Comments on: How to Save Money, Express a Wonderful Sentiment, and Defeat the Greeting Card Companies All at Once!

By: Birthday Dialer

Birthday Dialer — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:10:19 +0000

A Sexy New Way to “Happy Birthday” Your Friends for Free

BirthdayDialer.com is an incredible new service that allows you to select from a menu of fun musical birthday greetings and send one directly to your friends phones for free. It’s fun new way to wish someone a happy birthday. If you ask me, a phone call is always better than a card.

By: lovelly

lovelly — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:55:03 +0000

very nice idea i’ll also try to make it.but improvement could be made.from many days i was looking for a card.but today i have got it.thankyou

By: felix

felix — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:22:52 +0000

I thought you were talking about e-cards… :)

By: Caroline

Caroline — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:27:17 +0000

Probably takes longer – but fun: I grab free comic books (there’s usually a pile of awful ones at comic book shops) and cut out funny frames to paste in cards (I use completely blank cards for this). They end up being hilarious, especially if they have nothing to do with each other but fit in the same scenario. I suppose you could use the comics in the paper as well, but it’s definitely funnier when the characters are obscure. Maybe I’m crude, but I like to make these cards for almost any occasion.

By: Ann at One Bag Nation

Ann at One Bag Nation — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:02:32 +0000

Find a 6-year-old, some construction paper and markers, and you’re good to go!

By: Gayle RN

Gayle RN — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:58:16 +0000

I have a slightly different approach to what to write inside a greeting card. I always keep blank greeting cards in hand of nature scenes by a local artist, which are actually quite inexpensive. On the inside I will put a bible verse and then handwrite a prayer for the receipient. I have found people will keep these cards for years, as they are very personal.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:59:15 +0000

If you are going to use someone else’s words, you need to give them credit in your card. Otherwise, that is another type of theft. As is “forgetting” the card in your purse. I have often turned around and gone back into the store to pay for forgotten items. Otherwise, it is stealing. And no judge is going to give you a walk because of the cards you pay for and leave behind in the store.

By: Gigi

Gigi — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:11:07 +0000

I love making “home-made” cards. I also use scrapbooking supplies. Paper Wishes has a kit they call “Personal Shopper” available for card-making. Great kit…all the supplies you need except for glue & pop-dots. If you’re not inspired by the thought of making your own cards from total scratch, check out their supplies at paperwishes.com. Everyone I’ve ever given a card to has loved it and some have gone so far as to frame them. Hand-made cards are much more beautiful than store-bought. I even have some friends who want me to start a business! hmmmm

By: Lenore

Lenore — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:40:45 +0000

Like most things, I think the key is compromise and appropriateness. My relatives and close friends are happy with just about any card, so I make or buy them for a dollar or less, adding personal sentiments if I have something to say. Sometimes I skip the card entirely and simply write on the gift bag’s tag. Even for a VERY special occasion like my parents’ 50th anniversary, I found a cheap card with plenty of “bling” that was more than appropriate. My handwriting is pathetic, but the people who love me don’t mind. One of my most treasured old cards is from an aunt who had suffered a stroke and could barely scrawl her name.
For professional colleagues or less intimate acquaintances, I look for fancier cards at dollar stores or party outlets. If that fails, I’ll buy from discount, drug, department or (heaven forbid) Hallmark stores. One of my bosses was notoriously snooty, so I always spent more on her, knowing she’d flip the card over to read the price. When I found some with indecipherable barcodes that looked great but cost 59 cents, that was all she received from then on. I think she liked them better because they had little jewels or fabric embellishments.
People impressed by labels and commercial ploys annoy me to no end. Expecting others to cater to your materialism is the tackiest behavior of all.

By: EJ

EJ — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:14:40 +0000

I agree about not buying cards. I make all of mine. With a computer and printer plus a batch of nice paper bought in bulk from a discount store you can have your own greeting card shop right from home. There’s no need to buy the fancy blank card stock. Any nice heavyweight paper works great.

If you’re not feeling creative, invest in a card making program and personalize the cards to fit your situation.

By: nebula61

nebula61 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:40:00 +0000

Sorry Trent, but I’d prefer the Hallmark card to those song lyrics!! Why not take the best of both worlds and find a beautiful card and still write your own poetry/song/message in it? That way if one fails to impress or touch their hearts, maybe the other will!

By: Pam Munro

Pam Munro — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:01:34 +0000

For those who are more conventional and prefer store-bought cards – I look for deals on greeting cards at thrift shops and always have some on stock! (There are also sometimes sales on cards at a favorite local gift shop!) I also use notecards – often from the 99 Cent Store – or other deals – and write in a greeting – Using calligraphy pens in various colors is another added touch. I also like to slip in little charms or other small gifts in the cards so that it is more of a present! You have to know who you are sending the card to! Check out my frugal blog at http://www.myfrugallife.com/blog_pamphyila

By: Chiara

Chiara — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:34:59 +0000

P.S.
Ooh, on that note, I bet certain movie quotes would really spark for some people (I’m thinking of them now)! I’m actually feeling like cards could be fun, instead of being something to make me feel like a loser when I forget.

