When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more. Artifact UprisingSnail mail holiday cards are a popular annual tradition and are a thoughtful way to express your family’s warmest wishes to friends and loved ones.
Whether they celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, or a combination of several different holidays, everybody loves to receive a greeting card. The holidays are approaching, and it’s not too early to think about ordering, especially if you want customized cards. We’ve made sure every pick in our guide has great options for Christmas, Hanukkah, and general holiday tidings.
We also looked at criteria like designs, customization options, print quality, paper quality, cost, ease of ordering, speed, and extra services. Our selection includes options to let you make cards with your own photos and pre-made boxed cards. Find out more about how Insider Reviews tests and reviews home products.
The best holiday cards in 2022:Simply to ImpressSimply to ImpressSimply to Impress has card options galore, with high-quality printing on sturdy paper for a reasonable price. Simply to Impress boasts a huge variety of categories in the holiday section. Right away, you choose to focus your search according to what you’re looking for.
You can select sub-headings like “photo” or “non-photo cards,” “religious Christmas cards,” “Hanukkah cards,” “baby’s first Christmas,” and, my personal favorite, “from the pet. ” It’s also one of the few mainstream stationery companies to have a Kwanzaa card section. You can also narrow down options easily by checking boxes like how many (if any) photos you’d like to display on your cards, what color card stock you’d like to use, and even what fancy shape or extra detailing you would like.
There are add-ons to cards, such as metallic foil detailing options for a pop of something special in your cards. These extra details will add to the final cost somewhat, but overall, Simply to Impress keeps prices reasonable, especially for the quality of the cards. It’s definitely not the cheapest option on this list, but the bang-for-buck ratio is high.
Worth a look:MintedMintedMinted takes care of every part of the card creation and delivery process. Minted offers highly customizable cards with plenty of photo and non-photo options. It’s not the absolute best photo printing in the business, but all the images are clear, paper options are high-quality, and the designs are lovely.
Minted sources its designs from a wide-ranging team of artists and sometimes highlights their bios alongside their card designs. This way, you can support a unique artist’s work while still getting all the benefits of ordering from an easy online company. Minted also offers a few full-service benefits you can’t get everywhere else.
If you’re like most people, you don’t have a lot of extra time for licking 50 envelopes and hand-addressing each one, in addition to adding a personal message. Minted provides optional envelope-addressing and return-addressing in an attractive, script-like font. All you have to do is upload your address book.
You can even order customized postage for your full-service cards. Want a stamp of your cute little kid in elf ears? Done. Or maybe a traditional Christmas tree or snowy scene? No problem.
Minted is one of the only sites on our list that offers three-dimensional letterpress printing. It sends the prices way up, but this traditional lux mode of printing might be worth it if you’re a fan of the finer things in life. Worth a look:EtsyHansAtelier/EtsyWith Etsy, your friends and family can receive a unique piece of art from you in the mail.
You likely already know about Etsy, the popular online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods. But if you haven’t taken a look at some of the personalized stationery offerings lately, you’ll be amazed by the creative options for cards. Tons of incredible artists and craftspeople offer custom holiday card packages, including everything from an illustrated family portrait to letterpress cards showing your cat on Santa Claus’s body.
You can order personalized photo card packages that will be similar in style and quality to some of the other major retailers on this list. Etsy gives you the opportunity to hire your own artist to create something special for your family. The cost to have your own art created and printed in small batches is often more expensive than the template cards from other stores, but you’re directly supporting an artist when you order from Etsy.
Note that if you’re getting custom art created, printing and physical cards may not be included. You may have to make your own arrangements for printing. Also, the process may take longer than buying a more generic set of cards.
Also, the quality between craftspeople and their individual Etsy shops definitely varies, meaning you should shop around and read reviews by other customers before making your choice. Worth a look:Paper CulturePaper CultureFor personalized, eco-friendly holiday cards, Paper Culture is a great source. Paper Culture plants a tree for every order and uses sustainable and recycled materials for its cards.
