Rock the Holidays with Gorgeous Christmas Cards

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Creating Your Christmas Cards

Nothing really says Christmas to me like eagerly checking the mail in December to see who sent us Christmas cards! It’s like getting little presents in the mail! Each one is a surprise. They are different sizes, colors and highlight some of our closest friends and family.

In my family, we like to display our holiday cards on our front door. Some of my cousins hang Christmas cards on their tree. A few of my Aunties put them in a basket or on their table. I keep this in mind when creating our family Christmas card.

When I saw the new Gatefold Christmas Cards at Shutterfly, I knew that’s what I wanted to do! My kids got a kick out of opening and closing these cards. Plus, it works well taped up to a door, standing on a table or attached to a tree. And there are tons of fun designs and layouts!

Choosing the Right Photos

I’m kind of obsessed about my Christmas cards now that I have kids. More and more of my friends and family are taking breaks from social media.

For a lot of them, it’s the only photos they see of my family each year. So, I spend a long time choosing them carefully.

Since my family travels a lot, we often use photos from our adventures. We’ve been lucky enough to travel to Paris, Disneyland and Maui this year. But, I really wanted to highlight our love of our home here in the Pacific Northwest.

So we did a photo shoot at one of our favorite PNW Christmas tree farms, McMurtrey’s Red-Wood Christmas Tree Farm.

My husband and I wore neutral colors and dressed the boys in brightly colored plaid shirts. This allowed the kids to “pop” in the photos. I mean, people really are only looking at the kids anyway! We also brought along some props because they are fun!

I ended up featuring a couple of family photos in prominent spots. Sometimes people cut out photos in Xmas cards so they can display them all year. Then, I picked out a few of my favorite parent/child shots. And then I gave the people what they wanted: photos of just my kids.

Adding that Extra Something

If you’re like me, you like to get the most bang out of your buck. We usually do a photo shoot or take photos at one of the many Christmas events we attend.

But, after we create our Christmas cards, the photos usually just sit on my computer.

However, with just a few clicks, I can use the same photos to create Christmas stockings, holiday pillows, or personalized Christmas tree ornaments!

One year, we even made my Dad a fleece blanket with our holiday photos on it! Creating these holiday items extends the life of our Christmas cards and it makes me happy every year to display them!

It also would have been super easy to add the photos to a photo book. I can imagine creating a photo book featuring holiday photos from the past 5 years.

Or making a Christmas carol book with photos of my kids dressed in holiday sweaters.

Ooh! A book of all my kids’ Santa photos throughout the years would make a fun grandparent gift in a few years!

Why I use Shutterfly

The biggest thing I’ve noticed about being a Mom of two little kids is that there just isn’t enough time each day. I love making my Christmas cards using Shutterfly because it’s easy.

All I need to do is choose my layout, fill in my name and upload my photos. I was able to create this card in 4 minutes. Yes, I timed it. And I felt like a rock star getting to check this off my holiday to-do list!

Plus, Shutterfly offers customizable Christmas tree ornaments. It’s my favorite way to create keepsakes of my favorite holiday events with my kids. It has become a tradition for us to put our Santa photos on ornaments so we can marvel at them every time we decorate our Christmas tree.

But, what I like most about Shutterfly is that they really “get” Moms. Not only do they have Christmas cards, but they have New Year’s Cards.

And Valentine’s Day cards for those of us with crazy busy holiday schedules. So, if sending out family photos is important to you, there are a lot of options!

Thanks to Shutterfly for providing product for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

Looking for other holiday card ideas? Check out my blog on family travel holiday cards!

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