But, I guess the point is really to know your audience – someone really convinced of the higher value of a “store-bought” card is unlikely to ever change or not feel slighted by other efforts. (Marketing works!)

By: April

April — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:24:22 +0000

How can people say they aren’t at all interested in receiving a handmade card? First, I always thought it was the thought that counted, and recipients should always express gratitude, not dictate what they should be given.

Second, my mom makes gorgeous vintage-inspired cards that are far more lovely to look at than anything I’ve seen at Hallmark. Open your minds, people.

By: Chiara

Chiara — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:41:57 +0000

My husband and his parents are total “card people.” My family is not at all (first of all, for many years we couldn’t afford food, much less Hallmark). We always call each other on special occasions.

When I started dating my husband, I started getting these really schmancy cards with beautiful sentiments and tried not to look at the price. At first I never thought to give him a card and he insisted he understood that I came from a non-card family. Then I saw a Thanksgiving card from his parents on his mantle (Thanksgiving card???) and I figured out that it was part of his “love language,” I guess you would say. He spends forever picking out a card that will make his mom tear up (thus, success!). His parents send both of us, and now our daughter, cards for EVERY occasion. It’s funny because otherwise they are very frugal people.

I have been going along with it for a while now (and making *him* tear up with super-sentimental cards), but I’m inspired by ideas here – I have various ingredients for card-making and I’m going to go ahead and start doing it with my daughter. We did pave the way this year already – I used her little hand and footprints to make a posterboard birthday card from her to Daddy.

I like the song lyrics idea too – probably depends on the person. My husband is a huge music fan, so that should work really well.

By: Ram

Ram — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:40:50 +0000

eliminate pre-printed greeting cards…
I have be leveraging computer to give a personal touch on the cards I give, specially to my family members. At times I use Photodraw or such digital imaging tools to make a collage or something creative that takes a bit time, but at times, all I use is MSPaint (comes default in windows OS) and make penwritten picture as a greeting card, and add my own wordings as appropriate.
My brother has been using e-Cards (via 123greetings or yahoo/MSN greetings, with personalized wordings in there)
so eliminating pre-printed greeting cards, also meant, eliminating costs towards mailing stamps and save in time/resource to go over to the post office.

By: Carol

Carol — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:09:31 +0000

I get greeting cards at the grocery store. Pretty often I put the card into my purse for safekeeping until checking out with my other groceries – produce, canned goods, meat, etc. — wouldn’t want the card to be subjected to some meat juice or bent in between two canned goods and be ruined. Many times I forgot the card was in my purse – wala – free card……..

P.S. Sometimes if I remember the card needs scanned …… the bagger puts the card into a small brown bag separate from the groceries and I have forgotten it at the store after gathering up all my other bags. So the cards I forget in my purse equal the cards I’ve left behind at the store.

By: starrycynthia

starrycynthia — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:54:12 +0000

I’m another older female who LOVES a Hallmark or any other brand “purchased” card, and I am not interested at all in receiving handmade cards. I am one who does read all the sentinments, and often several times (plus I do like a small handwritten personalized sentiment, along with the sender’s name signed).

I suppose if someone were to write me an “original” piece of poetry or expression, that would be nice inside a purchased card, but I’m not interested in having someone collect others’ thoughts/word and then transcribe them into a card for me. I don’t see the point.

I keep my cards on display on a glass sofa table for about 10 days after the event for which they were received, and then I save them for several years. If the front cover is especially lovely and appeals to me, I may even display the card on my work desk just to look at the lovely picture.

I also absolutely love beautiful wrapping paper and bows and a beautifully wrapped package. It’s like receiving beautiful fresh flowers. So fragile and exquisite and to me expresses the time and true caring the other person has taken to please me, hopefully knowing my tastes.

Perhaps this making your own cards with stamping, etc., is what 20 and 30 somethings like, but I’m in my mid 50s and all my friends also enjoy purchased cards.

Just my 2 cents’ worth, but taking the trouble to find the “right” card for the person in question, shows true caring IMO. I am THRILLED when someone goes to the trouble to do that for me!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:35:00 +0000

Personally, if someone has bothered to give me a gift or a card that seems thoughtful enough. I don’t fret over store bought vs handmade as a measure of kindness, thoughtfulness, love, etc.

But if you really want to get picky, song lyrics aren’t very personal either-they’re someone else’s words. Nothing is more boring to me or unoriginal than people who use quotes and song lyrics to express themselves, day in and day out.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:31:31 +0000

I love making cards, although the cards I make usually cost as much if not more than a store bought. I love adding lace and embellishments etc. My mom and her best friend as a kid have been sending the same greeting card back and forth to each other for the last 30 or so years. Each year they sign their name again, add the date and hold it until the other ones birthday. I remember her showing this to me when I was young and I was fascinated by it. Really cool idea.