Many options let you order between 10 and 1,000 cards. Artistically inclined shoppers can upload their own design, or Paper Culture can guide you through the process. For customizations, you’ll often get to choose from a few colors, opt for different messaging (for example, Happy holidays or Merry Christmas), and select the size.
Paper Culture also has some additional services where it can mail or address your cards for you for an extra fee. Worth a look:Artifact UprisingArtifact UprisingArtifact Uprising makes gorgeous custom cards with high-quality photos printed on them. Artifact Uprising, a specialized online photo and stationery service, has made a name for itself as an especially high-quality maker of photography books and prints.
Artifact Uprising’s holiday card selection includes more than 100 designs and five foil colors, including some hand-lettered options, all printed on 100% recycled paper. Cards come in sets of 10 with envelopes included. Many of the designs are simple and understated, making for a very elegant base that will allow your family photo to be the star of the show.
You can add return address and recipient address printing for a fee to make things easier on your writing hand this year. The company also makes personalized envelope seal stickers for that extra touch. All the extras do add to the cost, however.
With Artifact Uprising, you’re also supporting a women-owned family company — this top holiday card pick was founded by two photographer sisters. Worth a look:PapierPapierWith a wide array of photo and non-photo options, Papier has holiday cards for nearly every style. We like that Papier has plenty of traditional cards in addition to its decently sized number of photo styles.
In either case, you can add some customization and personalization to your cards. While the selection isn’t staggering (there are just over 300 holiday-themed cards), some filters can help you narrow it down further. You can choose by color, designer, photo option, and style.
When you find a design you like, whether it’s a Christmas kangaroo or gingerbread house, you’ll be able to alter the interior message, including the font, and add your name. In some cases, you can upload a photo to the card’s interior, too. Worth a look:Rifle Paper Co.
Rifle Paper Co. For chic holiday cards, you can’t go wrong with Rifle Paper Co. ‘s inimitable style.
If you love Rifle Paper Co. for its florals, patterns, and pretty palettes, you’ll adore the company’s holiday card selection. There are only a handful of cards to search through, most of which have traditional imagery in lush hues.
Elves, nutcrackers, and trees abound. But there are a few more tongue-in-cheek offerings, like a skiing Santa or holiday flamingo. Most cards come with gold envelopes that promise something special inside.
You can buy Rifle Paper Co. ‘s cards individually or in packs of eight. They’re not the most affordable cards, but they’re definitely memorable.
Worth a look: Amazon PrintsAmazonAmazon Prints offers plenty of Christmas, Hanukkah, and holiday cards for those on a budget. Years ago, you might not have thought of a giant retailer like Amazon as a great place to get something as personal as a set of holiday cards. Nowadays, Amazon has a share in pretty much every market, including that of lower-cost custom cards.
Amazon Prints has cards from a handful of companies available, including Aperion, Kramer Drive, A Fresh Bunch, Tumbalina, and Vanilla Print. Starting at about 75 cents per photo card without any extras, you can choose from dozens of template designs. Amazon does have a smaller selection of designs, shapes, and paper types than most of the other top picks.
But if your holiday card goals are fairly simple, the quality of the prints is perfectly good and goes for a great price. Note: To view the selections below, you’ll have to log in to Amazon Prints with your Amazon account. HallmarkAmazonHallmark has a vast selection of traditional boxed Christmas cards as well as some sweet and silly choices.
One of the biggest names in greeting cards, Hallmark naturally has a huge breadth of options for the holidays, especially if you want boxed cards. Helpful filters on Hallmark’s site let you shop for cute, heartfelt, and religious cards. You can also look for character cards, from Peanuts to “The Mandalorian.
” Unlike many of the other options on this list, Hallmark’s cards aren’t customizable. But they are widely available in retailers like Target, Amazon, and Walmart. Worth a look:Check out our other holiday guidesTargetThe best places to buy wrapping paper onlineThe best Christmas tree ornamentsThe best places to buy Christmas decorationsThe best holiday lightsWhere to buy live Christmas trees onlineThe best artificial Christmas treesRead the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/guides/home/best-christmas-cards
