To make your letter in the shape of a tree, you set your text to center alignment and then you a manual return at the end of each line to make each one successively longer than the next. To give it even more appearance of a tree, you can make your font green. Advanced users who have Christmas fonts on their computer or even a font like Zingbats or Wing Dings may want to break up the text by placing colored circles, stars or other objects in the middle of the text to represent decorations on the tree.

For more instructions, see How to Create a Christmas Letter in the Shape of a Christmas Tree at Christmas Letter Tips.com.

More Creative Christmas Letter Ideas

“We never seem to write letters anymore,” I complained to my husband.

He glanced up. “You can fix that. Christmas is coming – perfect time for a family letter.” He returned to work, leaving me to ponder how to begin such a project.

For those of you who, like me, are not natural letter-writers, below is a list of family Christmas letter ideas. Hope they help if you decide to start a new tradition this year.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!
While you can fit a few photos into a newsletter, more is better for your family Christmas letter. Try including a CD of favorite photos and special events. For more pizzazz, try using online services such as Smilebox. You can pick out a background and song to lend emotion to your slideshow. Then have fun and create! Include a copy with each mailed newsletter (or at least with Grandma and Grandpa’s). You can also share your creation with email recipients online.

The Countdown!
David Letterman loves them, Johnny Carson loved them, and we all love them too. The Top Ten List is the hit of the show! Include it in your newsletter or family Christmas letter. Ideas for lists range from sports activities for the kids to best moments on vacation. Include baby’s top ten new words, or your kindergartner’s top ten favorite new books, movies or games. The top ten dumbest/cutest things said in the household is sure to be a hit, but keep careful notes through-out the year to make sure you get them all down!

Make Them Laugh!
Ask each family member to include their favorite joke, riddle or pun. Sharing humor is always a family favorite. For humorous holiday jokes, search online or visit Funny-Christmas.com.

Use a Template!
Trying to format everything just right can lead to frustration, un-Christmas-like obscenities and un-mailed letters. Using a template makes layout easy and allows for more time to write and less to try to fit-it-all-in. You can search for printable Christmas letterhead online or for less than $4, download an awesome Christmas letter template right here at Christmas Letter Tips.com. Using these formats, you can easily summarize important evens of the year, insert family photos and get it done in time to get it mailed. Or, to save a tree and ensure on-time delivery, email your newsletter.

However you choose to share your lives with family members far away, it will be appreciated all year long. Keeping the family tie alive may be the best gift you give or receive!

1. Record what you want to say.
If the idea of writing intimidates you, try talking instead. Grab a digital voice recorder and pretend that you’re talking to a friend you haven’t seen in the past year. But you’re waiting at a stoplight so you need to be succinct. In two minutes, tell him or her about the highlights of your year. Record your two-minute “conversation” and then play it back. Use that as the basis for your letter. It will help your “voice” come through in your writing. When you’ve made your edits on paper, read it out loud again to see if it still “sounds like you.”

2. Make it colorful.
They say a picture is worth a thousands words, and it’s quite true. People LOVE looking at images. Scan a few photos into your computer and incorporate them into your letter. This is easy to do with word processing software like Microsoft Word, or you can buy a digital Christmas letter template like the one shown here to help you create a colorful newsletter.

3. Add a personal note.
No matter how fun and informative your Christmas letter is, people still enjoy having a person touch. So get your letters done in plenty of time to add a quick one- or two-line note to the bottom of each one. It will let your readers know you care.

Finally, just remember that you’re not painting the Sistine chapel or writing the next great novel. You don’t need to impress your friends and family. Just have fun, and they will, too!

For more ideas, visit Christmas Letter Tips.com.

Many people think you need to pay a Santa letter service for this special touch, but it’s easy to do yourself. You can save money by using a Santa letter template to create your own printable Santa letter at home and then sending it to Alaska for the North Pole postmark. All you’ll need to pay is the cost of postage to and from the North Pole.

The official North Pole postmark from North Pole, AK is available every year from Thanksgiving to Christmas. There’s no additional fee for the postmark. You just need to be sure to put enough postage on your letter to get it to Alaska and back. And the service isn’t just for Santa letters – you can send any of your holiday cards and family Christmas letters here for a special touch of Christmas magic, too.

If you’d like to add a North Pole postmark to your child’s Santa letter, the process is simple. First you’ll need create your letter from Santa Claus. There are plenty of places to get great looking printable Santa letters online. Once you’ve got your letter, seal it in an envelope addressed to your child and affix regular first-class postage. Then place THAT envelope in a larger one and send it to this address:

North Pole Christmas Cancellation
Postmaster
4141 Postmark Drive
Anchorage, AK 99530-99998

The postal elves at the North Pole will open the outer envelope, stamp the inner envelope with the special North Pole, AK postmark, and send it through the regular mail service to the address on the inner envelope.

If you want to be sure not to disappoint your child, be sure to get your Santa letter in the mail by the end of the first week in December. That should ensure arrival in Anchorage no later than December 15. Letters that are received by this date should make it back to their final destination by Christmas with regular first-class postage. If you can’t get your letter to the North Pole by December 15, you’ll need to use Priority Mail on the inner envelope to make sure Santa’s letter doesn’t arrive after the holidays.

