Christmas Card Time….And I’m Late!

I just love this time of year. And one of my favorite things about the holidays is checking the mail and tearing open all the wonderful photo cards from friends and family that I get to proudly display as part of my home decor through the new year.

Alright, now for the confession. Between my monkey’s first birthday, the half-marathon, Thanksgiving, and preparing for some holiday time off of work – I have not yet sent out (okay, even ordered) Christmas cards. Last year I was fortunate enough to utilize a professional photographer who had just taken  baby boy’s newborn photos, but this year I realizedthat I can do this myself. That realization came when I received this beautiful Christmas card from a dear friend of mine (and fellow mommy-to-be of two. Isn’t she radiant?) who used Shutterfly to design her lovely cards.

(I might also add that she is always on time and ahead of schedule, and was among the first batch of holiday cards in my mailbox yesterday reminding me of my slacker status.) Being there are twenty days left until the holiday, I suppose it is time to hop on the holiday card bandwagon and get this project done. Thank goodness for Shutterfly! They have offered a number of pre-selected bloggers 50 free photo cards. Amen! I have been a big fan of Shutterfly for gifts and photo printing for some time now. I designed this collage photo paster for monkey’s first birthday last month using Shutterfly. I framed it for the party and used it as decor and am now storing it as a keepsake. (His name was at the bottom, hence, the white out {smile}.)  I also have a goal for 2011 to take LOTS of pictures at family events throughout the year and design individualized photo calendars for family to give as Christmas gifts next year (I actually had this goal this year, but…).

Now, the difficult part – choosing which style. I am crazy about the chic square stationary cards and loving some of the toile designs offered. For the last few years I have steered away from the traditional red and green in my Christmas decor and instead used silver and turquoises.  For this reason I was thrilled to see that Shutterfly has some fantastic modern design options . You can even search the options by color (love that!). Alright, that’s it – I’m motivated to get this project cracking. I’ll keep you posted on the final decision.

Have you already sent out your holiday cards? (Don’t make me feel too bad.)