Christmas Cards

I love the fall. I think that part of it is the emerging from the horrible heat that we experience well into September. It is also the trifecta of holidays, so much more fun even with kids. Halloween has come and gone and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. That means that it is time to start thinking about Christmas and specifically, Christmas cards.

I love receiving Christmas cards. The rest of the year my mailbox is filled with junk but in December I love seeing what I receive each day. I have a carefully maintained database of addresses that I start updating about now as well as a spreadsheet of the cards we have sent and received over the years. I guess you can say that I am a little "type A" about my Christmas cards. I just love seeing photos of my friends and their kids as well as reading update letters.

One of my new favorite traditions that we started last year is that we keep all of our Christmas cards and letters in a basket in our kitchen. Each night we pull out a card and pray for that family. The kids love it and it means that your cards are being viewed much more than one month of the year.

Shopping for Christmas cards can be a little overwhelming to me at times. There are so many choices out there and I have such a large list that it can get a bit expensive. One place that I always turn for my holiday shopping needs is Shutterfly. I have used their cards before and they are so easy. There are tons of design from which to choose and it is easy to upload your photos. The problem with Shutterfly is not that you won't find a card you like but that you won't be able to narrow it down. There are so many cute choices.

I tend to lean toward more traditional cards but they have a come cute whimsical ones as well.

Since I like to include a letter, I liked the idea of this one.

Another thing I have done every year at Christmas is make a Calendar for the following year using our pictures. It is so fun to have it in our kitchen and see how much the kids have grown each year. You can have a plain design or they have a lot of pages that are already decorated for you.

And, for those of you who do not have time to deal with Christmas cards, I have a few friends who send New Years or Valentine's cards instead. It actually is not a bad idea as it removes that large task from a busy season and puts it in your friends mailboxes at a time when there is otherwise not many interesting pieces of mail being delivered. Shutterfly has you covered for cards no matter the occasion.

And one of the great things about Shutterfly? Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010