Holiday Cards - In the Mail

Today is an exciting day...it's 12.12.12 how cool is that? Even cooler, is that I finally got my Christmas Cards addressed and in the mail...well at least the majority of them! I just had to share a sneak peak at the final Minted card we picked for Sam's first Christmas! In case you missed the cards that were in the running feel free to check them out here.

Something that's not so cool, is the fact that it is Dec 12...yes this month is almost half way over and I have yet to do any holiday baking! How this is even possible I do not know...oh wait yes I do...I have an 8.5 month old son that is constantly on the go! He is crawling, pulling up on the coffee table, getting into the kitchen cabinets, playing with the DVD player and repeatedly pulling ornaments off of our Christmas tree! So needless to say my flour and sugar are still in the pantry and the oven has not been used! I have big plans still to pull off some hopefully super cute sweats within the next few weeks that I can't wait to share with you all soon! One project involves Sam helping me out in the kitchen...it's going to be super cute!

Ok, now that my "no baking" tangent is over...I must just take a minute to rave about how much I am in LOVE with our Christmas Cards this year! Not only do they feature our absolutely adorable little boy, but I am so pleased with the quality of cards we received from Minted! Our cards arrived super fast, just 3 days after placing the order! The cards themselves were shrink wrapped and bundled with a green (my favorite color) ribbon...an extra special touch and something I wasn't expecting! We decided to go with both a front and back printed card this year! I loved the strand of lights on the front of the card, and when I realized their was an option to have the entire back covered in lights...well of course I said yes! I also decided to get some skinny wrap address labels. It sure does save some time hand writing your return address on 100 cards and it ads an extra festive touch to the cards as well with the "Merry Christmas" on the back. I hope our cards bring a little joy to our family and friends when they receive them in the mail in a few days!

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season!

Minted - Holiday Cards

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I am so excited for December I can hardly stand it! Tis the season for holiday baking, homemade candies, listening to Christmas music all day long, putting up the tree and of course picking out our family's Christmas Card! This year I am super excited for our cards because we get to show off our new addition to the family, our little boy Sam who will be 9 months old on Christmas Day. This year has been a huge blessing and the best year of my life with the birth of Sam. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and how much our little guy has changed over the last 8+ months. He is so active right now, crawling, talking all the time "da da, ma ma, ba ba", teething, waving and always smiling. He is so expressive and I try to capture as much of it on camera and video as possible! Yes, I'm one of those crazy moms that has her iphone or camera on her at all times so I don't miss a thing.

It was such a treat to have my friend Jamie of Jamie Lou Photography take our photos for this year's Christmas Card. She has already photographed Sam for his newborn pictures and some Fall pumpkin patch photos so I knew these holiday pictures would be amazing. The backdrop was a local Christmas Tree farm. One of my favorite parts about Christmas is the tree, so being amongst hundreds of trees for our photos couldn't have been any more perfect! I am thrilled with how the pictures turned out and it was definitely hard to choose which one to use for our cards. She captured so many candid moments of Sam, I just smile every time I look at them!

This year since it is our first Christmas as a family of three I wanted to make sure our cards were extra special. I decided to go with Minted to have our holiday cards printed. They have quite the selection of cards from traditional, fun and whimsical, vintage and simple and modern, there is definitely a card that will appeal to everyone. Their designs are so happy and cheerful and their fonts are so fun. I have seriously browsed their site a dozen times just trying to narrow down the designs I like best. So many beautiful cards to choose from!

The card that first caught my eye was this adorable Twisted Peppermint Holiday Postcard. I absolutely love the idea of sending a postcard in the mail. With options for pictures on both the front and back, and your return address already printed, you save half the time in addressing your cards. Not to mention there is no envelope you have to lick over and over a million times!

Here are a few of my other favorite cards.

I love this card for two reasons...it allows me to include 2 photos and the design is spot on with the strand of lights since Sam is holding his own lights in his photo. Love that expression on his face! 

This card couldn't be more perfect! Sam is growing and changing so much lately, and he is definitely getting into things that he shouldn't be every chance he gets! I don't think he is quite old enough to be on Santa's naughty list though, do you?

Minted offers so many great features for customizing your holiday cards. You can have photos on the front and back, choose from a variety of envelope selections and even have a decorative slip liner in your envelope to match the theme of your card. Their site is so user friendly and allows you to maneuver from one page to the next with ease. An awesome feature they offer is the Find it Fast. If you are in a rush and don't have a lot of time to upload the same photo over and over into a bunch of different card options this is your solution. Using this feature all you have to do is upload your photo one time and it automatically places the photo in all of the available card layouts so you can view them at the same time. So simple, easy and brilliant! Here's a peak at our little Sam in an assortment of cards.

One of my favorite categories they offer is Baby's First Christmas. How could you not adore a Christmas card with a sweet sleeping little baby on the front. So many adorable options to choose from.

Not only does Minted offer holiday cards, but they have wedding invitations and save the dates, birth announcements, business stationery and even party decor themes. They truly are a one-stop shop for all your paper needs throughout the year. They offer truly original designs on thick luxurious paper. So if you are looking for the perfect holiday card you will definitely want to check out all the fun options that Minted has to offer.

I can't wait for our holiday cards to come! Stay tuned and I will reveal the card we picked once they arrive!