everyone loves: christmas photo cards

i've always been the type of person to send out christmas cards to friends and family. back in the day, if you picked up a pack of cards from the store, addressed them and mailed them out, you were good. to quote a talented singer: things in the game done changed.

once folks in my peer group started reproducing, they started getting a little creative. with social media, we're used to hearing about little johnny and madison's every move. but back in the day the only way i could get an update on the lives of my extended circle of friends was via those cute little photo christmas cards. some had pictures of the entire family, while others had just the kids, some cards even included status reports of everything that each member of the family had done since last year's christmas card.

as dorky as it might seem, i have to admit that once i got pregnant, i, too, started looking forward to years of sending out our very own christmas photo cards after babylove's arrival. i mean, let's face it, it's just not as fun to get a picture card with two adults that you know staring back at you.

mmmmm.....not so much

luckily, the internet makes it super easy to create professional quality cards at home. my preferred photo website is shutterfly. in addition to being able to upload and print pictures from their site, they also have a bunch of cool products like graduation announcements, calendars, and of course, holiday photo cards.

in the past, i've used shutterfly for everything from making memorable wedding thank you cards (similar to this one except in the limo after the wedding ceremony and not as cheesy). three years later, some of my friends still have our thank you cards on display.

photo courtesy of www.ivylain.com

i also used shutterfly to make photo books for both of sets of grandparents with my maternity pictures and babylove's newborn photo shoot in it.

my favorite shutterfly feature is the photo share sites. i used it to create an online photo album for babylove that i update every month and share with friends and family. unlike certain websites (that shall remain nameless), you can password protect your entire photo album website and also set privacy levels within the albums so that only those that you give permission to can save or download the posted pictures. perfect for a private person like me.

okay, back to the christmas cards: there are so many cool designs to choose from that it was almost hard to choose. i really liked the cards with multiple images of the family members in various states of holiday happiness.

however,a busy husband and baby + photoshoot would require a bit more of an effort than i can muster right now.

i liked this one as well, although for christmas i would probably like something a little more formal.

the previous two examples are actual folding cards. but in the end, i ended up choosing this flat card since i tend to draw a blank when it comes to filling up the inside of a card with sweet, flowery nothings. i also really love the paisley design and the classic red and green coloring.

with that out of the way, now all i need is to snag somebody to take our picture in front of a christmas tree, which i plan to do this week. if i can get the cards in the mail by early next week, that will still leave a couple of weeks for people to enjoy them before christmas.

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