Christmas Cards
New Zealand Christmas Cards
Send Christmas cards to loved ones at home and abroad: make your own cards, support a charity at Christmas time or go digital with electronic Christmas mail-out. Find out more about sharing festive cheer with our top ten tips for Christmas card success.
The exchange of Christmas cards has become almost universal during the festive holiday season – letting you make contact with family members, friends and loved ones at home and abroad. New Zealanders send around 68 million cards every year! Whether you make your own cards, order customised Christmas greeting cards or send an electronic Christmas card, sending a card during the holiday season is an easy way to spread some Christmas cheer and let loved ones know you're thinking of them.
Here are our top ten tips for Christmas card success:
1. Make a list and check it twice
You don't want to miss any must-sends, so write a list of family, friends and workmates who will receive season's greetings from you. Make sure you have their current postal address and also include your own return address so undelivered letters can be returned to you.
2. Buy Christmas cards in bulk
Packs of ten or twenty Christmas cards mean you’ll be able to send cards to many faraway friends and family members, without breaking the bank. Look for quality cards with a range of designs – there are some beautiful card packs featuring New Zealand art and images of a Kiwi Christmas.
3. Make your own Christmas cards
For unique cards at Christmas, trying making your own! If you’re stuck for inspiration, check out some of these handy Christmas card ideas:
- Use coloured card cutouts of Christmas shapes on black
- Get Christmas images and adapt them to create your own designs
- Make cards using a favourite photo of your family, kids or pets
- Create a collaged Christmas card with Christmas images, then make coloured copies
- Try your hand at drawing a Christmas cartoon or traditional Christmas image
4. Get your kids to help
Kids will love to get involved, so sign them up as pasters, envelope-stickers, stampers or posties. They can also help with Christmas card designs – drawing cute Christmas pics, adding their own signature to your message or finding Christmas pictures in magazines.
5. Support a charity at Christmas
Many charity groups distribute packs of Christmas cards as an important annual fundraiser. You can’t support every charity, but choosing a cause that’s close to your heart and buying your Christmas cards from them is an easy way to make your dollars count. Charities that offer Christmas card collections include:
- Starship Children’s Hospital - support specialist healthcare for young New Zealanders
- UNICEF - give your support to children and communities in need
- Save the Children - help give resources to underpriveleged children around the world
- MessageMark - create your own Christmas card designs online, then choose to support your favourite charity
6. Send an electronic Christmas card
If mail-outs sound too much like hard work, send a batch of electronic Christmas cards! It’ll save you time, money and effort. Ecards can be easily sent online – choosing from a range of existing designs or uploading your own images. There are even Kiwi Christmas ecards available, letting you send a piece of Kiwiana anywhere in the world with a click of your mouse.
7. Get animated with your Christmas card designs
Animated Christmas cards will add some fun to your digital festive wishes, and can include anything from dancing santas to elves, reindeer and funny Christmas cartoons. Animated cards can be downloaded for free online or custom made for your company by a professional Web designer - and can even contain some catchy Christmas songs!
8. Write thoughtful Christmas card messages
Make your message count, by putting some thought into your Christmas card message and season’s greetings. You might like to try:
- Taking a snippet from a favourite poem
- Using an excerpt from a Christmas Bible verse
- Writing your own funny rhyming verse for the Christmas season
9. Find printable xmas cards online
Printable Christmas card templates are another way to find Christmas card ideas and solutions online. Templates can be downloaded, printed and used to create your very own card designs. They're a great idea for those who want a quick, yet creative, way to make Christmas cards.
10. Send your cards early!
Give yourself plenty of time to buy (or make), write and send your Christmas cards, particularly if you're planning on posting cards overseas.
Looking for more Christmas inspiration? Find Christmas ideas in our handy guide to the festive season.
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Seasons and Celebrations images from Flickr: Dyed Eggs, Chickees and Chocolate Bunnies.
