Etsy Finds of the Day: Send It

Do you send out holiday cards? I must confess that we've fallen out of the habit. If we really have our act together, we may throw together a silly e-card to send out on December 24. (Above and below are a couple of my favorites from years past.)

Hopefully, you're much more organized than I am. In that case, Etsy has a bevvy of beautiful, handmade holiday cards to choose from:

Clockwise: Ornamental Holiday Cards, $12 for four from Earmark; Peace and Joy Letter Press Postcards, $12 for five from Parrott Design Studio; Christmas Blossoms Greeting Cards, $11 for four from Tsk Tsk; Letterpress Holiday Snowflakes Card, $4 from amyb13

Clockwise: Two Turtle Doves Folded Card, $5 from Foxy & Winston; Jolly Snowman Card, $6 (or $18 for four) from Paired Hearts; Peace on Earth Deer Card, $11 for eight from Ink Drop Design; Peace Dove Card Set, $13 for eight from Sparrow + Belle

Clockwise: Golden Pine Tree Screenprinted Holiday Cards, $16 for six from Modern Printed Matter; Pine Needles Letterpress Card, $3.50 from Pie Bird Press; Holiday Birds Letterpress Card, $4 from Lucky Bee Press; Partridge in a Pear Tree Wooden Postcard, $5 from Paper Schmaper

Clockwise: Feliz Navidad Letterpress Greeting Card, $4.25 from Oddball Press; Christmas Joy Folding Cards, $13 for eight from Scotia Made; Happy Holidays Gocco Art Card, $22 for ten from Two Guitars; Tag You're It Card, $3.60 from Heidi Burton

Clockwise: Peace on Earth Letterpress Cards, $14.50 for six from Anemone Letterpress; Silver Snowflakes Notecard Set, $10 for ten from Katie Blair Designs; Happy Holiday Letterpress Stationery Set, $16 for six from Shimmer Studio; Zombie Loves Santa Christmas Card, $14 for ten from Tina Seamonster

Clockwise: Hand Sewn Hanukkah Card, $10 from King Popcorn; Hand Painted Hanukkah Notecards, $25 for six from Graceful Studio; Chappy Chanukah Blind Impression Letterpress Cards $12 for six from Old Tom Foolery; Mini Happy Hanukkah Card, $14 for twenty from Yee Haw

Etsy Find of the Day: My Bloody Valentine

As you may have gathered from my utter lack of posts on the subject, I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day.

I just think that when you love someone you need to show them that, in ways big and small, every day -- not just on some manufactured Hallmark holiday.

So, sorry -- no hearts and butterflies from me. But I do adore these caustic yet caring cards, $3 each or $15 for a set of ten from Etsy seller Tina Seamonster.

For when you care enough to, you know, spare your one and only from the coming undead apocalypse.

Cool Stuff: O Plus D Holiday Cards

Full disclosure: I get a bit Grinchy this time of year.

I just don't care much for all of the forced good cheer, the mandatory mall-shopping, and the sometimes-tiresome familial togetherness. I'm about as excited about the prospect of sending out dozens of holiday cards as I am about an upcoming tooth extraction. And unless they contain a meaningful personal note or at the very least are really cool-looking, the cards that land in our mailbox -- especially those from people we haven't heard from since the last impersonal Christmas card -- are likely to be deposited straight in the recycling bin.

And the dreaded "Christmas letters"? In my opinion, these are only tolerable as satire. In fact, I keep toying with the idea of distributing a holiday letter that cheerfully informs our friends and relatives of the year's actual goings-on. You know, like: "Leah went up another pant size and strove valiantly to keep the encroaching 'Is this really all there is?' ennui at bay. Meanwhile, Nick finally made peace with his receding hairline and continued to nurse a secret crush on the kids' former elementary school principal. (Even Leah had to admit that, with her lustrous silver bob and still-lithe figure, the principal was smokin' hot.)" But somehow I don't think our collective kin would get the joke.

So anyway, if you're reading this and you're one of the members of our extended family who's in the habit of sending out generic Christmas cards or painfully sincere "the year that was" letters, please just don't.

If, however, you want to send us one of the wonderfully caustic cards from Los Angeles designer Olga Krigman's O Plus D (Offensive + Delightful) line, we'd be tickled to get it.

"Here's Your F-ing Christmas Card," above, is my all-time favorite. Some other good ones:

Chanukkah Schmanukkah

Happy F-ing Holidays!

Time to Start Drinking

I'm Going to Need a Lot of Eggnog

Resolutions ... Why Bother?

Happy F-ing New Year!

O Plus D holiday cards are $4.25 each or $20 for a set of ten. Get yours right here.

And while you're there, Krigman's all-occasion cards are definitely worth a look, too. (I should probably stock up on a few of those "I'm an Asshole" apology cards for any of my Christmas-letter-writing relatives who are, in fact, reading this, huh?)

Cool Stuff: FabulousStationary Holiday Cards

I honestly hate to do this to you guys -- I mean, it's not even Halloween yet, dammit! But if sending out dozens of holiday cards is, well, in the cards for you (us, on a good year we might get our act together in time to send out a silly e-card on December 23), then you need to know about these great cards from FabulousStationary.

The designs (like "Bounty," above) are modern, graphic, colorful, and fun -- and can be personalized with a choice of colors and wording. Each set comes with 25 cards and envelopes and costs $45.

Some of my favorites:

Mod Homestead

Nifty Sixties

Holiday Swirl

Snowy Tree

Bling Bling

Big Year '08

Powder

Fab Pomegranate

Fab Kumquats

Glam Greetings

Hey -- with options like these, we might even be inspired to skip the e-card and go old-school this year.

Check out all of the offerings at FabulousStationary right here.