It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

...Christmas card time, of course! Sending and receiving Christmas cards from my friends and family is one of my favorite things about the holiday season. Since I live so far from many of my loved ones, I look forward to everyone's photos and updates so much at Christmas. And I always have so much fun making our Christmas cards each year.

I always mull over the same things...letter, card, or both? Traditional or modern? Very religious or just a bit religious? ("Happy Holidays" isn't happenin' in my cards, ya know!) Elegant or cute? Whole family picture (as if we ever have any good ones) or just the kids? Christmas-related clothing or regular? This last one, of course, amounts to whether I have any energy for organizing a whole new Christmas-related family photo, right around this week, balanced on the other side by whether we've managed to get everyone to sit still facing the camera at the same time, ever so far during the year.

What about you? Got any card-writing or photo-taking advice? I so love seeing everyone's creations every year.

In recent years I've been loving Shutterfly for all things photo-related. In fact, I've been trying to write this post for a while now, and every time I log onto Shutterfly to choose a few favorite cards to share with you, it's so much fun that I can't stop playing around with different cards and photos. The hardest part, for sure, is choosing just one--in fact, some years I can't decide and I do order a couple different ones. Last year, I was so excited to find a card I liked with five separate photo frames, that I used an individual closeup of each child, and it turned out great. (Remember that one?) Actually, Shutterfly makes it so easy to create cute cards, it's hard to make a bad one.

Check out these adorable designs:





See what I mean? Usually, of course, my photo of choice narrows my card selection down quite a bit. But I can see already that it's going to be a long night of card fun around here!

Shutterfly's vast holiday card collection is here, if you want to check it out.

I also love their baby announcements, which are here.

And if you're quick, you could even still whip out a quick Thanksgiving card!

Here's the best part: If you have a blog, 50 free Shutterfly cards can be yours. Just check out this awesome offer from Shutterfly.

Have fun! And do I have your address? Check your mail in a month or so!