If I Hear Frosty The Snowman One More Time

Merry, merry! I know, it’s a bit early for that, kind of like it’s too early to let my 22 month-old son listen to A Motown Christmas Frosty The Snowman until my ears bleed. But oh well – momma’s little OCD baby! It’s like Christmas came early for me this year. Reading one of the most delightful blogs (the only one I read faithfully), I learned about a pretty swell holiday card promotion from Shutterfly and honestly cannot wait to do my Christmas cards this year. If you know me then you already know how much my annual Christmas card means to me – how much I obsess about it, love writing the letter, selecting the photos. I’m totally jazzed about doing it this year because FOR ONCE I do not have to assemble cards! I’m going the classy route – photo cards! – and having them done for me. Yay! Thanks to the Almighty Interwebs, I can do all of the work from my own home – no running to the card shop, making copies of the photos, no going to Kinkos for color copies of my letter (which is another blog entry entirely), no nothing. Plus, they have a TON, and I mean it by “ton” of options from which to choose, and infinitely more options within those options to get what you really want. It’s awesome.

I was also totally psyched to find that Shutterfly offers (no surprise) more than just holiday cards. Had I known they have a collection of baby announcements before last summer, our newest (and last) baby might not have gotten the shaft… Oh well, these are all just so adorable!

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birth-announcements

Also, had I known that there were save-the-date photo cards available, and (again) had I known about something like this seven years ago, I would have done something TOTALLY different than the generic, super-plain save-the-date cards we chose. Personalization is key! It’s your wedding!

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/wedding-cards-stationery

But I digress. Back to Christmas cards! Speaking of the infinite selection from which to choose. May I present to you Exhibit A:

This one is my favorites. It’s simple, sweet, and has enough squares for three kids’ individual photos. I love the simplicity of the design, and it’s not pretentious in the least. And the colors are just retro enough to be kinda cool. (Which is how I’d like to think of myself – off just enough to be “on.”) Of course, these precious children on the card really sell it, but, and there’s no bias here, my children are SO MUCH CUTER!! They would look smashingly adorable! Oooh!

Moving on. Exhibit B:

Can you sense my theme? I’m not sure if I love this one even more. Black and white photos, colorful, whimsical, artsy design, no? Just photos, simple designs, and again, the colors are unique. Since our kids are young, this is a totally appropriate, youthful design, plus there is room for one picture of each kiddo, and maybe, MAYBE one with Mom and Dad in it, too. If I should shower and fix my hair some day this month…

Lastly, Exhibit C:

A complete departure from the first two that I love, this one will undoubtedly present a challenge in making the final decision. This is, in my humble opinion, full-on CLASSY. I love that the black and white design will make it easy to photo my kids wearing any color clothes. And again, it’s (might I add) CLASSY. It’s not that I’m not a classy person, but every once in a while I like to pretend that my hair is never fuzzy, I don’t have little kids’ body fluids on my already-stained sweatshirt, and I stock scented spa soap in the guest bathroom. Well, it always feels good to know that there is hope!

This is not even a smattering of the options they offer. There are tons to choose from! http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

And seriously, the hardest part of all of this? Getting my three children, all under the age of three, to sit still for 2 frigging minutes to take their photos! Yikes!!