Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Shake Up Your Holiday Cards with Themes: 5 Fun Ideas

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Thanks to Global Influence for partnering with Stuff Parents Need to make this #HolidayCardThemes post possible. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always. 
Holiday cards, in my opinion, are simultaneously ridiculously easy, thanks to the amazing design options at our fingertips online, and ridiculously hard, thanks to the bar getting higher and higher for how awesome your card should be (again, thanks to all the great options out there…). But perhaps they don’t have to be all that hard if you spend just a bit of time thinking about a fun way to share about your year with those you love.
My favorite holiday cards to receive, first and foremost, have a picture on them of the people who sent it. Those are the ones that go straight on to my fridge, and usually hang out there until about April. Beyond that, though, I especially love the ones that incorporate a different theme. Here are 5 fun ideas for themes you can tie to your holiday cards this year.

1. Travel theme

Make your holiday card include 1 great shot, or even a collage of shots from your vacations throughout the year. Those tend to be great pictures because everyone is having fun, and quite frankly, it’s fun for the recipient to get to live vicariously through you for a moment, whether you are at the beach or in the mountains or in some really fun city.

2. New house/new city theme

If you moved this year, incorporate that into your card. Let your new digs or your new town share the spotlight so that you can show it off to your friends and family, and encourage them to come and see you!

3. A year in the life theme

Pick one photo from each month of the year that represents a highlight and make an awesome collage. Lots of holiday cars out there can have photos on the front and back, and can include a collage style.

4. Happy New Year theme

We pretty much all get holiday cards. How many of us get cards that are all about New Year’s? Bonus: using this strategy buys you a little extra time to get your card together!

happy new year

5. The bucket list theme

Did you knock anything off your bucket list this year? Do you have photographic evidence? I would LOVE to see something like this from my friends; make it a center part of your holiday card and it will surely be a hit!

Do you have any other ideas for cool themes to incorporate with your holiday greetings? 
 
This post was inspired by Paper Culture who offer eco-friendly holiday cards and holiday invitations.

My Top 5 Holiday Card Options From Tiny Prints (Giveaway!)

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Thanks to Tiny Prints for providing gift codes for review and for giveaway. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

I need your help, readers! I need to decide which holiday card from Tiny Prints I will be ordering this year. I have it narrowed down to 5. Which one is your favorite? I’ll make it worth your while to tell me: I’ve got a $50 Tiny Prints gift code up for grabs! (Details below).

It is so hard to narrow it down, you guys! Tiny Prints has SO many cool options, including all these great new designs for 2013 (Contemporary, Classic, Vintage, Full bleed photos, All That Glitters, Bold Expressions, Simply Chic, Woodland Wonder & The New Tradition). And once you find the right style for you, then you’ve got to check out all the new trim options: square, round, bracket, ticket and scallop! And of course, Tiny Prints offers matching address labels and envelope liners to ensure that your holiday card is every bit as much fun for the recipient to open as it was for you to send!

Ok, so here are the cards I’m considering, in no particular order. I customized the colors and the trim in each case to my own preferences. So much fun!

Holiday Card Options:

1. Swell Swirls Black Flat Holiday Card

tiny prints holiday card 1

2. Sequined Season White Flat Holiday Card

tiny prints holiday card 2

3. Wishful Wonderment

tiny prints holiday card 3

4. Golden Greetings: Gunmetal Flat Holiday Card

tiny prints holiday card 4

5. Wonderfully Cozy White Flat Holiday Card

tiny prints holiday card 5

 

While you are trying to decide which of the 5 you like the best, here are a few tips for you:
Don’t miss out on the Pinning Party ™ hosted by Tiny Prints tomorrow, October 8, at 2pm EST. RSVP here! Lots of fun prizes up for grabs! And also be sure to check out the great photo gifts. I don’t know about you, but my parents have asked for pictures of their grandbabies for Christmas. Tiny Prints can help me put together something extra special for them!
Ok, ready to vote? And maybe to win???
 Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a gift code that is good for $50 off your total order, as well as free shipping! That ought to put you in the holiday spirit!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We Used ModernGreetings.Com for Our Holiday Cards (and We’re Thrilled!) (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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Last year at this time I was still battling severe nausea with my pregnancy, and so I just let go of the idea of having holiday cards altogether.

