Rock Your Christmas Card!

My 3 sweet munchkins with Santa last year. :-)

I read an article recently in which a magazine reader asked, "In this day and age of e-mail and facebook and instant technology, Christmas cards seem a little old-fashioned. Should I even bother to send any this year?" I would like to answer that question with a resounding "YES!!!!" Yes, they are old-fashioned, and that is what I think makes them so great. When you walk into someone's home you don't flip open their laptop and start surfing their facebook account. You do, however, peruse the photographs and cards fixed to the fridge and say, "What a cute kid! Is that your niece?"

Now, more than ever, is the time to go back to the days of ink and paper and stamps and envelopes and show friends and family that you can put a little more heart into their Christmas greeting than a click of a mouse. There is something meaningful about holding something in your hand that came from the hands of another, and it is a special experience that I, for one, will never give up!

One year, being my crafty self I decided to hand-make all of our Christmas

cards. Were they pretty? Yes. Did it make me crazy? Most definitely. Luckily, with sites like Shutterfly you can do all the hard work with just a few clicks- no glue stick required! I was just checking out Shutterfly's immense collection of holiday photo cards, and I got even more excited to start designing my own. What I love best about their collection is that you can add not just one, but up to 12 (yes, TWELVE!) photos to your card! My friend, the budding photographer, gave us a great deal on our family photo shoot and I loved pretty much every shot she sent me, so I'm just glad I don't have to pick just one!

Shutterfly also has every design you could hope for, from modern to classic to downright funky. If you still need an idea for your family photo, an online photo card site like Shutterfly is a perfect place to get some inspiration. Once you're ready to design your own card, the other great thing about Shutterfly is that they work with your budget- you can search the cards by price! Perfect! If you're more concerned with the design, you can search by the number of photos you want to use, the format (flat or folded), paper type, card size, color, or designer. I just love it when these places make it simple for me.

Once you get hooked on their photo cards, you can check out all the other fantastic ways you can use your family photos, with everything from birthday invitations to wall calendars (Christmas present for the grandparents, anyone?) and more!

I'm off to go design mine now...I'll be sure to take a pic when they arrive!!