A simple method that makes addressing Christmas cards faster and more fun

It’s getting to be the time to hunt down the ol’ address book, sit down at the kitchen table, and elf away at the Christmas card sending line!

The past few years my sister and I have helped our mother get all her envelopes addressed and stamped and filled with signed Christmas cards.

It saves her a lot of time and allows her to take more care in how she addresses the envelopes.

Not everyone has two elves to help them with their Christmas cards like my mother does, though.

So today I’m going to introduce you to a way you can make Christmas card addressing faster even if your doing it by yourself.

This method is based on something I do all the time when I’m making lots of cards at once. In card making it’s called compartmental making. In this case I’ll call it compartmental addressing.

Ready? Here we go:

  • Start by setting an exact date and time when you wish to work on Christmas cards. You can spread it out over two days if you wish.
  • On a clean table with plenty of room lay out everything you are going to need: Christmas cards, envelopes, stamps, writing instruments, any fun extras you want to add.
  • Put stamps on all the envelopes.
  • Address all the envelopes.
  • Sign all the cards. (Hint: to avoid confusion, place each card you sign on top of its respective envelope. This is especially important if you write personalized messages inside each card.)
  • Add fun extras, if any (e.g., stickers, gift cards, etc.).
  • Put cards in their respective envelopes
  • Seal all envelopes.
  • You’re finished! Now you just need to take your stack to the mailbox.

This may sound laughably simple, but it actually feels a lot more organized, fun, and satisfying.

It’s also a lot less daunting when you chop up your tasks like this. Instead of saying to yourself, “Ugh, I have to address Christmas cards,” you can say, “Oh, all I have to do right now is put stamps on the envelopes.”

I hope this makes your Christmas card addressing faster and more enjoyable for you.

To your card giving,

Grace Arant