How to Write a Great Christmas Letter (Plus, Examples to Steal!)
Are you ready to write your annual Christmas letter? And…are you feeling a little stuck?
Sometimes it can be a little tough to get the ball rolling when writing your holiday letter. Whether you want your Christmas cards to be different this year with some fun new wording, or you just want to give a quick update, it's not always easy to find the words.
Here are some unique and fun Christmas letter examples. We wrote them for every stage of life. We hope this gets your creative juices flowing!
Featured Christmas card: Colorful Christmas
Examples of a Simple Christmas Letter
Who said holiday letters have to be long? If you want to send a simple Christmas card, write a note that includes just a few highlights from your year.
Here’s an example of a simple holiday letter from a single person:
2023 has been an exciting year of traveling! I always like to plan a short trip or two to see friends and family but this year I decided to step it up a bit. I spent 10 days in Guam visiting some very good friends who moved there a couple years ago. I also spent a week in Iceland back in June.
Work is going very well! I've been promoted to Vice President of Communications for my company after 15 years of various roles. It involves long hours and lots of projects but I love the challenge and wouldn't have it any other way.
I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season, and I truly hope to see you all at least once this coming year.
With Love,
Madelyn
And here’s an idea for a simple family holiday letter:
Merry Christmas from our little family!
It’s been one heck of a year for the Reynolds fam and we look forward to all the new year has in store. The kids have grown and changed so much this past year. Hudson’s energy and witty sense of humor keep our house pretty lively! Hazel is so sweet and loving and takes great care of her little sis. Josie has a great big personality and is happiest when her siblings are around. We’ve been busy working through our list of must-see Christmas movies and enjoying all the traditions of the season. We send you our love and wishes for a new year filled with love, peace and joy!
How to Write a Casual Holiday Letter
If you don’t want to sound too formal, write a holiday letter that keeps things real. Here are a few different examples of casual holiday letters, depending on what phrase of life you’re in:
That time in life when you have young kids is craaaazy, we know! But, take the time to write a Christmas card letter that shares the little things that make life crazy-good right now.
This style of holiday letter is perfect for families of young kids:
Hey everybody,
Mark and I are writing this letter while little Liza tries to color the squares on the white tablecloth blue, Meredith keeps watching the same 10 minutes of Coco over and over and over…and Terrence is on his tablet playing Fortnight. What is the big deal with that game anyway?
As you can imagine, life is crazy with three kids under the age of 7. Liza is 2 and still loves her daycare. She especially loves playing on the indoor jungle gym. Meredith is 4 and getting used to pre-school. Some days she loves it, other days not so much. Terrence is 7 and really likes his 2nd grade teacher, Mr. Bronze. I think it's because Mr. Bronze coaches high school basketball and Terrence is kind of obsessed with basketball.
Mark was promoted to supervisor this year so he now oversees a team of seven people. He really likes it. He says he has a good crew, and that makes all the difference. I'm still writing grants for area nonprofits. I really love the work and have gained some traction in the field. It feels good to help nonprofits achieve their financial goals so they can continue running programs that help so many people.
We wish you all a beautiful holiday season filled with love and laughter!
Meg, Mark, Liza, Meredith and Terrance
This letter covers you when your nest is suddenly empty:
Hello to all of our family and friends!
Well, it feels crazy to say and still a little surreal but Paul and I are officially empty nesters. Our younger son, Connor, graduated from high school in the spring and started his first semester at Iowa State University. He's taking some general education courses before he decides what he wants to major in but he's very interested in biology.
Kenneth graduates this spring from Montana State University with a degree in Automotive Technology. He's got a job lined up as a mechanic in Boulder, Colorado. He still loves snowboarding, so moving to Colorado is no surprise. He says he'll still come home to visit plenty and we're holding him to that.
