Today you have the choice of using a full-service business to send a Santa letter to your child or to create one with help of sites that make it easy to customize and print Christmas letters from Santa at home. Which option should you choose?

Advantages of Full-Service Christmas Letters from Santa

• Not as much work! You provide the child's name and other details and they do the rest. You just sit back and wait for the mail.
• Better print quality. Many of the full-serve companies print on very high quality paper and have images that go all the way to the edges of the paper. Home printers can often do borderless printing, but if your printer doesn't offer that feature or you don't know how to do it, you'll have to settle for a design with a white border around the edges.
• Included extras. Most of today's Santa letter companies offer additional items to go along with the actual letters, such as Santa's Nice List certificates, stickers, reindeer food and more. Some companies also offer phone calls and "evidence kits" you can use to make Santa's visit more real.
  

Disadvantages of Full-Service Christmas Letters from Santa Letters

• Not as much control. You don't always get to choose the text of the letter or the design your child will receive, and the amount of personalization will depend on the company you choose.
• More expensive. You will pay more for a service that does all the printing, gets a North Pole postmark, includes extra fun add-ons and sends your child's letter through the mail.
• Requires planning. If you decided to order your letter through the mail, you'll need to be sure to allow enough time for the letter to be printed and mailed.

Creating your own Santa letters to print at home can save time and money. But you'll have to do a little more work. Here are the pros and cons of doing it yourself.

Advantages of Santa Letters to Print at Home

• Lower cost. You'll pay less for printable Santa letter templates, and depending on the type of service you choose, you may be able to use the same template or program to create letters for more than one child.
• Instant results. With self-serve Santa letters, even if you wait until Christmas Day, you'll never need to worry about your letter being late or lost in the mail. It will be ready as soon as you create and print it.
• More customization. Depending on the self-serve company you choose, you may be able to choose your background, select customized text or add additional details to the letter.

Disadvantages of Santa Letters to Print at Home

• More work. You need to customize and print the letter yourself, and if you want a North Pole postmark, you'll need to send the letter to the North Pole, too.
• Lower print quality. Most professional Santa letter services use professionally printed letterhead. If you print at home, you may not get the same quality of printing.