personalized holiday cards

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.

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.

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

Holiday Cards Made Easy (GIVEAWAY!!!)