Create and Send Christmas ECards this Holiday Season

Don't know where to start? Our Free Christmas E-Card Patterns listed below are sure to inspire you and get you well on your way.

Provide the information below any Card View and click "Try This Christmas Card". The page that follows will allow you to Edit the card further or Send the Christmas card immediately.

NOTES:

The Card Views shown below are reduced to half-size to fit this screen.
These cards do not include any enhanced benefits and features reserved for Registered Members.
Do not put multiple e-mail addresses on the single recipient e-mail address line provided below.
- If you want to send multiple copies, select the card below with its "Try This Christmas Card" button and then select "<--EDIT CARD" on the screen that follows. You will then be able to add up to 4 additional recipients.

Christmas Quotes and Sayings

We've listed our favorite Christmas quotes and Christmas sayings that are used in our Christmas ecards. These quotes and sayings are public domain and may be used freely in any way you please.

Greetings

May the Peace of the Lord fill your soul
May the Love of God fill your heart
May the Light of the Lamb shine upon your path
May Hope Eternal guide you through the world
May Christmas remain with you each and every day

To those we love and see each day
and other loved ones far away
To all good friends who mean so much,
and those with whom we're are of touch...
Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy New Year.

One of the real joys of the holiday season is the opportunity to say thank you for being a part of our lives and to wish you the very best for the new year

Holiday Greetings and Best Wishes
For a New Year of Happiness in a World of Peace

Warmest thoughts and best wishes
for a wonderful holiday
and a very happy New Year

Wishing you a beautiful holiday season and
a new year of Peace and Happiness with best wishes...

May Joy be your gift at Christmas
And may Faith, Hope and Love be
your treasures in the New Year

The magic of Christmas never ends
and its greatest of gifts are family and friends...
Best Wishes for a very Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year

I wish you the gift of Faith,
the Blessing of Hope
and the Peace of his Love
at Christmas and always

May the Spirit of Christmas
bring you Peace,
The Gladness of Christmas
give you hope
The Warmth of Christmas
grant you Love

The gift of love, the gift of peace, the gift of happiness...
May these be yours at Christmas

May you have the gift of Faith
the blessing of Hope
and the Peace of His Love at Christmas
and throughout the year

May the Spirit of Christmas
be real to you,
the Gladness of Christmas
make you smile,
The Warmth of Christmas
keep you snug

The Blessings of Peace
The Beauty of Hope
The Spirit of Love
The Comfort of Faith
May these be your gifts
this Christmas Season

May the Spirit of Christmas
be in your heart and soul
throughout the coming year

May you have the Spirit of Christmas,
which is Peace
The Gladness of Christmas,
which is Hope
The Heart of Christmas,
which is Love

May the Blessings of Christmas be yours
And Happiness fill each day of the New Year

May His love fill your heart with
Joy and Peace,
This Christmas
and each day of the year to come

One shining start
to make the world bright,

One infant child
on that wonderful night,

One little prayer
for those we hold dear,

To bless you at Christmas
and all through the year

Inspirational Quotes

It was always said of him,
that he knew how to keep Christmas well,
if any man alive possessed the knowledge.
May that be truly said of us, and all of us!
And so, as Tiny Tim observed,
God Bless Us, Every One!

-- Charles Dickens

Somehow, not only for Christmas
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to you glad.

-- John Greenleaf Whittier

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on Earth, good will to men!

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Heap on the wood!-the wind is chill- But let it whistle as it will,
We will keep our Christmas merry still.

-- Sir Walter Scott

The feet of the humblest may walk
in the field
Where the feet of the Holiest trod,
This, then, is the marvel
to mortals revealed.

-- Phillips Brooks

Good news from heaven the angels bring,
Glad tidings to the earth they sing:
To us this day a child is given,
To crown us with the joy of heaven.

-- Martin Luther

The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap,
His hair was like a light.
O weary, weary was the world,
But here is all aright.

The Christ-child stood at Mary's knee,
His hair was like a crown,
And all the flowers looked up at Him
And all the stars looked down.

-- G. K. Chesterton

Poems

How lovely 'tis to take this time
To greet our dearest friends,
To wish them health and happiness
Before the old year ends.

Darkness comes late afternoon
And winter lies ahead,
But friendship is a glowing fire
When all seems cold and dead.

Just as in some vacant barn,
Unnoticed in the night,
The whole of human history turns,
So we, too, make things right.

