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 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 . 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

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.