Writing Thank You Notes

Since we have just come out of the most gift-giving time of the year, it only stands to reason that many people will be writing thank you notes.  Times have changed, however.  With social media, email and texts, people don't do the handwriting thing like they used to anymore and that's OK.  As long as people are being thanked, it's all good.  However, I am still one who tries to hand write her thank you notes, if at all possible.  I don't always succeed but, I do try :).

Part of the reason I like to write thank you notes; aside from the fact that the practice was drilled into my head as a child by my mom; is because I love to go out and buy pretty note cards.  I've always loved looking at lovely cards, invitations, papers, etc.  I can't seem to help myself!  That must be why I still hang onto the old way of letter writing.

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Anyway, on January 2nd I headed to my local Paper Store to purchase some thank you cards since it is the closest and best stocked store in my area.  I also wanted to buy some New Year cards.  I hadn't sent out all of my Christmas cards in time and I still had a few friends left on my list I needed to connect with.   I found these in a six-card pack and thought they would work.  They are somewhat flashy with a nice sentiment.  I even managed to get them into the mail the next day.  The thank you notes, on the other hand, are taking a bit longer to get done. Hopefully, they will be done by NEXT Christmas!

 These were the thank you cards I ended up purchasing.  They were in the after Christmas section of The Paper Store.  I liked the artwork and thought the verse was nice, simple and sweet. They were just right for the job at hand. 

As I started the task of writing the notes, I began to wonder if there was such a thing as thank you card etiquette.  As it turns out, there is.  I was worried that I was showing my age by sending them out at all.  Most likely, I should simply send a text or and email, right?  I did a little research online and discovered that handwritten notes are "by and far" the best way to convey thankfulness but, modern times call for modern messages and with the busyness of our lives, texts and emails are perfectly fine.  Well, that was good, I thought.  It's still OK to write thank you notes.  I'm not showing my age... totally... anyway.     

With that issue settled, I decided to see what kind of thank you note options there are out in the world.  For that, I looked to Etsy.  I wish I had thought of Etsy for this purpose weeks ago because the options are pretty cool.

Check out a few I found!

This one is from Printstitchandpaste .  The cards are sold in a set of eight. I love the colors and the font type. The shipping for the cards is very reasonable and it is probably worth your while to choose a few different styles of cards just to have them on hand. After finding shops like this one on Etsy, I'm pretty sure I will be shopping from the comfort of my home the next time I need a special card or invitation.  There are so many wonderful choices and it is so convenient!  Just order and in a few days they arrive at your house.  Not bad.




What a cool idea this is from Your Blissful Day!  These are fill-in note cards for kids.  Isn't that a great idea for children?!  It makes everything easy for them and, at the same time, teaches kids how to express gratefulness.  Way to go Your Blissful Day!  Take a look at this shop for printables for every occasion.

Here is another printable from CAprintables.  I like the polka dots! These cards would be good for any occasion, don't you think? Since this is a printable like the one from Your Blissful Day, it means as soon as you make your purchase from the shop you are able to download the file to your computer. From there you are able to print it and you are ready to go.  I have done party invitations this way and it was really fun and convenient.  I worked with the shop owner and customized the invitation to my needs. Very cool!

I also found some really cute handmade cards at McCarty Originals.  I would have shown a photo of the cards but, I like to get the owner's permission before sharing pictures of their products in a post. As of this moment I haven't heard back from her so, the link to her shop will have to do.

I found one more shop that offered printables, as well.  Instead of regular cards, these printables are for thank you postcards. I thought that was a neat idea. Unfortunately, I didn't hear back from that shop owner either but, you can check out the postcard here. 

  

The other side of thank you notes is the receiving of thank you cards.  A funny thing happened while I was writing this post.  A thank you card arrived in the mail from my niece in California. 

She was thanking me for a gift I had sent her for Christmas.  You know it was really nice hearing from her and it was reassuring to know that she had received my gift.  It was also kind of neat to receive something other than a bill or flyer in the mail.  So I guess, in the end, my mother was right.  A handwritten note, when possible, is "by and far" the best way to convey thankfulness :).  (I must confess, however, the longer I take to write my thank you notes the greater the chance I'll be sending an email.  Ha!)

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