Our Christmas Thank Yous for Grandma and Grandpa.
When I was in the all my friends and family are getting married at the same time season of life, and was hosting a lot of bridal showers, I frequently relied on this trick to make shower invitations.
Three children and many years later, the same trick works well for thank-you postcards. It’s nothing fancy, but it is personal. Photos of children trump fancy anyway, right?!
For thank-yous, I think it’s fun to use a photo of the child opening, wearing, or playing with the gift and send that card to the giver.
Microsoft Publisher was my program of choice years ago, but I don’t have that option anymore. Here’s what I do in Microsoft Word. Please don’t laugh (too hard) at my rudimentary tech skills. 
- Set up a word document, reducing the margins to about .6″
- Format the document with 2 columns.
- Size the photos to approximately 576 x 768 (they just need to fit four on a sheet)
- Insert the photos in the document as evenly spaced as possible. Print on cardstock.
- Cut the cardstock in half both length-wise (5 1/2 inches) and width-wise (4 1/4 inches).
- On the blank side of the postcard, draw a line down the middle. Write the address on the right side, and have your child write a quick thank you on the left. Stamp and mail!
I’m sure many of you have an easier or more professional way to accomplish the same thing. I’m all ears! (As long as it doesn’t take too much time or creativity!)
These postcards work well as in invite or thank you for almost any occasion.
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What a great idea. Thanks for sharing!! We are trying to teach the kidos the importance of being grateful and sending thank you cards. This is an excellent way.
Brilliant!
This is an awesome idea that I will definitely be using!!
~In Word, go to “envelopes & labels”.
~Choose “labels”, then “options” and choose #3380 (you should have 2 options tall/wide for orientation).
~Then click “new document” and it should open up a blank page with spacing already done and then you can edit each square individually (there will be 4 boxes).
~These will print just fine on whatever card stock/matte photo paper you are already using!
Hope that makes it a little more simple for you!
I never even thought of the labels option! (I new there had to be an easier way, though.)
I have started doing this as well. I use Picasa and just write the thank you on the “text” part. I sometimes print off or email..depending on occasion. Your ideas are so cool..keep it up.
Thanks for sharing! I’ve never tried Picasa, will definitely look into that.
Ha! We do this too! Been doing it for years! Must be a teacher thing!!
Excellent ideas…and it reminded me we have some thank yous to write around our house!
You could also print a 4×6 photo and just jot a note, address, and stamp the back. We’ve used that method many times to send Christmas cards (saves postage vs sending in an envelope) and postcards.
We always make cards but I never thought about post cards! That would be super cool and even easier.
http://www.beautifulcalling.ca/2009/11/works-for-me-simple-home-made-cards.html
Thank you for the blow by blow directions for those of us un-computer-savvy people,I cut and paste that to save and then I saw Laura V’s comment–awesome. I am going to do this for sure for the next thank you card event.
Also great for just dropping someone a note.
What a cool idea!!
Great idea! It adds a nice personal touch!
What a wonderful idea!! I was planning on sending pictures of the kids with their gifts (we live across the country from our family, so they didn’t even get to see the kids open the gifts they gave them – and some don’t even know what I bought the kids with the money they sent for me to shop for them with), but this is super cool and so easy!! Thank you!!
Glad it will work for you. Far away family will REALLY appreciate pics with the kids and their gifts.
I am totally doing this. Genius! Thanks!!
XOXO
Jen
That’s a GREAT idea! I’ve done something similar but not identical, and I love your quick-and-easy solution in Word. My family loves receiving pictures of our three boys, so I will definitely try this for their birthdays this year! Great job!
Great idea! I never thought about printing on cardstock…genius! Thanks for sharing!
I was going to suggest the label/envelopes section of Word as well, but that was already mentioned. I love, love, love doing simple photo cards in Word as quick and personal thank yous. Which reminds me, my out-of-state brother send gifts to my 3 kiddoes and I think three quick photo postcards are in order! Thanks for the great tip.
We’re fortunate enough to live close to family, but you’re right. These would be PERFECT for family you don’t see much.
So cute! If you ever have A LOT of thank yous (for example, high school graduation!) try overnightprints.com. We took a photo of our son in cap and gown holding a sign that said “Thanks!” and printed it on the front of a postcard and he wrote a personalized thank you note on the back. They were a HUGE hit! Super cheap, fast and fun!
Oooo, I’ve seen those! My cousin did that for their wedding thank yous. Took the photo on their honeymoon. So cute!
Just so you know, you can buy the blank pre-stamped postcards at the post office…they are either the same price as/a penny or two more than the stamp itself! I have been buying 4/$1 for years, and it is an easy way to save on both the card and the postage!
Blessings to you! Cute with the photos.
I had no idea! I would also have no idea how to feed a postcard through my printer, but I’m sure I could figure it out.
What a great idea. Do you find that printing the color pictures uses a lot of ink? I always hesitate to print out pictures because of this, but I know the grandparents would love them.
This is the ONLY time I print photos, so it’s not too much of a drain on my printer. But yes, photos take a lot of ink!
What a great idea, Amy!
I had VistaPrint make up our CHRISTmas postcards this year but didn’t even think of thank you cards. I’ve done several things in Publisher and also using Printmaster where you can use postcard setting. 
Have you heard of http://www.hippopost.com? You can upload a picture that will appear on the front of the postcard, and then type your note and address that will appear on the back of the postcard. They will mail the postcard for you (i.e. pay the postage!)…because…there is a small advertisement at the bottom of the back of the postcard.
So because of the ad, this obviously isn’t the fanciest way to say thank you or send out an invitation, but it does work great to stay in touch with people…just for fun!
I have not! Thanks for the tip.
Hi –
I just wanted to let you know that I featured your project in my Friday Favorites and linked back to you. Great idea!
XOXO
Jen
I always try to do photo thank you notes but never thought about doing them postcard style each with their own picture. Clever!
This year I took B outside and took a picture of him holding red or green piece of paper with a letter on it to spell out Thank You once all of the pics were put together on the front of the card. I loved it but it was a lot of work. Next year, post cards for sure! Thanks!
Love this idea! I’m going to show it to our MOMS Club http://www.momsclub.org as a cheap thank you note option to consider. This is a great idea for our Brownie Girl Scout troop as well! Thanks for sharing this great idea! I used VistaPrint for our Christmas Cards which were cheap and turned out great, and I also ordered 250 free business cards with my order – sweet! Note to self to check out http://www.hippopost.com as suggested above.
I’m going to order my business cards from them this week.
What a great idea! I was just talking to my husband about being behind on our Christmas thank-yous, we will have to give this a try!
Visiting from Frugal Friday
Thanks for the great idea! Didn’t do thank you cards, but grandma is visiting and couldn’t find local postcards in the nearby stores. I found some pictures of local sites online, and printed 4 on a sheet of cardstock. Instant postcards!
Brilliant! Never would’ve thought of local postcards.