this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

Did you know you can send a picture in the mail with a postcard stamp? Because you totally can.
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Christmas cards can become a rather large expense especially if you wait until the last minute. This year and last year, in an effort to cut costs a bit, I sent out postcards instead of the traditional card in an envelope. Last year, I printed something out on my computer at home, this year I just had 4x6 prints made up and will be sticking a stamp straight on the backs of those.

There are a couple of different ways to do this. You could just send the picture as is, or manipulate it a bit to make it more card-like. I used a photo-editing software called GIMP (a free-ware version of Photoshop) and popped my picture into a ready-made template that I found here. You could also make a sign with your greeting and have the people in your picture hold it. Voila! Photo of the family and a greeting card in one. Picnik is a free web-based photo editing software that is very user friendly and could help you manipulate your photo as well.

If you decide you still want to include a Christmas letter, put the print in the envelope, you still may a bit printing 4x6 prints versus larger traditional Christmas cards!