Works For Me Wednesday: Christmas Cards

By MAD21

Since our girls were born, I've tried to get Christmas Cards out every year that include something that tells our family and friends what we've been up to during the year. In this stage of our lives, I've found it so hard to keep up with them because we are always so busy. So it's a good way to reconnect.

Something I have always done when we send cards to people, is trace my girls hands in the cards. I think I started doing it because my entire family lives 3000 miles away, and by including their handprints it was a way for them to see my girls grow. I realized after awhile how much I liked including that handprint because it was almost like sending part of my girls with the card. In the same way that we sign our own names.

Now that my oldest can sign her name, she chooses not to trace her hand as often. But we still include our youngest's hand, and eventually she will probably make the same choice. They have both loved doing it all these years.

My family and friends have come to expect to see hands in their cards. They know they are sent with lots of love. Once, my brother traced his hand in a card he sent to us (hard to believe he could find a card that big--He's 6'3" and does not have little hands). My girls LOVED it.

Christmas cards are by far the hardest to do since we send out about 52 of them. While the girls enjoy leaving their hands in the cards we send to people, doing it 52 times isn't so much fun. So what I do is I trace one good handprint on a piece of cardstock, and I trace it onto each card. It's all a lot of work, but I know it means a lot to those who get the cards. So it's worth our time.

Every Wednesday, fellow blogger Kristen at We are THAT Family posts clever ideas for getting things done. She calls it, "Works For Me Wednesday" or WFMW. Be sure to go visit her blog to read her post along with links to other blogs who are participating.