For years, hopeful children filled with dreams of toys and Christmas cheer have written letters to Santa, only to have no response from the big guy up in the North Pole. SantaPrintables.com, however, sets out to change that with response letters from Santa. Children lacking this direct line to St. Nick can have their concerns allayed (or confirmed) with naughty or nice certificates from FreePrintableCertificates.net.

SantaPrintables has over 50 colorful templates written from Santa and his "helpers," aka the parents and others who help the busy guy out at Christmastime. There are letters for boys and girls, religious letters, funny letters for grownups and even missives for pets and an Elf on the Shelf letter.

"Santa traditionally works at night, when children are asleep," said Kevin Savetz, the site's creator. "But with these letters, he answers their questions, assuages their fears and responds to their letters personally. I think these templates are a good start."

Some templates are designed as a response to a child's letter to Santa. There are some gender specific letters help boys and girls feel like they are being addressed on a more personal basis. Fears are also dealt with within the content of the letters. There is a whole category devoted to children's concerns about not having chimneys, being away from home, or changing addresses.

Santa's not the only one responding to hopeful children, either. There are letters from elves, Rudolph and even letters from Mrs. Claus. The North Pole has never seemed so accessible.

All the letters feature full-color Christmas designs and are convenient for last-minute Santa letter seekers because the letter prints immediately. Each letter is free to instantly download and print in PDF format. Alternatively, users can choose to pay $5 for an editable .DOC version that can be customized in Microsoft Word. The premium, paid version is handy when users would like to type in a child's name and other personal details before printing.

Children or grownups who want a more straight-forward indication of their standing at Christmas can be given a good-natured certificate from FreePrintableCertificates.net that puts them in one of three categories: Nice, Naughty, or Lump of Coal.

"All three certificates are very popular this time of year'" said Savetz. "I like to think that the children are getting the 'Nice' awards, while the 'Naughty' and 'Lump of Coal' certificates are being used as gag gifts for adults."

Other Christmas certificates available at the site include an IOU from Santa in lieu of a gift, light display awards, gift certificates and general holiday awards. All of them are decorated with festive, seasonal colors and bright pictures of presents, lights and Christmas trees.

The Christmas certificates print in standard letter size from any home or office printer and can be sent in the mail, presented at office parties, and rolled up and placed in stockings. They are free as PDFs that can be written on in pen, and there's also a $5 premium DOC option for people who want to type names and other information directly into the certificate.

There are more than 80 sites in the FreePrintable.net family of free printables sites created by Savetz Publishing, Inc., a company devoted to creating useful and informative web sites of interest to consumers and small businesses.