Christmas cards and gift wrap - how choosy are you?

[Whohashiddenthebiscuits]

Not sure this really belongs in this section but..

It’s a bit early to be buying (well, I won’t be yet!) Christmas cards and wrapping paper but I’ve just been browsing through some Christmas cards from an email promo link. I didn’t like any of them and typically do spend ages choosing cards and wrapping paper (I like recycled paper, great design and something that looks like thought has gone into it). I might buy rolls for kids presents (& I’m still picky over that) but the rest tends to be sheets.

DH thinks it’s an absolute waste of money & that people really pay no attention whatsoever! I think he’s probably absolutely right.. but I care and after he bought a box of black sparkly cards with a purple bow on them, banned him buying any of this stuff!

Anyone else really annal about this too? I always sort out the cards into piles too before writing them, family we don’t really like & old friends we never see any more getting the smaller and not quite as nice ones!

I love beautiful wrapping and cards but since having our son I just can’t be as fussed as I used to.
I now buy the cheapest big rolls of paper, use those stickers as gift tags (as I found the proper ones fell off and it was a headache) and then try and make them look a bit prettier by putting bows and ribbons on.
I also bought a pack of 40 Christmas cards for £1 from B&M that I never would have bought before, need a big volume for ds nursery friends. I will get one nice pack for other friends/family.
I just don’t have the time/money to put the effort in anymore, and ds doesn’t appreciate it- the tacky cheap paper is his favourite compared to the beautiful wrapping I favour!

I don't send cards anymore.

I do, but not so many. I have family members who don't use social media.

Am very fussy
If it's worth doing it's worth doing well x

I only buy charity cards (and only DH sends them now anyway) and couldn't give a stuff about present wrapping. We only have wrapped presents for me, dh, ds and MIL/FIL anyway and none of them look at it for more than a second so we get three different rolls of something recyclable so no labels needed either

Very fussy about cards, like to get art ones (modern or traditional) with a definite natural or religious Christmas theme. No jokes, cartoons, glitter, foil etc. But cards are my thing and I display many round the house and change some with the season's.

I haven’t sent cards for years, not one single one. No one has complained to me.
Life’s too short! I also don’t put any up which are sent to me, they go straight into recycling. We get very few now.

I don't care at all what paper I use, but cards must have robins somewhere on them.

My aunt is like you. Everything is well chosen and immaculate. I appreciate her efforts.

Interesting that a number of you have stopped sending cards, wonder if they are on their way out?! We usually send 25-30 a year. I grew up all over the shop so have old friends in numerous locations. I’ll admit to liking getting them but definitely wouldn’t complain if we didn’t! Although thinking about it I have told eldest DD (27) off a couple of times for never remembering to send me a birthday card. E-cards are just rubbish.

I’m not a fan of over done presentation, plastic ribbons tied in bows etc. I do love the idea of woodcuts with recipients names on .. that’s taking it one step beyond what I do. Agree to everything being recyclable and I buy recycled.

We use last years cards cut up as gift tags, just tape them onto the package. We still send and receive about 50 cards but the numbers are slowly going down. I prefer gifts without ribbons, bows, candy canes or whatever too.

They’re definitely on the way out, years ago we probably used to receive over a hundred, now I think we get no more than 10. I just find it all a pointless waste of resources just to write “to xxx from xxx”, I don’t appreciate receiving cards so I don’t send them.
I’m busy at Christmas.
I like wrapping though and happy to spend time and money on that.

Interesting that a number of you have stopped sending cards, wonder if they are on their way out?! We usually send 25-30 a year

Sadly, the number of people we send cards to is declining because they are no longer with us.

I stopped sending for a few years. But took it back up again a year or two ago because I really feel that tangible, physical connections are more important now than ever with the way that virtual (un)reality is taking over so perniciously. I send maybe about 20?

I don't like cartoon or joke Christmas cards, I love snowy, country pictures on mine, or ones depicting the nativity.

@Whohashiddenthebiscuits

This is the sort of thing I'm planning to do with my wood slices (images stolen from Google - not mine!)

I wasn't bothered but last year I spent a bit more on Christmas cards. It was a mixed pack so I selected a specific card in the pack for each recipient eg some more religious, some more child friendly... and several friends and family told us how much they liked the card or they planned to keep it after Christmas even and it has inspired me to buy nice Christmas cards again.

I haven’t sent a card for about 15 years now. I usually use brown paper to wrap gifts, mostly tied with a bit of twine or a red ribbon. I’m waiting for someone to invent Christmas tin foil for wrapping presents. I did see a really lovely idea (Japanese?) where people use decorative cloth - like tea towels or fat squares - to wrap gifts. That means they can be reused or repurposed. I might give that a go this year.

Here it is! These are really expensive, but any fabric would do, really.

fabricwrappingco.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwtrSLBhCLARIsACh6Rmhve4jNCmcpEkmxJwQI3Bjrcekhql-yPuQtwV-ij3GgrK9kVfSWrh0aApnUEALw_wcB

I use the Financial Times and nice ribbon and think it looks lovely

I do choose cards carefully, always charity ones. I used to spend time choosing lovely paper and ribbon for wrapping, but now can’t justify the waste of paper. Like a previous poster we have assorted old gift bags for family gifts, and also a bag of large, square scarves family can use to wrap presents with….just wrap round gift and put under tree. They then go back in the bag to be used again! I’ve found some very large scarves in charity shops. I’ve also used pretty tea towels for wrapping…went down well. Like your idea of using FT @Justjoinedforthis 😀

Im a brown paper and ribbon fan, I enjoy reusing random ribbons but also do buy a roll at Christmas. I like sending cards to people I don't see physically but did find with FB it seemed less essential, and I'm worried that people don't like getting them and feel pressured (rightly it seems from this thread).

@shockedNeighbour

I am VERY particular about gift presentation and have become somewhat renowned for it in my family and circle of friends.

I'm arty/craft and like things to be "just so". This year I've bought some wood slices which I'm going to use as gift tags (with a photo of the person on there) and they can be reused by the recipient as tree decorations.

Lovely idea

I buy nice cards but I take no notice of how presents are wrapped and spend very little time or money on buying wrapping paper. Massive waste of time and money.

I am very choosy with cards, I only buy charity ones, design has to be exactly right and unfortunately I haven't see on very many nice ones this year (so many charities - including the one I work for - seem to have the same designs ) and within my selection I am very particular about who I send each card too ... ie: I know which of my friends/family appreciate a religious symbol on the card and which don't.

I like presents to look nice, but these days I have very few to wrap ... although each year I offer to wrap the gifts for a fund raising tombola I help to organise as I enjoy the process of wrapping! I always used to be that mum who was happy to wrap the 'Father Christmas' gifts at nursery .

I went to all of this effort once when I was 21. I learned very quickly that absolutely no one gave one flying fuck. And never did it ever again. I am now a £1 for 1 million square foot of wrapping paper type if person.

It will look nice on the Instagram photos, I'm sure. But beyond that it is pointless. Instead, enjoy the extra free time and money you have whilst relaxing and enjoying a baileys.

I buy a pack of better quality cards for family and friends, but never have brought individual Christmas cards. I will choose who gets which design out of the pack.

Wrapping paper - I have one of those infinite lasting rolls of Christmas paper from Costco. It’s good quality and double sided so I can de use whether to go tartan or Father Christmas. Also brought some paper from Tesco which they were selling off at 25p a roll after Christmas.