Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Who Needs Khakis, a White Shirt and a Beach? Not This Girl.

Let's talk Christmas Cards. 

Do you always get a bunch in the mail with these smiling, perfect, happy families?  Husbands and wives and kids and dogs and stuff?  Usually they are strategically placed in front of the fireplace, but sometimes a family picture from the beach is used.  Everyone is wearing khakis and white shirts.  You know what I mean.

Anyway, I get about 50 of these each year.  And every year I go to Hallmark and buy my cards, and write these long drawn out stories about how lovely the year has been and blah, blah, blah.  The idea of it makes my head hurt.  I put it off as long as possible.

AND THEN...I realized something. 

I may not have a husband or children or a picture of all of us on the beach, but by golly...I'VE GOT LOUIS!  And he's going on the front of the Christmas card this year.  And I'm not writing any notes.  I'm just sticking that sucker in the envelope and mailing it :)  And this has brought me so much CHRISTMAS CHEER I can not even begin to tell you!

Do you want to know something even more exciting?  Shutterfly is going to help me do this. 


Are you familiar with Shutterfly?  I've had an account with them for ages.  I order all of my prints from them, because quite frankly I'm too lazy to take my memory card down to the local Walgreens.  I also made Louis' baby book on Shutterfly.  It's super easy, inexpensive and the quality is excellent.  Some people prefer SnapFish.  Some people prefer Picasa.  I prefer Shutterfly.  And that's all that matters. 

I also happened to receive the most GLORIOUS e-mail from Shutterfly.  Do you know what it said?  Gather round and I'll show you.  It said:

Hello Bloggers! Receive 50 free Christmas cards from Shutterfly http://bit.ly/sfly2010 

WHAT?!?!?!? 

Yep.  It's legit.  I e-mailed them and told them that I wanted to do it.  And they e-mailed me back and told me what to do.  And now I'm gonna do it.  You should too :)

So I went to their Christmas Card section, and I started perusing my options.  Let me tell you.  This was no easy task. Such cute stuff!  Then I got distracted looking at their Christmas Party Invitations.  SWOON.   But I reeled myself in, and went back to looking at the Holiday Photo Cards.

I played around and put pictures into about 12 different cards.  Then I called MK in to help me narrow it down to one.  FAIL.  We couldn't do it :(  We settled on THREE.  I'm going to show you the final contestants:

CONTESTANT #1:


CONTESTANT #2:


CONTESTANT #3:



All very different cards, but all so very perfect!

I adore the first card because of the festive colors, the beautiful photo of Louis, and the fact that it says "Christmas" rather than "Holiday".

The second card is also a winner, because it has a photo of me.  I actually prefer that the card just have Louis, but the family...you know...the family you haven't seen in 10 years?  They probably wouldn't mind seeing what you look like these days.  So this gives them a little of both.

The third card is just ADORABLE!!  It is also the only one that opens.  It's a regular greeting card type.  I used Shutterfly's "soft touch" edit function to make Louis look even sweeter than normal.  Don't you agree?

Le sigh.  Which to choose?  What do YOU think?

And don't forget to hop right over to Shutterfly using this link:  http://bit.ly/sfly2010 to receive YOUR 50 free greeting cards.


Ho, ho, ho,
 
T

21 comments:

Deviled Megs said...

I love options 1 and 2! I did preprinted cards last year and it was AMAZING -- so much easier, so much time saved. Since I don't have a doggie, I shared a favorite christmas cookie recipe and wished everyone a "Sweet & delicious Holiday season" -- I got such compliments on it. I wish I could do it again this year but I feel the need to do something new....

Annie said...

I vote for #2 because you're in it! :)

Jess said...

My vote is for #2 because you're in it...and I know if you're anything like me, you send cards to people you haven't seen in forever, so you are right in saying that they would probably enjoy an updated picture of you. :)

Anonymous said...

I vote #2 because you are in it, but #3 is my favorite. It cheers my heart. :)

Miss Sweet Tea said...

I like #1!

Dee Stephens said...

I had a holiday card featuring me and Buddy for years and years. I made them through shutterfly as well.
Use #2...people like to see what you look like :)

BelleinBows said...

All three are just too cute! I vote #2... wait is this a vote? haha I think it's the best choice because you're in it. I love the red and the black&white!

#3 is precious though.

Jess said...

I get what you're saying about the second card, because you're in it! And you're part of the family too!! People probably would love to see a picture of you. So, that's my vote!!

I do love the third option too, just because Louis looks ridiculously adorable!!

Pink Champagne said...

LOVE all of your options, and thank you, thank you for solving my Christmas card dilemma! 50 free Christmas cards, here I come...

the Hard Way said...

YES!!! I adore shutterfly, so much more than snapfish - I don't know why?

Can I vote #2? I really like the bold red with the black & white shots PLUS you get to be in it! Tres important :)

Anything that brings you Christmas cheer is the right thing to do. Culturally, we have really overdone the holidays - keep it simple to keep smiling!!

Elizabeth said...

I feel like I'm playing devil's advocate, but I love #1. I love the colors, how sweet and fuzzy Louis looks, and...I dunno, #1 is just my favorite! They're all cute, though, and you have inspired me to send out Christmas cards from Lilly and me. I poked around Shutterfly and you're right - they do have tons of cute options!

Ann said...

Although the #2 is very nice I must admit I like #1 the best.
I've been planning on making card with Duke for this year but heck 50 free cards with Duke would be way easier than doing it myself :)

Stephanie@thecrackedslipper said...

So I also like number #1! What a cute little guy...I totally fall victim to the X-mas card pressure...but I really wonder-- WHAT is the point in these days of Facebook? Everyone I know that needs to see my family (and some that don't) are on FB! Maybe this year I will get up the nerve to save a few trees and boycott X-mas cards. Probably not, but it's not Thanksgiving yet so I talk a good game.

nomo wino daph said...

HA......talk about decisions! Imagine when you have to choose with kids & a hubby AND a dog LOL!!

I think #2 cause your in it also!!

teresa-bug said...

I like the first one...and I think I am going to do this!! Thanks for the tip!

Jenny DB said...

OK I totally signed up for this promotion and also, I pick #2!

The Bee Charmer said...

I like all of them. And who would not be thrilled to get a holiday greeting from Louis? Nobody. That's who.

Anonymous said...

cod fioricetfioricet tablet
A risk is well held to consist pilot that will ensure the money of its factories and fix the worship itself.

Anonymous said...

These cards are so cute! Louis is going to brighten a lot of mailboxes!

Ashley said...

I like the 2nd one. and girl, xmas photo cards are the way to go!! I cant even imagine writing out Christmas cards!! My mom has been doing Christmas photo cards since I was little- we used to have to use 2 rolls of film taking pics and then she would go have them developed and then browse them ALL over and pick the best! The back to the store to order the actual xmas cards. The whole on line ordering is the best thing ever!! Last year I couldnt make up my mind and did some from Shutterfly, some from Tiny Prints and some from walmart! ha. I am going to blog about this so I can get 50 free. Does everyone reallky get 50 free? or does shurtterfly pick a few bloggers ?

Carole said...

I like #2 and #3