Are you looking for ideas to make your family Christmas newsletter more fun and interesting to read this year? Are you getting tired of your usual Christmas newsletter and you’re ready to try something new and different? Or are you thinking of sending a Christmas newsletter for the first time and are looking for inspiration on how to write your very first family newsletter?
Hello! I’m Caset and I’m the designer of all the Christmas newsletter templates in my Etsy shop, The Fourth Bud Printables and Templates. Today, I have some ideas for you that can spice up your Family Christmas Newsletter. These ideas came from my years of experience in creating Christmas newsletter templates for my Etsy shop that have sold over 5,000 holiday newsletter templates (and counting) to families. I’ll be using examples from my own designs and I hope that they will inspire you in writing and creating your next newsletter. Let’s begin!
1. Create a list.
Instead of the usual traditional letter format, try listing the highlights of your year. I personally find it so much easier and much more fun to write a newsletter by coming up with a list. I enjoy reminiscing the past year without the pressure of having to write it well, which I always feel when I write an essay kind of newsletter. Also, don’t you think a list makes it easy and fun to read, too? I’m sure your family and friends would love to hear what your top 10 events were. And, you also don’t need to have exactly 10 highlights. You could say … “7 Highlights Of Our Year”, “Our Family’s Top 8 Events”, or “15 Favorite Events”.
When you start your list, you can be as brief as you want, such as …
“Carter lost his first tooth!“
Or you can add more details after each item ….
“Carter lost his first tooth! He was so happy to have the tooth fairy visit us for the first time. He even wrote a letter to the tooth fairy asking to leave him his tooth. Guess what, the tooth fairy happily obliged!”
2. Forget paragraphs, create sections.
Try separating your paragraphs into sections. You could have a section for the Top 5 Events, Travels, Pets, Favorite event this year, and even a section for an update on each family member. When you do it this way, your readers can quickly scan the page and read what’s most interesting to them first.
3. Make it look like a newspaper.
Instead of the usual letter format, create your own newspaper. Give it a title like “The Smith Chronicles” or “The Jones Family Gazette”. Write fun headlines and include photos, not just text.
4. Create a photo journal.
If you’re using Word or Pages or Google Docs, why not insert your photos in your document. Include photos of your summer vacation, of your child’s dance performance, and of all the other events from this year. Just place a brief caption on each photo, and there you go, that’s your newsletter! No time to create your photo journal from scratch on Word? The examples below are actually editable Adobe PDF templates, where you simply enter your information in the spaces provided, SAVE and PRINT! They come preformatted so you don’t have to worry about formatting while you enter all your text and information. Just have fun writing all your events! All you need are your photos resized to the required format (landscape, portrait or square) and of course, your text.
5. Use icons, emojis or other graphics related to the topic.
I’ve been seeing a lot of beautiful Christmas newsletters using icons and other graphics circulating on Pinterest. They are, in fact, how I first got inspired to create my own family newsletter and how I got started in my Etsy shop of Christmas newsletter templates. Using images and icons along with your topic can make your Christmas newsletter more visually interesting and fun to read.
6. Handwrite it!
It’s time to put your nice collection of pens and markers to use! It’s kind of rare to receive a handwritten letter these days, so that by itself will make your Christmas newsletter interesting and special.
If you’re sending it to a handful of people, you could handwrite each letter. Otherwise, consider photocopying it. I know that sounds like an oxymoron — handwriting it to make it personal and then photocopying it! But if you don’t mind that, I say why not! Especially if your handwriting is so amazingly beautiful or if you know how to do calligraphy.
Also, you don’t have to strictly follow a formal letter format. If you’re in a creative mood, doodle on it, make some words large or in capital letters for emphasis, practice your creative lettering.
Below, Artist Lisa Congdon shares her handwritten and hand drawn 2012 year in review in the book More Creative Lettering by Jenny Doh.
If this style appeals to you, check out these books below. They are filled with beautiful ideas on creative lettering that you can apply in handwriting your newsletter.
Creative Lettering by Jenny Doh
More Creative Lettering by Jenny Doh
Happy Mail by Eunice and Sabrina Moyle.
7. Create a Christmas newsletter brochure.
Use a family photo as your brochure cover and let your recipients unfold to reveal your amazing year.
8. Use a different paper size.
It’s not required to always write your newsletter on an 8.5×11 letter size paper. How about using a 5×7 cardstock, or a 4 x 9.25 which fits a standard #10 letter envelope as shown in the examples below.
I hope you are now excited and motivated to write your next family newsletter! The most important thing is that you’re having fun writing and creating it so you can keep this Christmas tradition going and be able to capture and preserve the events that mattered most to you and your family every year. If any of the ideas inspire you, I encourage you to try to do something different and unique this year. Create your own FUN Christmas newsletter. Are you ready? Happy newsletter writing!
The examples used above are Christmas Newsletter Templates sold as digital downloads in my Etsy shop, The Fourth Bud Printables and Template. I’ve already done the work of designing the layout to showcase your year (think of me as your personal designer for your Christmas newsletters!). All you need to do is to type in your memories. May these Christmas newsletters and year in review templates make the holidays a little easier and more fun for you!
FREE DOWNLOAD
GUIDE TO WRITING A NEWSLETTER THAT'S FUN TO READ
If you’re thinking of sending a family newsletter this year, this FREE guide can help you to easily write a family newsletter that you’ll love and that will also delight your family and friends. You may just find some helpful and useful insights here whether it’s your first time to write a newsletter or you’ve already been sending one every year.
