Occasion HandbookBirthdays 47 examples

Birthday Wishes for a Sister

You share a childhood, which gives you material nobody else has. Use one line of it and the card stops being generic.

Warm

  1. 1 Happy birthday to the person who has known me longest and likes me anyway.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 2 Happy birthday. You are the only person who remembers the same house I do.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 3 Another year of you being the sensible one. Thank you for that. Happy birthday.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  4. 4 Happy birthday. I would pick you even if I had been given a choice.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  5. 5 Happy birthday to my first friend.
    Tone WarmLength Very short

Funny

  1. 6 Happy birthday. You are still older and I intend to mention it annually.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  2. 7 Happy birthday to the person who got me in trouble for eleven consecutive years.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 8 Another year and you still have not returned my jumper. Happy birthday.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  4. 9 Happy birthday. Mum still likes you more and we both know it.
    Tone WarmLength Short

From a younger sibling

  1. 10 Happy birthday. I copied everything you did and it turned out to be a good strategy.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 11 You went first at everything so I would know what it looked like. Happy birthday.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 12 Happy birthday. Thanks for the twenty years of hand-me-downs and advice.
    Tone WarmLength Short

From an older sibling

  1. 13 Happy birthday. You have turned out considerably better than I expected in 1997.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 14 Happy birthday. I have watched you become properly impressive.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 15 Still looking out for you, still enjoying it. Happy birthday.
    Tone WarmLength Short

If you are not close

  1. 16 Happy birthday. Thinking of you today.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  2. 17 Happy birthday — I hope this year is a good one for you.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  3. 18 Wishing you a happy birthday.
    Tone PlainLength Very short

If she is far away

  1. 19 Happy birthday. There is a sister-shaped gap here and it has not filled in.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 20 Happy birthday from a very long way away. Ring me.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  3. 21 Missing you today. Happy birthday.
    Tone WarmLength Very short

To a sister-in-law

  1. 22 Happy birthday. I got you by accident and it turned out to be the best part of the deal.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 23 Happy birthday to the sister I did not have to grow up with, which is why we get on.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 24 Happy birthday. So glad you are part of this family.
    Tone PlainLength Very short

Using the shared childhood

This is material nobody else on her card list has. One line of it is enough.

  1. 25 Happy birthday. Nobody else remembers that kitchen, that car, or that dog. Just us.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 26 Happy birthday to the only other person who had to live with all of that.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 27 Happy birthday. We turned out alright, considering.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  4. 28 Happy birthday. You were there for the whole of it, which nobody else was.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For an adult sister you are close to

  1. 29 Happy birthday. You are the person I ring when something has gone wrong, and you always answer.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 30 Happy birthday. Friend first, sister second, and I mean that as the compliment it is.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 31 Happy birthday. Thank you for the four-hour phone calls.
    Tone WarmLength Very short

When she is also a mother

  1. 32 Happy birthday. Watching you do this has made me admire you considerably more, which was already quite a lot.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 33 Happy birthday. Take the day off from all of them.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  3. 34 Happy birthday to a very good mother and a slightly terrifying sister.
    Tone WarmLength Short

If you have grown apart

  1. 35 Happy birthday. Thinking of you and hoping it is a good one.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  2. 36 Happy birthday. I would like to see you more than I do.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  3. 37 Happy birthday. Hope this year is kind to you.
    Tone PlainLength Very short

If she is going through something

  1. 38 Happy birthday. This year has been hard and you have handled it better than I would have.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 39 Happy birthday. Whatever you need, at any hour. That is not a formality.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 40 Happy birthday. No fuss, just here.
    Tone PlainLength Very short

Funny, from the inside

  1. 41 Happy birthday. Mum still asks me why I cannot be more like you.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  2. 42 Happy birthday. You were her favourite and we both made our peace with it.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 43 Another year and you still have not returned that book. Happy birthday.
    Tone PlainLength Short

Short lines

  1. 44 Happy birthday, sis.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  2. 45 Best sister. Happy birthday.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  3. 46 Love you. Happy birthday.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  4. 47 Happy birthday — have a good one.
    Tone PlainLength Very short

Questions people actually ask

What do you write in a birthday card for a sister?

Use one detail from a shared childhood. It is material nobody else on her card list has, and it is what turns a generic message into hers.

What do you write in a sister’s birthday card?

One line from your shared childhood. It is material nobody else on her card list has, and it is what turns a generic message into hers.

What do you write to a sister you are not close to?

Keep it short, warm and free of anything loaded. "Happy birthday. Thinking of you and hoping it is a good one" is complete and closes nothing off.