This design is nostalgic for my country-girl heart.

They say there is something spectacular about the night sky in the Australian outback. But even from my small town only two hours from the Big City, I used to be able to pause on my way from locking up the chickens, or running up firewood from the stable, and see stars, stars, stars.

If you’ve landed on this page, you’ve probable picked up a copy of the All Shall See Christmas Card and are looking for ideas on how to fill it that make it that extra bit special.

I love a luxurious Christmas Card. It’s one of the things which captures an echo of community connection and the sentiment of ‘good will to all men’. I especially treasure Christmas cards with a thoughtful message, which feel like a long-forgone hug at a holiday gathering.

On this page you’ll find three ways that will help you fill this Christmas card with a message which feels like a gift in itself.

✍️ ACTION POINT! ✍️ If you’ve got a Draft a Little Real Planner in front of you, use these ideas to help you draft the ‘I want them to know / feel’ sections of the planner.

For more information on using the planner, check out this blog post here.

Compose a personal blessing

Across the ages, the stars have come to symbolise protection, guidance, hope, clarity, renewal.

Stars are ‘stedfast’, as Keats puts it, and yet living. They journey, yet they always return. There is a dependability in their existence and a strange comfort in how small and filled they can make the soul feel as we look up at pin-prick entities which are, somewhere, so enormous:

‘Oh, God, make small’ – writes Hulme – ‘The old star-eaten blanket of the sky / That I may fold it round me and in comfort lie.’

Symbols such as those we find in the stars are a natural source of cliché. For instance, we toss around the idea of ‘hope’ in speaking about fleeting things like rain and shine. However, like most things which have become cliché, it is because in these symbols lies a depth that we can stare into… a source of truth and honesty about the very way we operate as humans. Things only become cliché when great truths are treated superficially, rather than thoughtfully.

So, let’s treat these symbols thoughtfully. Does one of these conceps, these potential cliches, feel relevant to the person you’re writing to? If it does, you can use one of these themes to speak something true beyond the season.

Perhaps the person you are writing to is seeking a new job, so you can write about how you hope they receive clarity about the next step as new opportunities open up for them.

Perhaps they just had a year in which they experienced renewal following long, long suffering. You might want to write about how you’re happy for them and hoping the new year holds more of the same.

Perhaps you are writing to someone who shares your faith, and you can write a unique prayer for them for spiritual protection.

By drawing on one of these themes that feels relevant to the person you’re writing to, you’ll be speaking to something true in their lives. This will help you write a unique card which will feel like a gift in itself.

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. - Agnes Mae Pharo

Celebrate their year!

Lately I’ve noticed how separated social media news and interpersonal communication can be.

What a person chooses to post on social media and the conversations we have with them can contain entirely different topics.

And let’s be honest, it can really be easy to simply scroll through our feeds and either not engage with our friends’ news or forget it as soon as the frame passes.

If someone posts big news, it is so much more significant if I raise it in conversation or message them personally on another medium rather than limiting my response to simply liking or commenting in the moment.

Not only this, but especially for some of our friends who post more frequently, if we take a moment to linger on what they choose to share and store it in our minds, we have the opportunity to allow those insights to come up in conversations or cards so that those we know feel a little more seen.

It’s a way to turn scrolling into serving.

When it comes around to Christmas, we can compose a message which helps them feel seen by tapping into what we know about their year and celebrating with them.

If you just want a simple message that helps reinforce that you care, try filling in one of the sentences below:

By demonstrating that we have noticed what has been going on for people and celebrating this in writing, not only can we bless them with the reminder of how wonderful that news or stage of life was as well as the fact that we noticed.

Because really seeing someone, their suffering or their joy, is one of the most powerful ways to connect and a gift in itself.

Share a little life

Have you ever received a family newsletter or an annual Christmas update from a family friend or distant relative?

It’s the home-printed A4, double-sided with the double-column text. The mandatory family portrait. The summary of the family holiday and the update about the kids grades and the Big Thing that happened that year.

The family newsletter can feel a little intimidating but there’s something meaningful about sharing a snippet of your life with someone. A relationship that is all about one party, and giving in one direction, becomes lop-sided. Strong relationships are not one-way. So be a little vulnerable – provide a window into your life to create space for the other person to give back to you, notice you, too.

If you are not the type of person who would love to compose an essay of family news, you can share a little of your life in a different way that’s fresh, non-intrusive, entertaining or life-giving. And this luxuriously sized card has plenty of room for you to add a little more.

• Share a new favourite recipe which was cooked way too much over the winter.
• Create a 5” by 7” collage of photos of the new puppy (EVERYONE loves puppies).
• Share a photograph of the behind-the-scenes of a home project undertaken during the year.
• A book recommendation.
• If you are a green-thumb, a tiny packet of seeds from your garden with a note about where and how to nourish them.
• A singly-packaged tea-bag from your current favourite brand of tea.

To make this sharing personal, accompany it with a paragraph about how the thing was enjoyed, shared, used, grown, or found.

By not only noticing and celebrating with others but also giving a little of ourselves, we create a mutual knowing and lay the groundwork for stronger connection – stronger community. And what better gift to give than to share a treasured piece of our own lives?

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. - Janice Maeditere

So there it is...

...three ways to elevate the beautiful All Shall See Christmas Card to make it a gift in itself:

• Share a personalised blessing inspired by the symbolism of stars.
• Celebrate something that has happened in their year.
• Share a little something from your own life with a note about what it meant to you.

If you’re really keen, there’s plenty of space in this luxuriously sized card to do all three!
Gifts come in many forms. You don’t have to spend $50 to give something meaningful. By using these tips, you can fill this Christmas card with a message which really is a gift in itself.

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