We must keep alive the flame
Though darkness grip the Earth;
For in the love we find in friends
Is our chance for rebirth.

-- Nicholas Gordon

Christmas is a holiday for friends,
However they may be, or not, related.
Remember that the three wise kings were strangers
In search of one remote, uncanny dream.
So may we all be far more than we seem,
Together bound for dark and haunting changes,
More lovely for the loves we have created
Along the lonely paths from means to ends,
Stumbling towards that star of Bethlehem.

-- Nicholas Gordon

To you a season of melodious tidings.
In darkness may life be a lovely flame.
Now the year turns back to warmth and passion
As all our dying dreams are born again.

-- Nicholas Gordon

Now that Christmas time is here,
People seem to be,
Smiling ,Laughing, Full of Cheer,
Everywhere you see.

When Christmas is no longer here,
People seem to be,
Not smiling, laughing, full of cheer,
Everywhere you see.

Praise the Lord for those who hear
God's word for they shall be,
Smiling, Laughing, Full of Cheer,
All year long, you'll see.

-- David Nelmes

Can anyone explain the glow of Christmas?
Holidays are candles in the night.
Rebirth comes from family and friends
In one bright blur of food and talk that ends
Still burning as a peaceful inner light.
There is no way to substitute for Christmas.
Miss it and no circumstance feels right.
All my heart's with you, yet I must miss this
Season thick with love and rich delight.

-- Nicholas Gordon

How beautiful the turning of the year!
A moment artificial yet profound:
Point upon an arbitrary chart
Passing like a breath upon the heart,
Yearning with anticipation wound,
New hope new harbored in old-fashioned cheer.
Even when the boundary line is clear,
We recognize the oneness of the ground.
Years, like circles, do not end or start
Except we lay across their truth our art,
Adjusting dates as they go round and round
Revolving to a tune long sung and dear.

-- Nicholas Gordon

Scripture

For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES,
And the glory of Thy people of Israel.

Luke 2: 30 - 32

For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have eternal life.

John 3: 16

Behold, the virgin shall be with child
And shall bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel,
which translated means,
God with Us.

Matthew 1: 23

These things I have spoken to you,
that in Me you may have PEACE.
In the world you have tribulation,
but take courage;
I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

This is my commandment,
that you love one another,
just as I have loved you.

John 15:12

The Origin of Christmas Cards

The practice of exchanging cards at Christmas was invented by the Englishman Sir Henry Cole in 1843. Cole was keen to make his friends aware of the need to help the poor and needy during the festive period, so he commissioned artist John Calcott Horsely (now recognized as the designer and artist of the first ever Christmas card) to paint a card showing the feeding and clothing of the poor.

However, the final design centered upon a colorful group of wealthy revelers enjoying a glass of wine and tucking into Christmas fare. On the fringes of the card, illustrated in a single shade of gray, were the depictions of the poor.

Despite the good intentions of the card, it came under fire for showing youths sipping on wine as this was considered to be 'fostering the moral corruption of children'. The now much-used slogan read: 'A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You'. Sir Henry sent these cards to all his friends and relatives that year and in doing so created a custom which has continued to this date. Only 1000 of these cards were printed which were sold for a shilling each (5p) in 1843 and are now much sought after collectors' items, with one being sold for £8469 at auction in the UK in 2005.

As Christmases came and went, new card designs appeared; elaborate cards with silk and satin fringes, cards folded like fans or cut in to the shapes of birds and candles, but strangely these early cards rarely featured winter scenes.

The Christmas card custom soon became popular on the American side of the Atlantic but for more than 30 years Americans had to import their cards from England. Then, in 1875, a German immigrant called Louis Pranf, opened a lithographic shop and published the first ever U.S. Christmas card. His initial designs were unrelated to Christmas and featured simple artwork of generic flowers and birds. However, they were a huge success and by 1881 Prang was producing more than five million Christmas cards.

Christmas cards have since become a universal Christmas custom with millions being exchanged between friends and family each year across the globe. Charity Christmas cards are now an important fundraising tool for many charity organizations and the champion of child rights - UNICEF - is credited with inventing this concept.

Though technology has brought us new forms of communication, such as email and e-cards, the classic Christmas card remains as popular as ever and is unlikely to die out anytime soon.

Elisha Burberry is an online, freelance journalist and keen traveler and water sports enthusiast. Originally from Scotland, she now resides in London.