Thank You cards... for any old occasion!

This is a time-old tradition for baby shower, wedding and Christmas gifts, but why not expand on the old premise and send one out for other events, no matter how trivial! We don't have to thank someone just for giving you something - how about a Thank You for being YOU card?!

How about a "Thank you for such a fun play date!", addressed from your child to the other after a fun time had by all! You can also include a fun little invitation to the next play date. Kids love getting their very own mail. Or, if one of your friends invites you out and you have to turn them down, send them a nice "Thank you for thinking of me" card! You could even get more fun and include an IOU a girls night out coupon! Or, maybe just let someone know what it is about them you appreciate and send it to them when you think they may need some cheering up - everyone likes getting REAL mail that was actually personalized and hand-written (rather than the post on Facebook that everyone can see!).

Make your own!
An easy way to make your own cards is by recycling old gift bags - many of them have some cute designs or even a 3-D embellishment that looks hand made! Since most of the bags have a blank interior side, just grab your ruler, draw a rectangle with your desired design centered in one half of the rectangle (be aware of where you are going to put the fold of the card), cut it out, fold it, write your message on the blank side, and you're done!  You could also cut out little designs (or cut or pull off the embellishment on the bag) and glue them onto a blank card, or other recycled paper! 

If you're not the crafty type, you can have a whole bunch of Thank You cards all ready to go in your arsenal to be personalized and sent out in that day's mail! I like having all sorts of cards ready for any event that comes my way! - there is this really cool pack of handmade-looking cards at Costco with cards for any occasion.  Paper Cultere (click here) is a great company that focuses on using recycled paper, and they have some super cute designs!  Another place, Vista Print, I was also able to get 100 FREE personalized address labels - YES! : ) Go here and click on "Free Products" on the left, under "Business" or "Home & Family" categories! They have 100 free cards there for you to try!  Even if you don't want to do the Thank You card idea, you could get 100 free Christmas cards out of the way... or cute address labels or business cards! Woo Hoo! I just ordered some super-cute address labels!