Paul and I are planning on treating ourselves to a little vacation this winter. We'll probably head to Mexico in January or February when the cold is really settling in and we need some serious sunshine. We're really looking forward to having both Connor and Kenny home for Christmas break and we can't wait to see many of you at family gatherings and holiday celebrations.
We wish you a very merry Christmas and many blessings in the New Year.
Love,
Henry, Paul, Kenneth and Connor
Are you grandparents? This holiday letter is all about the grandkids:
If the apple of your eye is your cute grandkids, be sure to give them a shout-out in your annual letter. It’s even sweeter when you create a Christmas card designed for grandparents.
Dear Family and Friends,
We hope this letter finds you all doing well. We certainly can't complain too much. Adeline and I have had a good year. We’re enjoying retirement and have a new-found love for pickle ball or all things. Our free time has really helped us slow down and get some perspective about the important things.
Speaking of important things, we were able to attend several of our granddaughter's softball games this last year and boy was that fun! Felt just like the old days. There's nothing like watching a live game of ball and I have to say, those girls are mighty good! Little Colton loves playing video games, which seems to have inspired him to take up drawing. He's created some pretty amazing characters, and even written stories around them. He's got an impressive imagination!
As always, we sure hope you are all feeling well and enjoying as much family and friends as you can possibly handle this holiday season. Drop in and visit sometime. We'd love to have you!
Happy holidays,
Richard and Adeline
Featured Christmas card: Greatest Gifts
Creative Christmas Letter Examples
If a traditional Christmas letter isn’t your thing, these ideas might spark your interest:
Idea #1: A Holiday Letter that Spells out a Word
Not only is this one super fun, it’s sure to help you get your letter started. We chose the word MERRY, but other fun words to use are: CHRISTMAS, JOLLY or HOLIDAY.
M
May of this year brought some exciting news for me and David. We're having a baby! Baby is due March 15. We're not going to find out the gender because we both really want it to be a surprise.
E
Every year we take an annual trip up north to a remote little cabin just west of Two Harbors near Duluth. We absolutely love it and have been going for four years now. We really enjoyed some hiking and a few campfires but mostly we just relaxed and took in the scenery.
R
River 105 is playing “I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”. This happens to be one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs and wouldn't you know it. David HATES it. I can only listen to it when he's not around and right now he's watching football downstairs so I'm soaking it in.
R
Rebecca, my little sister, will be living with us over the summer. She found a great internship in town with a local non-profit, so I'm really excited to have her around all summer long!
Y
You have to come visit us. All of you. We live in the cutest little town just north of Rochester. There are lots of parks, lots of trails and plenty of good restaurants in Rochester. We hope to see you all this holiday season or this coming year.
Idea #2: Create a Christmas Letter Interview
This holiday letter idea is just too much fun! Create a Christmas letter quiz that uncovers everything exciting that’s happening in your world:
Season’s Greetings from the Saddler family! This year, we come to you this year with a little Q&A
Q: How many children do we have?
A: If you answered one, you're wrong! We happened to just find out that Sara is pregnant, and we’re thrilled! We're expecting Baby in the spring and although we're more than a little surprised, we really couldn't be more excited.
Q: What's Patrick's favorite band?
A: The answer is Coldplay and he was lucky enough to see them twice this year. Once with me and once with a buddy of his out of state. Pat was pretty stoked about this and we all got to hear lots of Coldplay trivia leading up the concerts.
Q: What is Sophia’s new passion?
A: After trying every sport out there, Sophia has found her thing: rock climbing! She fell in love with the sport during a camping trip with friends and has a real knack for it. There’s nothing quite like watching your 11-year-old scale a mountain!
Q: How old is Chester the Cat?
A: 17 years old! We know, this is hard to believe. He just keeps going, and honestly? He looks pretty good.
Q: What's Sara's new hobby?
A: She's decided to take up watercolors again. She enjoyed it years ago when attending college and shortly after but life just takes us in different directions sometimes. I bought her some supplies for her birthday and she's working on her first painting right now!