This year I knew I wanted to get a nice picture taken of the family. I booked a local photographer so that we could get a nice family picture. The photographer rescheduled on me. And then 1 1/2 hours before our photo shoot, she completely cancelled. Without an offer to reschedule. And she referred me to another photographer was mostly booked and who charged about 3 times what she charged.

Gee, thanks.

So despite my advanced planning, in mid-October I was left in a complete scramble trying to figure out what to do. I felt sad because I really wanted to send Christmas cards out, and even more than that I wanted a decent looking picture of my family. My mom made an excellent suggestion to see if a friend of mine might be willing to snap a few photos. Jessie from Vanderbilt Wife was SO sweet to take a few minutes directly after her daughter’s fantastic princess-themed birthday party to take some pictures of my crew, and they turned out just lovely.

The next day (Sunday), I uploaded my favorite photo to the ModernGreetings.com website, and I picked out several different cards that I liked and then inserted the picture to see what looked the very best. It was very easy to do, and in the end, I went with something very different but that I loved. I chose a square card that had a beautiful text greeting on one side and on the back side had the photo. I thought it looked really neat.

I placed my order that afternoon. The cards were in my hands by Wednesday. WOW!!! I couldn’t get over the rapid service! They were printed and prepared for delivery the same day I ordered them (on a Sunday!).

Want to see what they look like??? The photo I took of them below was in natural light, and the result is a more muted look than what they look like in person. In person, the colors are rich and vibrant!

 

My mother has already received her card and she called and bragged about how beautiful the colors were on the card. I have to agree with her. The cards looks great and I’m quite proud to be sending them out. I have been very pleased with ModernGreetings.com, and I want to recommend them to you if you are still looking for a holiday card provider. They have TONS of options for color scheme and design. And of course, they offer so much more than holiday cards!

Speaking of which…

Win it!: Every single Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a hard cover photo book ($30 value!). Yes, you are already a winner!

All you have to do is submit your email address to this link and you will receive a code for the book. Seriously! I signed up, too. What a perfect holiday gift this will make for someone!!! Why is ModernGreetings.com doing this? They are so certain that you will be pleased with the product you receive that they believe you will give them your business down the road. And I think they are right!

I received a complimentary set of holiday cards for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

Holiday Cards Made Easy (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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Now, don’t throw your shoe at the computer screen when I share this with you, but…

My Christmas cards are already made.

And honestly, they were SO easy to put together! At first, I thought I’d need to wrangle everyone in the family together for a holiday portrait (DIY version, that is). I started getting really stressed out over find the right time of day, the right lighting, and oh yeah, coordinating outfits. I actually got a little panicked thinking about it, and when I realized how stressed out I was, I just tossed that plan right out the window!

Instead, I selected a lovely template from Paperspring, and found 3 photos from throughout the year (one from March, one from late June, and one from October) that captured members of my family having fun. I uploaded them to Paperspring, added a brief holiday message, and placed my order. It seriously took about 5 minutes to do after I chose the photos. And guess what? They look FABULOUS! I love the way they turned out (see the template I used on the right), I think people will enjoy seeing the pictures from throughout the year, and I really love just how easy it was to get a beautiful product with not hassle from Paperspring.

There are endless things to stress out about during the holidays. Let Paperspring help you make sure that getting beautiful personalized holiday cards isn’t one of them!

Buy it!: Paperspring wants to offer Stuff Parents Need readers 20% off any holiday card purchase, plus free shipping! Just use code November20 at checkout, and then sit back and relax! 🙂 The code is good through November 14th.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to score a $50 gift certificate to Paperspring, which should take care of your holiday card needs. Woo hoo! The contest will run until November 18th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.
Mandatory entry: I’d love to hear which holiday card template suits your family the most. I think you’ll be really surprised by the excellent variety Paperspring has!
For example: I love the cards we picked out, but if I had to go with something different for my family this year, I’d go with Holly Jolly!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: “Like” Paperspring on Facebook
2. Blogger love: “Like” Stuff Parents Need on Facebook

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.