If you’re planning to purchase a cut Christmas tree, consider getting a living tree instead. You can find live trees during the holidays at many nurseries. Then after Christmas, you can plant it in your tree or call a local school or the parks department to see if they’ll take it to replant.

For lighting the tree, be sure to decorate with LED Christmas tree lights that are now available at most retail stores. You can’t tell the difference in LED lights from traditional lights as far as looks go yet they are helping to conserve the earth’s energy by saving power.

You can also purchase LED light strings and lighted decorations for the outside of your home and your yard. Use an automatic timer to make sure your lights don’t go on before sunset and you don’t forget to turn them off.

To green your Christmas cards and letters, shop for recycled Christmas cards and use a Christmas letter template to create your own holidays at home on recycled paper that you can purchase from the local office store.

When it’s time to start your Christmas shopping, grab your reusable shopping bags along and leave the plastic ones at the store. Whenever possible, choose eco Christmas gifts by looking for locally made items or gifts made from recycled products or sustainable materials. If you’re buying toys or other electronics that require batteries, include rechargeable batteries and a charger to make it easy for your gift recipient to keep it charged in an eco-friendly way.

And remember that not every gift has to be purchased at the store. Some of the best gifts are homemade. Homemade gift baskets or gift jars make great gifts without contributing to landfill waste.

With these few simple steps, you can turn your white Christmas into a green one!

The US Postal Service found a way to liven up our holiday mail years again when they issued the first Christmas stamp, and today you can still count on the USPS to release holiday-themed postage every winter. But now you no longer have to wait for the post office to get festive postage for your mail.

Today you can create your own personalized USPS stamps or buy some of the many designs available on sites such as Zazzle. This North Pole stamp is a great example of what’s available.

This stamp shows Santa’s workshop at the North Pole surrounded by snow and trees. Use it to liven up your Christmas cards and letters or add another touch of magic to a Santa letter.

You can add even more fun by getting an official North Pole postmark from North Pole, AK.

The book’s website says, “You can quickly learn to transform a traditional letter into one that is so entertaining that even the busiest holiday reveler can’t lay it aside.” In fact, I enjoyed reading all of the sample letters inside the book, despite the fact that I don’t know the author or her family. Colbrunn’s creative examples prove that holiday letters don’t have to be boring or bragging.

The author doesn’t just give a list of ideas. She gives real examples of actual letters she has sent over the years, from the 1988 Diary letter to the 2005 End of Year Statistics letter and many in between.

Personally, I really enjoyed the 1995 Monopoly-like trivia game, which included a game board with squares around the outside with answers such as “Surprise Un-Birthday Party” and trivia cards you had to match up, such as “Stick around longer at Cousin Corrie’s and Christy’s graduation party and it magically turns into Grandma Chamber’s 75th Surprise Birthday Party…” (At least, I think that was the card that went with that square. There’s no cheat sheet in the book!)

I also enjoyed the very creative Christmas letter that was a compilation of fake letters to Santa and the “2003 by the Numbers” letter that included info such as:

3 times we visited the Toledo Zoo with friends and family. The kids liked the monkeys best
30 toddler teeth brushed at the beginning of the year
60 toddler teeth brushed at the end of the year
98 hours per week that Jen works as a full-time triplet mom

The book inlcudes a brief explanation of each creative Christmas letter and then offers work space for you to make notes for your own version of each one. Some of the other examples you’ll find inside:

- List letters to highlight your family news as top 10 TV shows or best selling books.
- Format letters to disguise your update as a crossword puzzle or a board game. (Both very fun!)
- Perspective letters that appear to be written by the baby, the family pet or a guardian angel.

There’s something in here for everyone. After reading Ideas for Writing Creative Christmas Letters That People Are Actually Eager to Read, you will almost assuredly find at least one creative Christmas letter idea you can use for your own holiday updates. Have fun!

More links:
Creative Christmas Letter Ideas

How to Write Christmas Letters People Will Actually Enjoy Reading

(This article originally appeared on HubPages: Review: Ideas for Writing Creative Christmas Letters by Janet Colbrunn)

The city has been offering a picture postmark every year since 1983. Each year’s unique postmark is designed by a local high school art student as part of an annual contest.

“The holiday postmark has become one of the most popular in the nation over the past two decades,” said Santa Claus Postmaster Marian Balbach in a 2008 USPS press release. “Postal patrons world-wide request the picture postmark. Also, many customers traditionally drive hundreds of miles to personally obtain the cancellation on their holiday mail.”

In 2008, the Santa Claus post office expected half a million pieces of mail to come through the office between November 15 and December 20. During the rest of the year, the post office processes only about 13,000 pieces of mail per month.

