Wendy See Wendy Do: Saying Thank You!!

"No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks." - Unknown

My thank you notes this year

Do you write thank you notes? I do... or at least I try to remember to as much as I can. Now as we are playing with our new gifts and gadgets from the holidays and feeling all jolly tis' the time to say thank you to all those generous folks in our lives!

Learn how to make your own Polaroid cards below

I am not sure when my giving thanks streak started but I am pretty sure it was about the time I got my first set of personalized stationary. I remember the thick, ivory tinted card stock with my name embossed on the top as if I was someone of great importance. Even now I find myself perusing Minted or Tiny Prints for new and pretty paper products to pen my next hand written note or thank you.

Aren't these thank you notes precious? (via Minted)

There is something special about pulling out the old pen and paper and scribing a little note to someone special. Especially when you are thanking them!

---

Did you know that there are rules when saying thanks? With the ever changing world of etiquette I frequently find myself turning to the end all and be all of acceptable social decorum: the Emily Post Institute. From common courtesies to table etiquette Emily Post has helped defined manners for more than 100 years.

Emily Post (via NYT)

I will be honest. Until writing this blog entry I have never looked into who Emily Post was or how she became the mother of "May I?" Would you be surprised to know that she was born Emily Price in Baltimore, MD? Or that she divorced her cheating husband in 1905? How about that she was an established novelist well before she published her first book on etiquette at the age of 50? I sure was! According to the Wikinerds Mrs. Post was quite the independent woman.

So keeping in line with Emily Post's ideas on etiquette here are a few tips on saying thanks after this holiday season:

You should write a thank you note for all gifts received except gifts opened in front of the giver. (I still do though.)
The person who received the gift should write the note. (so Mr. Joe better get writing!)
Write notes as soon as possible but a late thank you note is better than no thank you note.
Don't be afraid to get creative!! (See below for my how-to on creative thank yous!)
Email thank yous are acceptable but nothing beats a hand written note!

---

How-to: Polaroid Thank You Notes

Talk about amping up a thank you by showing your gift-givers how you are enjoying the presents they gave you! I got this idea from my friend and fellow blogger Libby from Follow the Wife who did something similar for her Thanksgiving dinner place-cards this year. They are super simple to make and are sure to make an impression!

A fun and creative way to say thanks

Here's what you do:

Take some fun photos of you with your Christmas gifts, then print them out (I got my prints from Walgreens) and cut them into 3 1/2 inch squares.

Not crafty? Cutting out the photos is the only hard work!

Then you need plain white 5 1/2 inch by 4 1/4 inch postcard paper from any craft store. If you can't find it then cut down larger cardstock to size.

Newspaper helps protect your counter-tops!

Carefully use spray adhesive to glue the cut out pictures about 3/4 inches up for the bottom of the card and VIOLA.... you have a fun Polaroid thank you note!