How to Create a Christmas Card List

Updating your Christmas card list throughout the year will keep it current.

The best way to organize and keep track of your Christmas cards is to make a list. With it, you can make a collection of all the family, friends, neighbors and business associates you want to be sure to send cards to. You also can use it to keep track of who sends you Christmas cards and who doesn't. By making your own list, instead of using a premade one, you can design it exactly the way you want it.

Things You'll Need

• Tabbed spiral notebook
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Mark "Christmas Card List" on the front of the notebook. Label the first tab, "Family." Then write down the names of your family members on a piece of scrap paper; don't write them in the notebook yet. You can include as many people as you wish. If you're full of the holiday spirit and you want to extend the list to include distant relatives, that's up to you.

2. Turn to the next tab in the notebook. Label this tab "Friends." Write down the names of all your friends on a scrap paper. You may even decide to include "long-lost friends" to this page.

3. Continue marking the next two tabs "Neighbors" and "Business Associates." Then, make the appropriate lists on additional paper. Once you're done writing down names, read the lists over to make sure you haven't forgotten someone special.

4. At this point, the Organized Home website recommends you go over all the names and prune your lists. Buying many Christmas cards and the postage stamps to send them can be costly. Even if you opt to send e-cards, a huge list can use lots of time and energy.

5. Transfer the names of the family, friends, neighbors and business associates on your final list to the notebook. Leaves spaces under each name so you can write in each person's current address. If your list grows, you'll have extra pages to use. Similarly, as the years go by, you can cross out names you no longer need.

6. Keep track of the Christmas cards you've sent and received in the notebook. Make two columns next to each name, and mark one S (for sent) and R (for received). After you've sent each person a card, make a check in the S column next to his name. When you receive a card, make a check in the R column beside the appropriate name. If you don't receive a card in return, you may want to remove that person's name from your list next year. Add an S and an R column for each successive holiday season.

Tips & Warnings

• You also can use a computer and a word processing program to create a Christmas card list if you choose. But sometimes a list written in a small notebook that fits easily into a desk drawer is more convenient and accessible.

• Update your list throughout the year. That way, when the holiday season rolls around, you'll be ready to send out your cards.

References

• Organized Christmas: Christmas Countdown: Six Weeks to an Organized Christmas!