does anybody know where i can get some nice all-purpose greeting cards cheaply? like in bulk, maybe? my family has this custom of sending every possible person a greeting card for every holiday (i spent $20 on cards alone at valentine’s day, plus stamps!)
i had been given some cards, but they are winter-themed, and so are really only good for maybe three holidays.
online or offline, anyone know?
My mom gets her at “party stores” like Factory Card Outlet or Great Party! Don’t know if you have anything like that in your area.
Since you’re looking for suggestions, I’ll send this over to IMHO.
thank you bibliophage, and sorry for posting in the wrong forum!
My local dollar store sells individual cards, so that’s a little bit cheaper than a major chain, but I’m thinking you want to go with a multi-pack of cards, which you should be able to find most anywhere (drug store, card shop, etc.) Hallmark sells some packages that work out to around 67 cents a card or so (of course they’re all the same card, so make sure none of your relatives “compare” them, haha.) Have you considered getting greeting card software? You just print them out on regular paper and only have to buy envelopes. (You can use the envelopes that come with the crappy cards that charities send you.)
IMHO this is really weird.
Why not send fewer cards? Or if saving money is the issue just draw a flower on a scrap of paper and deliver it by hand? I can’t understand why you spent twenty bucks for Valentine’s if it made you wish you hadn’t - surely it’s the thought that counts, especially on that day. I know Valentine’s day is a more general/less romantic day where you are than it is where I am, but do you think your family would be less bothered if:
a) you bought them really cheap cards next year, or
b) if you didn’t send any at all?
Just askin’
My family are like greeting card freaks. If I forget to sent a card for the dumbest reason, I can never hear the end of it. The cards were a big problem for a long time, we never had any spare money for them, they can get expensive, so I was thrilled to find a program on the computer that lets me print cards. So if I remember at the last minute, it’s no problem.
Of course then I hear it because I didn’t go to the store and buy one.
Cessandra and dragongirl:
It may be none of my business, but I think your families are being very unfair to you. My sister and mom suffer from a milder case of the same syndrome, and I try (sometimes unsuccessfully) not to get roped into their petty little emotional expectations and guilt trips.
Valentine’s day is the big gray-area holiday. I think it is for romantic lovers, period. Not mothers and sons. Not bothers and sisters. IMHO, there are enough holidays to go around without stretching them to include everyone under the sun.
This whole greeting card mania is just one symptom of a larger disease that I call the “Chochkafication of America.” All those tacky Hummels (or is it Himmels? – who gives a crap), teddy bears, shake-up globes, music boxes, holiday flags, mylar baloons, light catchers, paperweights, and wind chimes – and my middleaged sister’s got 'em ALL – are turning us into a nation of thirteen-year-old girls.
sigh, my husband doesn’t understand this, either. let’s see if i can explain.
it’s not a guilt trip, i don’t feel like i have to send them cards whether i want to or not. i want to. and i don’t see why it’s a guilt trip if their feeling are hurt if i don’t send them a card. if i know that they are sending me a card, and expect a card in return, and i don’t send one, that sends a message that i don’t care.
now, my family wouldn’t bitch me out; they wouldn’t even stop sending me cards, but their feelings would be hurt.
i want to send them cards; i want to say i care about them. i just can’t afford $4.99/card.
plus, i also plan to use these as thank you cards. even though i prefer to say thanks in person (with a hug), people like getting thank you notes.
everton, i think my family would rather a cheap card with a nice note, even above an expensive card with a pre-printed message.
i am considering computer-generated cards. i made my own baby shower invitations, and they were beautiful. i filched an anne geddes photo and edited it in photoshop for the cover. if i made my cards, i’d do it that way; i hate the cheesey graphics in card making programs. the only problem is that the card stock (the kind that folds down the middle and comes with envelopes) is kind of expensive, especially if you want white envelopes (usually only the nice ones for weddings and showers have white envelopes). and i’ve never seen any seperately sold envelopes in the right size.
Disclaimer : I make cards fer a living. For Hallmark no less.
Some tips from a pro:
A couple of things you should know. First of all, don’t buy your cards at wal-mart or grocery- drug stores (hallmark or otherwise) Those are actually more expensive than Hallmark stores by about 10 to 50 cents a pop. We have a whole line of cards (called “Warm Wishes”, regretably) which are only 99 cents. These were created in response to the deep discount stores, and are printed a lot nicer.
There’s also"itty bitty" greetings which are small (non mailable) cards which are sold in packs. These are more for handing-out/ leave em where they’ll find em situations.
Of course, if you’re looking for something fancy (big, frilly, shiny, etc) it costs more. Me? I’m partial to the Shoebox line:rolleyes: (1.99 each).
If I’m not mistaken we still sell do it yourself cards for the computer, (which do require the fancy paper).
Or, you could always send em an E-Card , which are free.
Disclaimer 2 : I don’t really send cards myself. Well… I do, but only when I feel I really have to. That’s the kind of big, fat, hypocrite I am. Though I do love getting them.
If there’s anything else I can help with, lemme know. I know way more about cards (comparitive pricing, printing quality, etc) than I need to. Hope this helps.
Why not draw something in Paint and print it?
yes; it’s the Dutch speaking here 
Jeez, how many people on the SDMB work for Hallmark I wonder? I’m going to let you in on a sneaky inside secret. I stock the grocery stores and after major holidays the cards are taken down and returned for credit – BUT NOT THE ENVELOPES (the stores aren’t charged for the envelopes and it costs too much to ship them back). If all you’re looking for is envelopes head to the grocery store the day after a major holiday and attempt to bump into the Hallmark rep. I took down several hundred on Monday (Day after Mother’s Day) of every shape and size and they all went into the trash. (Except for the fistfull I kept for myself!)
Office Depot sells quarterfold white envelopes in boxes of a hundred, and boxes of two-fifty. You can make the cards with MS Publisher, or any other program which formats for quarter fold, top, or side.
Digital pictures print really nicely on medium good paper, and everyone I have ever done a card for was very happy with it. If you want extra personalized you just have someone scan some old pictures of your family, your home, your pets, your favorite toys, whatever.
Printing up a bunch and including your own greetings, then they fold up and slip into the envelopes perfectly.
Now here is an Idea.
You start now with your own little custom. You write your personalized message on a small sheet of very nice stationary, and include it on the inside of your greeting card. You don’t mark it up at all. Now, you don’t have to suggest it, but if your family gets in the habit, the greeting cards can carry many, many messages of love, over many years, just getting a new envelope and a new enclosure.
It’s a good idea, and if your family is very sentimental, when the card your mom sent to your aunt makes it back to her from her daughter, it will be a special celebration of how close your family is.
Tris