Saturday, December 4, 2010

Christmas Card Musings

My beloved Grandma Birky hand-writes all of her Christmas cards with personal messages to her recipients every year. I know several others who take the time to connect with friends and family in this same special way—I admire you all! While I (sadly) do not write personal notes to all of our friends and family this time of year, I still love Christmas cards. I love receiving them in the mail and I love sending them. I love pinning them up in our kitchen, having an excuse to catch up with friends and family far and near and seeing a daily, tangible reminder to pray for our loved ones. I love long Christmas letters, although we'll see if we send one this year!

I also LOVE a good deal—hence this shameless blog post which will enable me to snag 50 (50!) free Christmas cards from Shutterfly. I LOVE SHUTTERFLY. And not just because of this deal or because of this post, although you may not believe me. Last year, we used Shutterfly for our Christmas card and Lewis' birth announcement (see here). We loved being able to use three pictures, personalize the information and keep the design classic at the same time. Alas, Christmas cards get expensive...so I'm jumping at the chance to cut down our costs this year by blogging! If you want to join in the fun, follow this link...


My favorite Christmas cards are simple and classy, where nothing detracts from the picture. I love captions of "Merry Christmas," or "Joy," and black and white photos with red detailing. I also love cards that can be left up longer than the Christmas season. I'll often cut out pictures from Christmas cards and keep them pinned up on our french board in the kitchen for months after the holidays are over. Jack loved to look at the pictures of people last year! Christmas cards spark conversations, prompt phone calls, and inspire.







The above pictures are three of my favorites—it's hard to choose just three! Sometimes the picture decides which card is chosen, sometimes the card dictates the picture! Notice a theme? Let me just say that Shutterfly (in my personal opinion) has the best selection from which to choose. The challenge on Shutterfly for a sometimes indecisive gal like me is figuring out which one I like best!

Two favorite Christmas gifts are a Shutterfly calendar or mug. I've participated in calendars from Shutterfly in Christmases past and have been pleased with the results. Since I'm a coffee lover (and sometimes addict), I adore the mug idea, too.

Ok, friends. Hopefully you'll receive a Christmas card from us this year. Send us yours and will post it and pray for you! :)

Peace and joy this season...