How to Create Holiday Cards to Send by Email

Creating a holiday e-card is to send to friends or loved ones is easy; all you need is an Internet connection and a working email address. The easiest way to send a holiday card over email is by using an e-card creation website. Most of these websites include a free trial when first singing up. Some of these websites include American Greetings and Blue Mountain. These websites allow you to select the holiday occasion, card template and create a personalized message to the recipient.

Instructions

1. Go to Americangreetings.com. This is a user-friendly website that will allow you to create a beautiful holiday card. To get started on making your card, mouse over the tab on the top left corner that says "e-cards." Once you mouse over the tab, it will give you a drop-down menu of several different holiday occasions such as Valentine's Day, birthdays. Click on the category that closest fits the reason for the card you are sending.

2. Choose your template. Once you have picked a card category, the website will display several different designs and sub-categories. On the front page of the category you selected there will be featured cards. To the left side of the page will be specific categories such as recipient type, tone and special feature selection.

3. Create an account. Once you have selected the card you wish to use; you will need to create an account. To do this, click on the red tab labeled "join now to send," it will be located just above the card you have chosen. After selecting "join now to send," you will be prompted to either create a new account or use an existing account. If you are creating a new account, enter your email address into the box to the left of the screen. Once your email address is entered, the website will ask you to fill out specific information such as account name and password.

4. Send the card you selected. Once you have signed up, you will be able to send the card. Make sure you have the email address of the recipient before creating the card. You can also enter a specific message to customize any card you send, this will be displayed just below the card.

5. Use an alternate site. If you wish to send a greeting card using another service other than americangreetings.com; some other websites include bluemountain.com, regards.com and 123greetings.com. Sites that require a trial before payments include americangreetings.com and bluemountain.com; some completely free sites include regards.com and 123greetings.com

Tips & Warnings

• The most popular greeting sites such as americangreetings.com and bluemountain.com require paying a fee after the free trial.

References

• American Greetings: eCards
• Blue Mountain: eCards