Has anyone printed their own Letter from Santa

[karazeb]

Hi, I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips for printing your own letters from santa at home? I have a good quality laser printer, although it prints in black only. DCs look forward to their letters every year so don't want to disappoint them, but budget is tight this year. The company I ordered from last year doesn't seem to be operating now, and I can't find anything similar at a reasonable price. We usually get a completely personalised (ie. write your own) letter with reindeer food & colouring sheet or similar. I'm thinking it might be cheaper to buy some nice vintage style paper and envelopes for printing a letter, and I can use again next year? Problem is I don't have an artistic bone in my body, so any helpful shoves in the right direction would be much appreciated!

Royal Mail reply for free to letters.

Thanks MyDcAreMarvel but I would really like to try to arrange completely personalised letters again if I can manage it within budget.

Many a time when dd was younger, didn't have a printer at home but used library ones 20p for a colour print then, loved spending time designing and writing.

Used a "handwriting" styled font, easy enough to personalise from knowing dd.

I'm no whizz but even I was able to manage borders, clip art etc

I’m low-tech. I asked a friend to write a letter to my children. (Friend is in her 70s and has beautiful ‘old-school’ handwriting). She copied a short note onto nice paper and I stuck it in the post box. Could you do something similar, adding whatever extras you want?

I used to get the nspcc ones, think they were £5

I once replied to all the Santa letters the children in one of my DCs classes had written. It was all very cloak and dagger and a lot of fun. It was also about 20 years ago.

I bought some lovely vellum type paper and answered each one individually. It didn't take long really once I'd decided on the font, border etc.

I rolled them into a scroll, added red ribbon and a blob of sealing wax finished off with a Santa seal and a name tag.

It cost very little and they were a big hit with the children.

NSPCC are doing personalised Santa letters and there are quite a few different "looks" to choose from.

They are asking for a "suggested donation" of £5 but it is only "suggested"; You could make a smaller pre Christmas donation and then in the new year make an additional donation.

@karazeb Also I meant to add that on Etsy there is a girl selling personalised Christmas activity books, small little things but beautifully made and only £2, so you could do the NSPCC letters and then add a little activity book if budget allowed.

Thank you all so much for the suggestions, there are lots of tips there that I hadn't thought of! I'm confident that I should be able to put something together without spending a fortune. I will also have a browse on Etsy (thank you for that too, I always check eBay but never think of Etsy).

Alternatively the Portable North Pole video is personalised and free. You can include photos of your children even. We've done it a few times and our kids love it. www.portablenorthpole.com/santa-video

Yes Portable North Pole is amazing. DS still talks about his now he's 14.

My dad writes very personalised letters to my DSs, lots of references to things that have happened during the year etc. It is REALLY cute and Dad loves doing it!!

Home bargain has them for 29p

This is a lovely idea!

We do every year ( our boys are teens now , but still love getting their letters !). They have turned into a bit of a serial drama with elves and reindeer appearing .DH has mastered father christmas' signature too.

I love the excitement when DC get the letters. I guess it's become part of our tradition and that's why I don't want to miss out on them this year. Last year DD had asked for some LOL dolls, and we mentioned in her Santa letter that Rudolph had been a bit naughty and was trying to open some of the LOLs to see what was inside. DDs face was a picture on Christmas morning when some of her LOLs had little bits already torn off the plastic (where Rudolph had been trying to open them)

I used to do this when mine were younger.

There are loads of templates online. I used to stain the letter with a soggy teabag to give it a sepia tint.

Dafont.com is a really good site for fonts. Many are free for personal use.

If you google “free printable Santa letter” you’ll get tons of ideas but obviously be very cautious about what you download. You can often find very nice customisable printables for a pound or so if you search around, and it can be wiser to pay a small amount for something genuine, than to risk a free virus!