FOCUS ON: THANK YOU

Thank you notes are very important to me. It was instilled in me at an early age to make sure that those who were kind enough to give me presents on my birthday and at Christmas should be aware that I was thankful for them thinking of me. Back when I was a child these letters were a chore and as a lazy teenager I sometimes left my card-writing a little too late. But it honestly made me feel so bad to think that people would consider me ungrateful when I was in fact thankful for anyone who was kind enough to think of me enough to buy me a gift. I was always especially unhappy when as a quiet person my thank you’s in person were not heard. Because of these reasons, I am now an ardent thank-you letter-writer and what was once a chore now fills me with joy. I even design my thank you cards before my christmas cards every year!

There are many things to be thankful for but this blog post focuses mainly on a small sample. The general thank you cards can be used for things like; thank yous for gifts, for people welcoming you into their homes, for dinner, for advice, or for help around the home.

Weddings come with their own traditions of which thank you cards are a big part. Some people may choose to use calligraphy to show the importance of their thanks, a big expense in either money, or time, if you do it yourself. Some thank you cards are even designed ahead of the wedding and match the invites and the menus to end off the theme. Some wedding thank yous involve presents especially for those who put in a lot of effort on the big day, the bridesmaids, maid of honour, ushers and best men usually are given gifts on the big day.

Talking of gifts, it's often polite, rather than waiting to give thanks with a card after being invited to the house of a friend or relative to bring a gift of thanks with you. Wine and chocolates are often popular choices and well received but you could be a little more creative and create a personalised hamper for your host.

If you’re a small business owner like me then you’ll know that you’ll never be able to express to your customers how much they mean to you - but you can try. You can find a collection of examples of thank you cards to send with your orders in this post.

Find below examples of all kinds of thank you paraphernalia, including tips for writing the perfect thank you note and beautiful designs and ideas as well as a freebie to print for your own thank you cards.

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THANK YOU CARD FREEBIES

Find Thank You card designs to download for free here…

TIPS FOR THE PERFECT THANK YOU NOTE

I’ll never forget the most important advice I’ve ever read on how to write the best thank you note and I’ve been employing this technique ever since I read it on a random tumblr post many years ago:

Lemony Snicket’s Advice on Writing a Nice Thank-You Note
1. Do not start with the thank you.
2. Start with any other sentence. If you first say, “Thank you for the nice sweater,” you can’t imagine what to write next. Say, “It was so wonderful to come home from school to find this nice sweater. Thank you for thinking of me on Arbor Day.”
3. Then you’re done.
I recommend learning how to write a very good thank-you note. A child who can write a nice thank-you note can turn into a cocaine dealer five years later and be remembered as the child who wrote nice thank-you notes.

I also agree with the sentiment that it doesn't matter much what you do later in life if you’re known as the child who sent nice thank you letters - it also works the other way too - so be aware!

The above is very simple advice but maybe you need a little more help so here’s a few example for you;

Say what you are grateful for, you can use these phrases;

Thank you for the…. I am grateful for…. I am thankful for…. I appreciate the...

But also mention why you’re grateful. Did it mean a lot to receive the kind note because you was having a bad day? Did it make you smile? Are you the envy of all your friends? Did that dinner mean a lot because you hadn't been out for a while? Did you love to come over to marvel at their new house?

Once you start thinking there are so many reasons to be grateful. Gratitude and to be in a thankful mindset is a really healthy place to be. So not only is it wonderful for the recipient of your note to get a warm and fuzzy feeling from receiving a card but you benefit by bringing more positivity into your life and being in a great mindspace.

Add a closing statement next, something that usually includes when you’ll next see the person or if you are thanking for an invitation then you can return the favour.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:
It’s of course best to send a thank you note straight away. This is helped by having a stock of thank you cards and notes ready to go, this means that you dont have time to procrastonate while going shopping for one. But if you do take a while it’s better late than not at all - don’t be tempted to think that too much time has passed and not send one - send it anyway - apologise for the late reply - we’re all busy, we all understand! Better a late thank you than none at all.