I’m not sure that many people send birthday cards, anniversary cards, the random holiday (Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween?!) except maybe to kids or for their annual Christmas card list! I guess I might be one of a few who still loves sending and receiving mail - fun mail, not bills, obviously. I still love a magazine subscription - and obviously getting packages in the mail. I was inspired by a Laurel Denise Instagram post earlier this year to plan out your greeting cards for the year. Yes, for the WHOLE YEAR. Duh. Why didn’t I ever think of this before?

This inspired me to host my very first “Let’s Get Organized” workshop at a local coffee shop (shout-out to the Reister’s Daughter — not only with great tea and pastries — but a great cozy environment to work in!). My goal for this workshop was to have focused time to work on whatever part of this process you wanted to do! And no matter when YOU read this post - it’s never too late to start spreading some joy through mail. :)

Let’s Get Organized - shall we?

This is MY step-by-step process. By NO MEANS do you need to do ALL these steps - but it helped my brain to break it down step-by-step, and to tackle the “boring” steps first to help get. it. done. Here we go —

FIRST - The Boring Admin:

This list mainly assumes you are sending birthday cards - but get creative! If you want to do other seasonal cards, add reminders to yourself at this point.
Make a list of WHO you want to send cards to. Bonus: Do you want to remember who you sent them to next year?? Then save this list in your Notes app, Excel, or Google Sheets to remind you.
Add their birthdays to the list - even better, sort the list by the birthday to help you prioritize getting the cards done.
Add the mailing addresses to the list!
Buy Stamps :) Omg - I didn’t realize how many fun stamps there are available. I would recommend buying one sheet at a time and go back in a few months and see what’s new. OR if you don’t think that is fun - buy a LOT now since they are forever stamps and you won’t need to buy more until you run out!
- You can certainly buy online, but I tend to go into my local post office and flip through their options!
Finally, stamp & address ALL the envelopes you want to send over the next few months (or the whole year! whatever time frame makes you happy!).

NOW - Let’s get the cards together!!

Buy cards —- check out Etsy, Target, Home Goods, Paper Source, local boutiques tend to have local artisan cards as well - so you can keep your eye out next time you’re shopping.

Some local Maryland artists who’s work I like are: Stephanie Madsen and Annie Howe

OR get creative — and make your cards! I also tend to have extra envelopes from Christmas card mailing that I’ve hoarded over the years - or you can buy some from Staples, Amazon, etc.!
This link takes you to my Pinterest page - I have pinned a few different boards of watercolor inspo for birthday cards, thank you cards, and Valentine’s Day inspo. I really try to pick one’s that look simple but stylish - since I’m no watercolor expert, by any means!!

Lastly, set yourself up for success!

I use a portfolio (linked below!) to label by months (two at a time for this particular portfolio), and put in all my envelopes. I also used sticky notes (linked below) to label when I needed to mail them. This portfolio is in a prominent place where I won’t forget about it! Last thing you would want to do is get these cards done and then forget to mail them!
One other consideration is that you can wait to write your message in the card until it’s time to mail! I know that since I’m doing blank cards, I don’t necessarily want to write in it until it’s time to send - but that’s just me! :)