What does it take to create a super rad, most amazing, hands-down-very-best holiday card ever? Well, the very best holiday photo of course!
None of us have the time or the energy to stage a shot or to edit our photos for hours and hours. But we do have phones. Phones have apps. And apps are awesome. Here are some of our very favorite that you can use to make your card stand out:
Today we are excited to bring you our brand new Hanukkah collection! Hanukkah begins on December 8th and what better way to kick it off with a couple of gorgeous cards? Yeah, it’s a great idea, we know.
Sincerely’s mission is to help the world be more thoughtful. Through apps like Postagram & Ink we’ve helped our 1.2M Sincerely members build deeper and stronger relationships with the people they care about most.
When we started Sincerely two years ago, one major problem I personally wanted to solve was sending gifts to my grandmother, friends, and family back on the east coast. How could I consistently fail at sending a gift to the most important people in my life? It was simply because sending gifts was too difficult. Choosing the right gift, buying a greeting card, packaging the gift, taking it to a UPS store – I would stumble over these steps and most often simply not send a gift.
Our new app, Sesame, makes it easy to send thoughtful gifts to my grandmother as well as other family members and close friends. Sesame makes it as easy to mail a gift as Postagram makes it to mail a postcard. And just like Postagram is a unique postcard, Sesame is a unique type of gift.
We looked at how we were sending gifts online and saw 3 major problems
(1) We wanted to use our mobile phones, but most sites don’t have a good mobile experience.
(2) We believe (and research has shown) that experiences provide more happiness than stuff.
(3) We believe presentation matters. Sending grandma a brown box filled with a bunch of packing peanuts isn’t acceptable for something as special as a birthday.
So we created Sesame.
Sesame was built 100% for mobile. Sesame is now available on the App Store. Sending a gift has never been easier.
Sesame gifts aren’t just one product – but instead themed gift sets that are tied to an experience. Our Ultimate Unwind gift set includes everything needed for a relaxing spa day at home. Or our Game Night gift set includes everything for a family game night (including candy to share or to give away as prizes!). Our Arms Race gift set doesn’t just come with one nerf gun – it comes with two – and a bunch of extra ammo. The battle begins as soon as you open the box.
And finally Sesame gift sets come in our beautiful packaging. From our beautiful blue Sesame gift box, to the individually tagged gifts, the gift set specific enjoyment guide and the personalized greeting card, dozens of small details combine to make Sesame gift sets stand out from any other package you can send in the mail.
Try the app now – we’re excited to hear what you think and your ideas for our next Sesame gift sets
Want to see what your recipient will experience when receiving a Sesame gift set? Check out our unboxing video:
Stay in touch with the Sesame team on twitter at @sesame
Or on Facebook
How much time you ask? Well, at least ONE HOUR! We were curious ourselves so we decided to conduct a little experiment and hired some folks from Exec and TaskRabbit (companies that run task and errand services) to help us out. Their task was to buy and send five greeting cards the old traditional way (think drugstore cards) and five cards the Ink way. Here’s what we found:
82 minutes the old way. 22 minutes the Ink way. That’s one whole hour saved. Just for you. So, any idea how you are sending your holiday cards this year?
Yeah, that’s what we thought.
Happy Friday! Today we bring you brand new “Quotes” Ink designs. It’s a great way to encourage a friend, congratulate someone for entering a new phase of life, or to send a card just because.
And when it comes to friendship, we can take a hint from Winnie the Pooh:
“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh?” he whispered.
“Yes, Piglet?”
“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”
― A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
Give your guests a Thanksgiving to remember by sending them a keepsake straight from the dinner table. It’s thoughtful, sure to impress, and you will have everyone’s address just in time for holiday card season. Here are a couple ideas:
One special surprise. Have each guest put their name in a basket and draw names. Take lots of great photos. At the end of the night, each guest sends a surprise keepsake card to the person they picked, telling them why they are thankful for them. Photo tip: A great place to start is to write an acrostic name poem.
Share the moment. Take a photo with everyone and let your guests send it to those who couldn’t be there. Photo tip: Handwrite the person’s name on a sign to make it extra special, or even make space for that person in your photo.
Don’t know someone’s address? Use the Ink app to ask. Just enter in their name, click “I don’t know their address,” and send them an address request via text or email.
Make it fun and memorable. Snap a group shot and pass your phone around so people can enter in their addresses. Send the photo as a card to all your guests. Photo tip: Be serious, try cross-eyed and funny, do a victory celebration, spell out a word, attempt a human pyramid, or just have a grand ol’ snowball fight!
Share recipes from the dinner table. Become one of those people that take photos of their food, and ask the host for the recipe of your favorite dish (don’t worry, they will be flattered). Jot it down on your phone and send the photo and recipe as a card to those with a similar palette as yourself.
Love Ink? Hate cancer? Us too. This Holiday Season, we’ve teamed up with Maurices, a department store for fashion savvy young women, to fight cancer while spreading holiday cheer. 
Maurices has designed a special card for us in Ink that is free to send, and supports a good cause. For every one of these cards sent, Maurices will donate $1 to the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge. The Hope Lodge offers cancer patients and their caregivers a free, temporary place to stay when their best option for treatment is in another city.
The Maurices card can be found in our Holiday collection, and is free to send. Thank you to our friends at Maurices for their generosity, and to the American Cancer Society for this wonderful program.
Some people like turning a year older, some people not so much. But everyone loves receiving a little something in the mail, and especially something with your face on it. So we’ve got some beautiful and clever new ways for you to wish a very happy birthday to those you love.
Today is Ink Free Card Day, when you can send a Ink card to anyone for free! For one day, every Ink account is given 15 credits, enough to cover a card to the U.S. or anywhere else. We all have that card that we’ve been meaning to send, whether it’s to Grandma or to a childhood friend from home, but just haven’t gotten around to it. Today is a great chance to send these cards to those we care about, just because we can. And everyone loves receiving mail, especially a card that was made just for them (with your face on it).
It’s easy. It’s free. And it won’t last forever, so download Ink Cards on your iPhone, iPad, or Android and enjoy your free card today!
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