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Right now, I am in New Orleans for a family wedding, and I am getting ready to have some serious fun. At least…. I hope I am. The kids aren’t sleeping well because they are in a new place and in pack and plays instead of their cribs.
Beanette actually climbed out of the pack and play last night and busted her lip. Ah…. memories. Hopefully everyone can get some much needed sleep tonight so we can enjoy the wedding tomorrow!
I love being home even if it’s just for a few days. It’s always so warm in Louisiana around the holidays, quite a start contrast to our current life in New Jersey these days.
My mom and dad didn’t really have a ton of holiday traditions outside of the regular putting up the tree, etc. but one thing my mom always did was get pictures of our whole family for a Christmas card every year.
When I was young, I took a lot of art classes, and some years I drew our family Christmas card, and we put the picture inside of it, so the idea of sending out a photo greeting to everyone has been long ingrained in my mind, even before it was cool.
Here is an oldie but goodie of my brother, sister, and me. I’m the blonde one choking the puppy. ๐
So, needless to say, I have continued this tradition with my own family, even sending out pictures of the hubs, Julep, and me since we got married.
Because sending christmas cards has been such a long standing tradition with my family, I’ve been honored to partner with Shutterfly every Christmas for four years now. Even when I lived in Grenada, I used Shutterfly’s service where they address, stamp, and mail cards for you which was great since we were international at at the time.
This year, I was able to get professional photos done because as I’ve mentioned in other posts,ย I am rebranding my entire business so I took new headshots and pictures of the whole family which I was able to use for our Christmas cards.
So you can get a sneak peek of those below in our card! Shutterfly has some gorgeous new foil stamped cards, which I was able to try out. The picture doesn’t really do it justice. It’s all shimmery and beautiful in person, and I just love it.
I know for many people Christmas cards can be really expensive, but I was able to get all my cards during a 50% off promotion, which Shutterfly has regularly. I’ve used Shutterfly to order canvas prints, photo books, etc. and have always been happy with the quality. In fact, I sent the doctor who delivered the twins a large canvas print ofย her delivering my daughter. It hangs in her office, and she said she gets so many compliments on it.
Suffice to say, my advice to get affordable cards or affordable photo gifts is to wait for promotions. I’ve been on Shutterfly’s mailing list for years, and I never order anything unless I have a coupon code or they are having a sale. Additionally, when it comes to holidays cards especially, you don’t have to get professional pictures taken. Last year, I had my neighbor take a picture of us in their back yard, and I had a friend photoshop it to brighten things up. This year I just happened to have professional pictures because of my business rebrand. So, all that to say, holiday cards can definitely be fun and frugal, and they are one of my favorite holiday traditions.
Do you send holiday cards to your family and friends?
Pretty card! I agree photo web site coupon codes are the way to go! Or I buy closeout Christmas cards and add a short note and a regular photo, but that’s gotten too time-consuming the past couple years.
I know – it’s crazy that buying them online and having them sent for you can be so easy and budget friendly. ๐
I love old Christmas cards. We have some pretty ridiculous family pictures from Christmases over the year. My dad hated professional photography, so it was always some snapshot taken by a neighbor. One year, we had a snowball fight prior to the picture which was fun, but my brother had a big gouge on his face, and we all had visible snot.
That’s too funny! We have some crazy photos from my childhood too. ๐
This Christmas I made homemade Christmas cards out of plain brown card stock that you can get from Hobby Lobby or any other craft store. Using colored construction paper, I was able to cut squares and used a holiday rubberstamp on the front to decorate the cards this year. It involved some “sweat equity” to make the cards, but it’s cheaper than buying the same ones in the store!
We included a family picture, from Shutterfly, that we purchased using the online coupon codes. I also recommend doing any online shopping through Ebates to get extra savings.
Great ideas! This year it was definitely in my best interest to do the whole thing online because we were pretty pressed for time and there are such good deals on Shutterfly too.
Love the pictures, Cat! Your family is gorgeous and I cannot believe how big the Beans are. We also have a family picture taken at Christmas too. I look back at them and can’t believe how my girls have grown (and how much younger I look too!) ๐
That’s the best part of having a photo taken every year. I love looking back at them. ๐
Love your card, Cat, and the kids are adorable! We’ve kept up the tradition of sending out holiday cards. We used to do photo cards, but the last few years we’ve been buying up cards in the after-Christmas sales to send out the following year. Maybe we’ll take a photo this year for an “online card” to post on Facebook.
That’s a good idea too!
Nice card, Catherine. I love each photo you chose. I’d better make one for myself. This activity actually makes me so excited! Yay! Can’t wait to have my own holiday card.
I absolutely loved making my own DIY Christmas cards when I was younger. My dad always told me he wanted me to make my cards myself instead of buying them from the store. There’s a lot more thought and creativity put into the card this way.
So cute! I just finished writing cards for some friends and clients. It’s my first time, sad to say. But it felt like the right thing to do this year.
Aw! I love your card!!! :)) Merry Christmas to the Alfords!!!