Pocket Change - Shopping Blog

One of my favorite things about this time of year (and a great way to tell that the holiday season is upon us) is getting the first holiday greeting card in the mail. Every day another set of cards is delivered with precious photos of family and friends and fun holiday greetings. Since there is still plenty of time before the New Year, start a new weekend project and send out homemade cards this season. This will save you some money, allow you to customize and be creative, and prevent you from using the same stock card design as half of the neighborhood. Before you get started, make sure you have all of the supplies you need. If you’re missing anything, you can maximize your savings and shop for them on Become.com!

Every great personalized holiday card should include a photo so that long distance relatives and friends can stay up-to-date and see your smiling faces. Gather the family together and snap a few pictures with an affordable compact digital camera that you can easily upload onto your home computer and choose a photo that you can crop and edit if necessary.

There are countless greeting card templates that you can download and use with your Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student software. If you’re more on the creative side, use the clip art and drawing tools to design your own original card with this versatile and easy to use software.

Once your card is completed, you’ll want to make sure you have the supplies you need to print out all of the copies. Stock up on color ink cartridges that are compatible with your printer so that your cards are in vivid color from the first copy to the last. If you need a new printer, the HP Photosmart Printer collection has some great all-in-one, affordable options.

The trick to creating a quality card is using quality paper. Look into Avery greeting card products, which include options in different sizes, colors, weights and finishes (glossy or matte). Order some fancy card envelopes, and your cards will look just as impressive as the professional ones.

Put extra care into your cards this season and have fun designing your own! It’s a great way to send sincere holiday wishes to your loved ones, and you can put the money you save towards buying extra special gifts (which I’m sure your friends will be excited about as well!).

-Katie