Holiday Cards

 2006

I love love LOVE holiday cards.  I'm all about graphic design and pictures of my cute kids, so it's no wonder I love creating them.

Here's a big tip from me:  Send New Year cards.  This works for us because we send cards to people who celebrate all sorts of holidays.  That way, we can send all the cards out at once (since Chanukah and Christmas are often fairly far apart).  Plus there's the added benefit of having extra time to create them.  I don't have to try to fit card designing in along with menu planning, shopping, wrapping, visiting, services, etc. Yet another benefit is that you can actually use all those super cute photographs you take during or leading up to the holidays.

From our Shutterfly New Year cards 2002

I like to design the cards entirely myself, but some years, I just don't have the time.  The year our twins was born was one such year.  That year, I was particularly thrilled that Shutterfly existed.  With infant twins and an active duty husband who worked an insane schedule (complete with training out of state), I just couldn't do it all by myself.  So I took that super cute photo over there of them in their bear snow suits, uploaded it, slapped it into one of their templates and bam, done!  

One of my big reasons for creating my own cards is because I like to personalize it more than the photo sites typically allow.  I love to add text and more photos.  This year, I'm really impressed with the options at Shutterfly.  There's far more room for customization than in the past.  I LOVE the holiday story cards.  They give room for lots of photos and text.  This "Year Of" card gives a space for each month.  I love the bright colors and the fact that it allows for customization (you can change out "Merry Christmas" for "Happy New Year" or "Happy Holidays").

I'm a big fan of photo gifts.  Our family all lives far away, so they miss out on most of the moments--big and small.  In the past, I've made calendars that featured all sorts of photos from the past year.  They love to see the pictures and they can keep and frame the pictures later.  I particularly like the feature that lets you add events for certain dates.  My father is famous for mixing up his anniversary date, so every time I make one, I make a point of adding that to the calendar.  :-)

I just found that they now feature canvas wall art.  They offer 12x12 which is difficult to find.  Other sites tend to have the standard 8x10, 11x14, etc.  I'm a scrapbooker and I usually work in 12x12, so I love that option.  I would love to get a canvas print of one of my layouts.  I've made a number of grandparent-themed layouts that I think the grandparents would love to have on canvas.





*Disclaimer:  I am taking part in the blogger 50 free holiday card promotion.  
http://bit.ly/sfly2010
That being said, I have been a fan of Shutterfly for years and have purchased a wide range of items from them and have always been very happy.