The postmaster offers these guidelines for individuals interested in getting a Santa postmark:

- Allow at least a two-inch by four-inch space in the stamp area for the picture postmark;
- Have postage applied to cards or letters before bringing or mailing them to the post office;
- The picture postmark is only available during the month of December;
- In order to ensure a good postmark imprint please do not enclose large or bulky items in your holiday mail (i.e.; reindeer food, snow flakes, glitter, stickers, etc.);
- There is no charge for postmarking—however there is a limit of 50 picture postmarks (hand cancellations) per person per day.

Customers who wish to have the Santa Claus Post Office mail Christmas cards should package them—with postage stamps affixed—in a sturdy envelope or box, and mail to:

Santa Claus Postmark
Postmaster
Santa Claus Station
Santa Claus, IN 47579-9998

Make sure you send your envelopes early. The post office should receive them no later than December 15 to ensure delivery to your recipients by Christmas.

The best part about the service is that you can create as many letters as you like with your annual membership, which is just $14.99 for a whole year. So if you’ve got two or more kids, nieces, nephews, or grandkids, you can create Christmas letters from Santa Claus for all of them for one low price.

Instaletter makes it easy to customize both the text and the artwork. First they give you several types of letters from which to choose, such as letters for kids who made Santa’s good list or just visited Santa. Then you can select up to three types of text customization to add to the letter (friends’ names, accomplishments, hometown, etc), and see a preview of how it will look in the final letter.

Once you’re happy with the text, you can choose from a variety of Christmas backgrounds for your letter. You can even add to the background artwork by dragging and dropping images of Santa, elves, reindeer, Christmas trees and more. It’s easy to create just the look you want. The quality of the artwork is great, and you can also create an envelope to go along with the letter.

If you’re looking for a truly customized Christmas letter from Santa, try Instaletter.

So how did this tradition get started? Canada is widely credited with issuing the first Christmas stamp. In December 1898, Canada issued a 2-cent stamp celebrating the introduction of imperial penny postage and inscribed with the words “XMAS 1898.” But it wasn’t really released to celebrate the holidays. Rather, the Xmas inscription came about quite accidentally. Postmaster William Mulock commented to Queen Victoria that the stamp should be released in November “to honor the Prince” (i.e., the Prince of Wales, who was born in November). But when he could see she was not at all pleased with the idea and asked which prince he was referring to, Mulock replied, “Why, the Prince of Peace, ma’am”. Hence, when the stamp was issued in December, it bore not only the image of a world map, but also the words “XMAS 1898″ at the bottom.

A few other countries issued some type of Christmas stamp in the 1930s and ’40s (some without holiday images and some to raise money for a specific cause), but it wasn’t until 1943 that Hungary issued the first Christmas-themed stamp that was sold specifically as a holiday stamp to be used on seasonal mailings.

The United States didn’t issue its first Christmas stamp until 1962. It was a 4-cent stamp that featured a wreath, two candles, and the words “Christmas 1962″. Earlier stamps that had conveyed a holiday spirit had proved popular during the holidays in previous years, such as the 1958 Forest Conservation stamp showing a deer in a clearing in the woods and the 1960 stamp showing a stylized green tree resembling a fir, commemorating the 5th World Forest Congress. So the post office was anticipating a large interest in the first Christmas stamp. They ordered 350 million copies, the largest number ever produced up until that time for a special stamp. But it wasn’t enough. When the initial supply ran out, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had to work around the clock to meet the demand. By the end of the 1962 holiday season, one billion of the first Christmas stamps were sold.

The US Postal Service has issued new Christmas stamps every year since then, and now it’s also possible to create your own personalized USPS stamps for the holidays with online services that make it easy to use your own photos and images.

1. May peace, love and prosperity be your gift this holiday season and throughout the year.

2. Merry Christmas and warm wishes for a wonderful New Year.

3. The gift of love. The gift of peace. The gift of happiness. May all these be yours at Christmas

4. May God fill your life with love, joy and peace this Christmas season and throughout the New Year.

5. Sending you warm wishes for the holidays and for health, happiness and prosperity throughout the year.

6. Warmest wishes for a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year.

7. May joy, faith and love be your gifts at Christmas and your treasures in the coming year.

8. Wishing you and your loved ones peace, joy and prosperity during the holidays and throughout the year.

9. May all the blessings of Christmas be with you today and always.

10. Wishing you the special gifts of this holiday season – peace, joy and lasting happiness.

11. Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a happy New Year.

12. May the wonder of that first Christmas be with you always.

13. God bless you at Christmas and always.

14. May your heart and home be filled with the true spirit of Christmas today and always.

15. Wishing you many blessings this Christmas season.

16. May God’s love surround you at Christmas time and throughout the year.

17. May the wonder and glory of that first Christmas Day fill your life with love and hope this holiday season and always.

18. Warmest wishes for a wonderful Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

19. Wishing you the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of God’s love at Christmas and always.

20. May the holiday season bring you much joy and happiness to you and your loved ones.

21. May the joy and peace of Christmas fill you now and throughout the year.

22. Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy new year.

23. Wishing you happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year.

24. Sending you season’s greetings and good wishes throughout the year.

25. May the spirit of the season fill your home with peace, your heart with love and your life with happiness.