Print personalized holiday mailing labels
Avoid the tedium of writing each envelope by hand
By Tara Nolan
Avoid the time-consuming task of addressing all of your holiday correspondence by hand by creating your own address labels on the computer. If you compile the addresses of your family and friends into one place, then all you have to do is choose your label size and design, and with a few clicks, you can embellish your envelopes with holiday images.
Set up a blank label page
- In Word, open a new blank document and go to Mailings > Start Mail Merge > Labels.
- Here you pick the type of printer you will be using as well as the label code. We chose Avery standard 5159. If the labels you purchased are not listed here, select New Label and enter the dimensions. Click OK to exit.
- To pull addresses from the address book you created, click Select Recipients > Select from Outlook contacts. Note: You can only do this with Outlook contacts, not Outlook Express.
- Your address book will appear or select the folder with your contact names. Uncheck the names you aren’t sending cards to. Click OK > Next. Don’t be alarmed: the addresses don’t immediately appear. You will be able to preview them a couple of steps later.
- In Address block, select the layout of your labels and how each address will be formatted. We chose “The Randall Family” style. If you’re sending correspondence to a home address, uncheck the Insert company name box. Click OK. Selecting Update Labels will make the layout the same for each label.
- Click Preview Results. Here you can make any last-minute adjustments to your list.
- Click Finish & Merge to make any changes or to print.
Add addresses to a label template
- Click here to download our template (created using Avery standard 5159 labels). Save it to your desktop and open it in Word.
- To change the Clip Art image, simply click it, hit Delete, and then go to Insert > Picture or Clip Art. To reduce the size of an image, click on its corner and drag the arrow to the appropriate size.
- Click so the cursor is flashing on the right side of the image. Go to Mailings > Start Mail Merge. Follow the above steps to complete your label sheet from Step 3 onwards.
Create return address labels
To avoid hand-writing your return address on every envelope, you can use a couple of ways to print your address onto a label.
Print plain labels
- Open a blank document in Word.
- Go to Mailings > Create > Labels.
- Type your address into the field provided and click Options to select the size of label you want to use. We used Avery 5667.
- Make sure the box on the envelope and labels pop-up that says Full page of the same label is checked. Click New Document.
- You will probably have to reduce your font size. Hit CTRL + A to select the whole document and then change the font to a smaller size.
Print labels from a template
- Click here to download a return address template (created using Avery 5667). Save it to your desktop and open it in Word.
- Click so the cursor is directly to the right of the image.
- Hit CTRL + A to select your labels.
- Go to Mailings > Create > Labels.
- Type your address into the field provided. To change the font, highlight the text and right-click and select Font. The font size should be smaller but could vary depending on how much information is in your address.
- Make sure the box that says Full page of the same label is checked. Click New Document.
Quick tip: Always print a test page first to be sure your labels are going to line up correctly.
