Christmas Cards

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Christmas is the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, it’s also referred to as Christmas Day or Christmastide and is celebrated by people on December 25 or January 7. Most of us associate Christmas with Santa’s gifts, holidays, winters (barring Australians!), togetherness, lights and baubles, high spirits, sharing of joys and lots of fun.

You’ve been celebrating the occasion for years now, but have you ever wondered how the word Christmas originated? Well it’s just a contraction of the phrase “Christ’s Mass.” The origins of the word can also be attributed to the middle English word “Christemasse,” and the old English phrase “Cristes mæsse,” this phrase was first recorded in 1038 A.D.

Not so much of a fascination for adults but children eagerly await a rendezvous with Santa Claus or Father Christmas and the gifts that Santa would bring for them. Many believe the concept of Santa to be the syncretizing of Saint Nicholas with elements of pagan Nordic and Christian mythology. Santa gained most of his popularity through the media in the 19th century.

The holiday is celebrated far and wide around the world, in the United States alone it is celebrated by 96% of the population. The modern customs of celebration entail church celebrations, gift-exchanges, display of various decorations which mostly include lights, mistletoe, the Christmas tree, holly, nativity scenes, etc.

Along with all the enjoyment and merriment on Christmas, one of the most essential aspects is that of greetings. Greetings, through which you express your happiness on the occasion to your friends, family, acquaintances and all the loved ones. While you greet many verbally but scintillating and superbly gorgeous Christmas cards can make your greetings much more exciting, meaningful and memorable.

After you’ve got into the festive mood and meticulously done your job of decorating the house, garnished the Christmas tree with all sorts of beauteous embellishments including the lights and baubles all around it, there would be bells chiming in your ears and your heart would be filled with joy and merriment. In order to share your sentiments with others and to let others share their’s with you, you can send some gorgeous Christmas cards along with gifts or without if it’s a formal greeting.

The ready-made Christmas cards are available in the markets, in large varieties and with a great variety of messages and themes. The possible themes could be Angels, Bells, Birds, Floral, Hanukkah, Holiday Patterns, Kwanzaa, Ornaments, Patriotic, Presents, Reindeer, Religious, Santa, Scenes of the Season, Snowflakes Snowman, Stockings, Trees, World / Peace, Wreath, Christmas Eve, Carol Day, Snow Cards, Snowman Cards, Angel Cards, Photo Christmas cards, Christmas Family Photo Cards, Christmas Children Cards, Christmas Funny Cards and many more.

Many card publishing companies also allow you to customize the cards in various ways such as by printing the names of the recipients or the sender, customized wording, you could also include verses or sayings about Christmas from the Bible or otherwise. All these features can give a personalized look and feel to the greetings and the occasion on the whole. Some good Christmas card vendors are: InvitationBox.com or you can check out 123Greetings.com for some great e-cards, or you could find a good one at ChristmasCardday.com

While there are tonnes of ways in which Christmas cards are designed, but more important is the message that you write on the card. You would clearly need to convey different messages to your colleagues or clients and different kind of greetings to your friends ‘n’ family. In case of a corporate greeting you could try something really simple yet warm like “Wishing you a merry festive season.” If you are writing to your siblings or close friends then you could try out something funnier and you could express yourself frankly. A sombre yet informal greeting could be “Hope you have a joyous holiday season.” Whatever you choose to write, the key is, that it should express the sentiments of Christmas and the happiness that it brings along.

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