I make my own cards. They are usually a spot eccentric, but that’s nothing compared to that of a friend of mine. He has no taste, and this year]s effort was a photo of him & partner, with a holly wreath around it. It is just truly horrible to behold.

Got any howlers?

Just waiting for the one from our friends which will no doubt be a picture of them and their kid.

Soooper.

I'm doing my own cards and putting a picture of my daughter on them, but I'm going to make it offbeat enough to avoid the overly sentimental look cards usually have. I prefer to do my own as often as possible as I can't waste hours and hours trying to find any decent cards in the shops. What a load of over-priced rubbish they are.

I'm just hoping the one we get is equally un, err, un-mulchy. If that's even a word.

I'm half expecting one home-made card this year. Apparently it's "horrified" some of the people she's sent it to so far, so my verdict hopefully to follow next week

I've sent home-made birthday cards to my dad the last 3 years. One was a fish finger sandwich, which is what he'd requested for his birthday dinner. I think that was his 75th

My fave Xmas cards are always the cartoony ones. One of my faves was one with Santa caught speeding but a speed camera and he empties his sack and places it over the camera.

I really want to hand draw mine.

This year, my cards feature some dinosaurs and a statue of Lenin. I took the pictures last year when it snowed, and thought that they’d make good cards this year.

At least said friend in the OP has stopped his “look what a great year I’ve had and all this money I’ve got” type news letters he used to send.

I made one last year with a photo of Emily dressed as a helper elf surrounded by presents. First time I've hand made a card. I did the borders and letters and everything!

To be honest apart from the photo it was probably a bit naff!

Apparently, this is the best card I ever did:

Oh no. Newsletters are a step too far.

Someone else I knew just tore them up and sent them back.

These days I tend to just email a home made one, apart from about 5 people I print out and send to.

Last year's effort:

Any friend of mine who tries to send a newsletter will have it sent straight back with 'not known at this address until you stop being a twat' emblazoned on it.

Just a quick note for anyone thinking of printing their own cards: get decent card to print onto. Due to being in a bit of a rush to get them done, I used Ryman's own brand A5 glossy card for some of mine and it is pretty bad. My trusty Epson printer is quite happy with, say, WHSmith's card but it definitely does not like the cheapo stuff. Doesn't feed through very well and quite a few little smudges of ink here and there. I don't get these problems with more expensive glossy card.

I have been using Epson’s Archival Matte Paper for mine. It’s excellent stuff for colour reproduction if the printer supports it.

Another hint: don‘t for the love of all that is holy use Hobbycraft’s paper trimmers for cutting your cards down to size. They work fine with paper, but anything heavier and you get a less than perfect edge.