One of my favorite things about the quickly approaching holiday season are the cards, letters and of course, photos, that will begin to bless my mailbox.
As if getting snail mail wasn't (rare and) special enough, add in a cute greeting with a photo of a friend and it makes a trip to the ol' mailbox even more exciting.
We love to keep our photos for the whole year, and have done various things with them such as
- plaster them all over the fridge
- make wall collages for the kids' rooms,
- leave them clothes-pinned to the otherwise-boring vertical blinds, or my favorite option
- fill up a basket with them, and periodically "draw" one from the pile to pray for a friend or family member
I would love to get into a daily routine where each night at dinner, we draw a photo and pray for that person or family as we pray for our meal.
It's also fun to compare photos to see how little friends have grown in the last year {gah!! see Exhibit A above and those tiny babies of last year}. I've heard of other friends putting theirs in an album to look through during the year.
It's funny how Christmas cards have changed over the years. It seems like less and less people write letters or just send store-bought cards, and how photos have become standard. I guess this is because a photo is worth a thousand words?
Whatever the reason, I love receiving the photos (I love the letters that still come, too, of course).
I feel like every year I try to simplify. This year, I'm planning to make more concrete strides. As much as I love photo cards, this is one area I've decided to really pare down.
For the last few years, we've had my brother or my friend Rena take photos of us and then either I design my own card or have my brother do it. They are always beautiful photos, and I love the process of designing the cards and choosing the outfits.
This year, however, I'm handing over my designer/photo-styler card though to the lovely people of Shutterfly.
I'm taking my beloved Instagram photos and making a simple, inexpensive card {we are trying to buy a house after all!} that will showcase some of the fun memories from 2012. I'm ordering early, and going to address those envelopes before we even know where we'll be living at Christmas {in our own home perhaps?! Not holding my breath, but that would be amazing}.
Are you looking for an easy solution to beautiful holiday greetings? Don't have a personal graphic designer or gobs of money to spend on a custom card?
I would love to recommend the lovely gallery of photo Christmas cards over at Shutterfly.
Whether you want to do a simple photo card, or a fancy, designer card, they've got you covered. The designs are beautiful and there are SO many to choose from. Remember the days of picking one out of just a few choices? Not so anymore with photo cards.
One thing I love about Shutterfly's cards is how many photo options there are- just one beautiful photo showcased, a collage of many, or even a greeting card that opens up to more photos on the inside and back.
And as a special bonus, Shutterfly has been generous enough to offer one lucky Gidget Goes Home reader a special discount. Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win. It's really easy, just start by clicking where it says "+1 Do it!"
This giveaway has now ended.
$50 off order of $50 or more (excluding tax and shipping & cannot be combined with any other promos (expire 12/14/2012 – no extensions)
Be sure to visit their special offers page for discounts and sales, too.
Good luck and happy card-making! And don't forget to mail me one! Okay, you don't really have to. But if you want to, you can, and we'll pray for you. :)
Thanks to Shutterfly for sponsoring this post!