Holiday cards for the handful of people who matter
Paper Plane Post is the best way to send a holiday card to the people you’d actually write a note to. Each card is your photo printed on a 4 × 6 postcard with your note on the back, made and paid for one at a time, and mailed first class for $7, postage included, to any of 195 countries.
It arrives in 1–2 weeks in the US, plus up to 1 week if abroad, so order by early December for US addresses and in late November for anyone abroad. A card that arrives before the rush gets read; one that arrives in January gets explained.
Easy: one card at a time, no list to manage
There’s no spreadsheet to build, no envelopes to stuff and no stamps to buy. For each person, pick a photo, type a note of up to 350 characters, add their address, check both sides and pay. A dozen cards is a dozen short sittings on your phone, and nobody gets the same note.
That’s deliberately not a mail merge. If you send two hundred cards a year, you want a printing service; if you send a dozen to people you love, you want this.
Fast: done in an evening, mailed within two business days
Each card goes to print right after you pay and is handed to USPS within 2 business days. Start the first week of December for the US and the last week of November for international addresses, and everything lands before the holiday.
Cards can’t be scheduled, so there’s no setting them up in October to mail later. The upside is that nothing sits in a queue; the card you finish tonight is in the mail this week.
Tasteful: your year, not a stock snowflake
The front is your photo, edge to edge, with no gold foil script, no borders and no “Season’s Greetings” type. The family on the porch, the dog in the snow, the kitchen mid-bake, the one good photo from the year. If you’d like it to feel more like a card and less like a print, the illustrated version turns the same photo into something closer to a drawing.
If you have a family photo everyone’s been asking for, send that. If you don’t, a picture of the thing you did together this year beats a posed one.
Timeless: the card that goes on the mantel
Printed holiday cards from a service arrive in a stack and go into the recycling together. A postcard with your own note on the back goes on the mantel, then into the box with the ornaments, and comes back out next year.
Write three or four sentences to the one person. Name something from this year that involved them, say what you’re hoping for next year, and sign it. “Still thinking about that dinner in March. Come in spring and we’ll do it again. Love from all of us.”
Questions
What’s the best way to send holiday postcards?
Paper Plane Post, if you’re sending to a handful of people. Each card is your photo and your note, mailed first class for $7, with no account or subscription. For hundreds of cards from a list, use a bulk printer.
When should I order holiday cards so they arrive in time?
By early December for US addresses and by late November for addresses abroad. Cards arrive in 1–2 weeks in the US, plus up to 1 week if abroad.
Can I send the same holiday card to my whole list?
Not from a list. Each postcard is made and paid for one at a time, with one recipient. You can reuse the same photo, but you’ll write each note and address yourself, which is what makes them worth sending.
How much does a holiday postcard cost?
$7 per card, printing and first-class postage included, to any of 195 countries.
Can I schedule holiday cards to mail in December?
No. Each card prints right after you pay, so make them when you want them mailed.
Can an AI assistant make my holiday cards?
Yes. An assistant connected to the Paper Plane Post MCP server can start a card from your photo and a note, and give you a link to review and pay for each one.