Well that was fun! Let's play again next year. Same time, same place? Alrighty then. Merry Christmas!
Idea #3: Write a Family Newsletter of Your Year
A holiday newsletter is always a fun way to spread the news of your year! From big news to little news, this kind of letter is sure to become a keepsake forever.
The Setter Family Post
The Setter family is making headlines! Literally, we each wrote our own headline and update.
Man Looks for Work, and Finds it!
As many of you know, I left my old company of 25 years. I just didn't feel like I was a great fit for the role I had taken on and decided maybe I was ready for a change. I found a new position at a local company, which means I'm closer to home. That has been awesome. I like the job and I like the people. All in all, it was a great change.
Woman Paddles for Her Life
Henry and I like to go paddle boarding. We found a great new spot just south of town. The waters are calm, the scenery is gorgeous and it's usually pretty quiet. Until you find yourself trying to escape the jaws of a snapping turtle! The little bugger just about climbed on board with me. Of course, I fell off and I just knew I was going to feel those jaws clamping down on a limb but I made it to safety without injury. Henry was laughing hysterically the whole time
Girl Falls in Love
With pottery! What were you thinking? I've joined a pottery club through school. We meet once a week at the local pottery shop in town. So far I've made some super cute face mugs for Mom and Dad. Now I'm working on something special for Grandma and Grandpa, maybe in time for Christmas!
World Goes Crazy
Hard not to feel that way sometimes, right? We hope you and your families find love, peace and happiness this holiday season. And may we all work harder to spread a little more of those things around in the New Year.
Featured Christmas card: Wintergreen
Idea #4: Write a Funny Holiday Letter That Gets Big Laughs
Funny holiday letters always go over well! If you need some help getting those creative juices flowing, we’ve got you covered. Our funny Christmas cards are drop-dead hilarious, especially paired with a funny letter:
Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas and a Ho-Ho-Ho-lot of laughter from the Wilkins Family!
It's that time of the year when we gather 'round the tree and reflect on all the hilarious shenanigans that have kept us entertained throughout 2023. So grab some eggnog, cozy up by the fire, and get ready for the epic tales of our adventures.
First up, our little whirlwind of chaos, Henry! This year, he decided that couches are just fancy trampolines in disguise. Colin and I have become experts in sofa repairs, and we're now on a first-name basis with the local upholstery shop.
Charlie, our six-year-old mastermind, has taken up the noble art of science experiments. We found a small rocket in the backyard one day, along with a note that said, "To the moon!" Turns out, he's been trying to launch his toy dinosaurs into orbit. Watch out, SpaceX, you've got competition!
Hannah, our ten-year-old genius, has discovered a newfound passion for baking. The only problem is, the smoke detector is convinced she's the next Gordon Ramsay. Our kitchen has become the site of epic battles between Hannah and the smoke detector, with us as the helpless referees.
Julie and I tried to pick up a new hobby too—gardening. But our garden seems to have its own sense of humor. Our tomatoes are playing hide-and-seek, the cucumbers are on a mission to touch the stars, and the squirrels have declared war on our sunflowers. We've officially renamed our backyard "Wildlife Wonderland."
Speaking of wildlife, our attempt at a family camping trip was memorable, to say the least. We discovered that we're all terrified of raccoons (who knew they were so sneaky?), and Colin's "bear impression" caused quite a commotion. We won't be returning to the great outdoors anytime soon!
In summary, our year has been a rollercoaster of laughter, love, and unexpected adventures. We're thankful for each other and for the priceless moments that keep us smiling, even in the midst of chaos.
Wishing you all a Christmas filled with joy, warmth, and a dash of silliness! May your holidays be as merry and bright as our family's laughter.
With love and holiday cheer,
Julie, Colin, Henry, Charlie, and Hannah
Well, there you have it! Some great examples of how to write your Christmas cards and annual holiday letters. Next up, deciding who to send your Christmas cards to. Don’t worry, we’re here to help if you need it!
