I love that the need for a card for an occasion is an oppportunity to be creative and share a small artistic vignette with someone while celebrating something with them.
My most successful new creative attempt at handcrafted cards this year was my mass mailing of fabric covered postcards to announce a meeting I was having for the special needs ministry at our church. I used a regular first class stamp instead of post card rate, but it went through the mail with no problems...and people attended the meeting. I'll put a tutorial on how to make fabric covered cards on here another day.
I saw a blog post on childhood101 today about setting up a Christmas card writing station in your home. The station highlighted in the blog was a "hub for creativity and early literacy development" for a 5-6 year old, but the principles are applicable for any age...any home.
Included in the writing station:
Prompt cards for what to write - like to/from on the outside and Merry Christmas on the inside
Pre-folded, blank cardstock cards
Christmas stickers
Sheets of Christmas paper
Pre-cut Christmas shapes
Christmas stamps and stamp pad
Pens, Pencils, Markers
Gluesticks, Tape
The blog author, Christie Burnett noted that she also "made name cards with a head shot of each of the children in her [daughter's] class as an aid for having a go at writing their names." This idea is also great for other groups of people such as family members, friends, neighbors, people at church, community helpers, etc.
Burnett also reminds us that "Christmas is such a wonderful time for promoting both creativity and literacy in authentic, naturally occurring ways." I am excited to see how this simple reminder inspires us ALL to create and write with the tools around us...and the prompts that we want to communicate about this season. To, From, Merry Christmas, Unto Us A Son is Given, Gloria in the Highest, Peace on Earth to All Men.