. It’s the one time a year I receive more personal mail than junk mail! And I do keep them…I’m not hugely sentimental, but they don’t take up a lot of space and I like to look back to year’s past in this simple way. I have kept a Christmas scrapbook since our first child was born, and it’s also fun to flip thru how we celebrated Christmas each year in one place and see our kids “grow up” on our Christmas cards each year. My sister has always sent an “e-card” and it just isn’t the same. I’m so glad she sent a “real” card this year!
I’m a big eco person, but real cards all the way. Nothing takes the place of them. It is the holidays afterall.
This is the first year I’ve ever received E-cards, and I love them! I usually just toss the traditional kind, and feel guilty particularly if that person comes over before Christmas is over. E-cards I can enjoy at my leisure and delete. I think I’ll try it next year…I’ve never done Christmas cards period as it is so expensive and time consuming!
I sent out an e-card to most people on our list last year and I didn’t hear any complaints–in fact, I received reply emails expressing the cuteness of the card (it featured our 3 month old puppy). When I send snail mail cards I rarely get feedback from them. Also, I certainly don’t mind receiving e-cards; either way is a nice little surprise.
I wish there was a way that the post office could drop postage around the holidays. I really wanted to send out cards this year but – after dropping $100 in postage sending Thank You notes for my wedding – I just couldn’t justify it.
I was scrolling through the comments and I really like the postcard idea – that would definitely save on postage and I might try a “Ring in the New Year” card.
I stalk the mail man for my Christmas cards each day, so I would have been sad not to receive any of the old-fashioned “snail mail” cards 🙁 Your card was absolutely adorable though!
Girl your choices were perfect! That card is soooo
cute! Happy holidays Katie and I hope you get everything you want! Eventhough your bundle of joy is probably the best present ever!
I didn’t get cards done at all this year, it’s a first for me. We just never had a good opportunity to get a pic done. I figure it’s okay since we will be sending out birth announcements via snail mail in just a few short months.
Your card is lovely and Im sure all your friends appreciated the thought no matter how it was delivered.
I just happen to be a big fan of real mail. I know its a little bit frivilous but thats what makes its special. I love sending as much as I love receiving.
I tie all my christmas cards in a little pack with ribbon and store with my ornaments. That way Ill be able to look back at all the goofy photos and cards years down the road. So I personally don’t think the money spent on them is a waste. But thats just me.
Sending ecards and putting the saved money into the baby fund feels to me like when my friends make donations to their charities on my behalf. Sure, you can do it, but don’t pretend that it’s a Christmas gift to me to make a donation to your own charity.
I would have voted for culling the list, but continuing to send “real” cards. Ecards, IMO, are just one step above spam.
I think it’s ok. I throw cards away that I get in the mail after Christmas. I love getting them, because I can see how families have changed over the years. This is terrible, when people send me e-cards, I sometimes don’t look at them.
I keep ALL of my cards from every year b.c its fun to see the transition of our friends/families lives! So real cards are a must for me! Your card is precious!
heehee…Tammy – I like your analogy of ecards to enhanced spam 🙂 and you are right about the donations to charity thing – don’t worry, we didn’t tell everyone that their lack of card was a baby donation in disguise. and yes, I must admit that I agree with the majority here…I prefer real cards too. And I love putting them around the house so that I can enjoy them throughout the season. But I also realized recently that cutting down on our christmas mailing list wouldn’t be as criminal as I once thought. We did send ‘real cards’ to the 10% of our list – which was still larger than most people’s mailing list. Next year I am sure that we will be back to our full mailing list with photos of the Bower bambino 🙂
XO – kb
The sad thing about ecards is: so many warnings have been put out about viruses being sent in messages that say you have been sent an ecard, a lot of people won’t even look at them because they are afraid to! All of my older relatives have told me they will NOT click on an attachment, no matter whose name is on it, which is bad because I can’t figure out any way to send a photo or card I have made in the computer without it BEING an attachment. My email won’t let me just cut and paste it in the body of my message. So, I won’t waste my time sending ecards. I really love getting real ones, too, so I feel guilty if I try to take the easy way out! And I have seen the Christmas cards of me and my dog on several refrigerators (like way the next summer) so I am pretty sure that the recipients placed a fair amount of value on those cards!
Maybe I’m old-fashioned and not quite as “green”, but I still love sending and receiving snail mail Christmas cards. From the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve, I joyfully empty the mailbox and can’t wait to see what other families have sent. It makes my day. And although it’s a total pain-in-the-butt to get my children to sit for a photo, it’s all part of the fun and even the silly photos are treasured memories.
once a year you send a card to people you don’t talk to often. i say it is worth the $100 to send the card. it seems money isn’t tight, really, for ya’ll so i’m surprised you didn’t send one. i get you are having a baby but people are in a much harder place than ya’ll and they still make that effort to show they think about others at these holidays. i’m going anon because i get tired of reading all these DIY blogs that get paid to do things to their house and then don’t do something simple like send holiday cards because they want to put the money elsewhere. seriously, $100? do you even feel it??
Dearest Anon,
I think that most people feel the same way you do – that the hardcopy cards are worth it once a year. And I actually prefer getting them too 🙂 And you are absolutely correct about others being in a much harder place than we are…we are very thankful for our current DINK status. Very soon, we expect our financial situation to change (YAY! & YIKES!) so we are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
XO – KB
I love getting cards, letters and pics. I try to cut up the cards then and use as tags on next years presents. I also use the bags from various stores as gift bags by covering the logos with coordinating chrismas card fronts and then adding stenciling. I’ve also framed attractive cards and used as decoration.
I see your reasons for doing electronic cards, but I admit, I’m old school and absolutely adore getting real snail mail cards. In fact, I’m one of those humbugs that rolls my eyes when I get e-cards 🙁 I’m sorry! Just being honest 🙂 Though I must admit, yours are super cute!!
I truly love to receive cards in the mail. However, I have noticed a large decrease in the mailing of Christmas cards each year.
I really love getting e-cards, and those look really cute that you sent out. But I must admit that I didn’t recieve any ecards nor very many hard copies this year. I’m hoping that our new address just hasn’t been well known by everyone yet. Even though I spent about $200 over the past year mailing things out to people with this. Maybe I’m the only one who keeps envelopes for the addresses. Anyways, love the look of your cards and hopefully I will do something of the sort next year.
i love that you did ecards! very smart and totally appropriate, in my opinion!