The parade of self-styled holiday greetings has officially begun. And we dare suggest that the first vanity project to cross our desk may very well win the entire season.

For those of you not lucky enough to bask in the glory of House staffer Scott Cunningham’s Christmas correspondence, the legislative aide to Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Texas, re-purposed his debut on this year’s “50 Most Beautiful” list by The Hill as the backdrop for his personal greeting.

“Making The Hill’s 50 Most Beautiful People list? Easy. Sending my Christmas cards out on time? Harder than keeping the government open,” the House GOP aide quipped, referring back to the unscheduled legislative break that was Drunktober.

Cunningham’s bold maneuver (bonus points for making light of the government shutdown, what with Congress unlikely to beat reindeer poop in a public opinion poll right now) made at least one veteran Hill staffer cringe.

“That’s horrible! I’m embarrassed for them,” our source said upon learning of the recycled imagery.

Cunningham did not respond to repeated emails requesting clarification about how many cards were mailed out, or how far the insider-y missive might travel. (Outside the Beltway? All the way back to the Lone Star State?)

Others remain hard at work on the blizzard of creative messaging that blankets congressional offices around this time of year.

Doug Heye, who has been known to take some liberties with his cleverly produced holiday mailings, told HOH he’s still paring down the field for 2013.

The high-ranking House GOP aide said he has three main contenders in mind; he mapped out plans to hash out the final details the weekend of Dec. 7.

Meanwhile, those of you on Gretzky watch can stand down.

An aide to Rep. Loretta Sanchez, the lawmaker famous for incorporating her cat, who died in 2010, into the holiday mix, said the California Democrat has not yet shared this year’s blog bait with the world.