A ruled table with a row per household: a wide name column, an address column with its own faint writing line, and two tick boxes headed sent and received. Across the top there are fields for the year, the last posting date and stamps bought. It is the sheet people keep in the box with the cards and reuse the following December.
Received is the column that matters next year
Sent is easy to remember while you are doing it. Received is the one you have forgotten by January, and it is the column that tells you who to keep on the list and who quietly stopped years ago.
Ticking both as they happen turns one sheet into next year's list without any further work. That is why this is worth printing on something heavier than copier paper: it has to survive eleven months in a box.
Address and posting dates
The address column has a faint rule across it rather than being left open, which keeps handwriting straight enough to read back a year later. It takes a two or three line address written small, or a street and postcode if you have the rest elsewhere.
The last posting date field at the top is there because that date moves every year and is the single thing most likely to catch a card list out. Write it on as soon as it is announced and the sheet does the reminding.
Rows and paper
Twelve rows as the sheet opens, with sixteen available from the control above it. Twelve gives rows deep enough for a full address, sixteen squeezes more households on for a longer list.
For more than sixteen, print two copies and split them by surname or by how you know people. Two readable sheets beat one crammed one, and the pair still sit flat in a card box.
Questions
- How many people fit on the Christmas card list?
- Twelve rows as it opens, or sixteen from the control above the sheet. For a longer list, print the sheet twice and split it by surname so the address column stays deep enough to read.
- What are the sent and received columns for?
- Sent is ticked as each card goes out. Received is ticked when one arrives back, and that column is what tells you next December who to keep on the list and who has dropped off it.
- Is there room for a full address?
- Enough for a short one. The address column has a faint rule across it and takes a street and postcode, or two or three lines written small. It is a reminder list rather than an address book.
- Can I type the names in?
- Yes. Every cell is a text box and typed names appear in the downloaded PDF, so a list can be typed once and reprinted each year with only the tick boxes left to fill in by hand.