Enjoying the Sights of the Season with help from Shutterfly!

I'll admit it. I am addicted to Christmas. No, I am not one of those girls who is up at 3 am on Black Friday just to get to Toys R' Us at 4 am. In fact, back in my college days, my sister and my mom would get up early (back then the earliest stores opened was 6 am!) and I would always roll out of bed at 8 or 9 to meet them out. No, I'm not addicted to that part of Christmas. However, I was always the girl who started listening to her Christmas CDs in early November. Nat King Cole, Perry Como and The Charlie Brown Christmas collection just moved something in my soul. There is something about all of the trappings of Christmas that make my spirit feel light. There seems to be more of a connection between people at Christmas, don't you think? All year we race around, working, twittering, depending on Facebook as our sole line of communication to our loved ones. (I'm not knocking FB-I'm a little addicted to it, too!) But there is something to be said about a season full of parties, cookie exchanges, and family meals. Also, what can be better than opening your mailbox and finding two or three actual pieces of mail from those we love most? Not bills, or sales circulars, but Christmas cards and letters. Photographs to show us how our loved ones have spent their year, how they've changed and grown. I have always loved opening such sweet little gifts, and last year I fell in love with creating my own photo Christmas cards. I can't wait to send out this year's card, plastered with Patrick's sweet, angelic face, of course! There are so many places that make photo cards, but my hands down favorite is Shutterfly.com. The Christmas card designs are so sophisticated, yet fun! I can honestly tell you that I spent over an hour last night, just playing with the website. It is extremely easy to navigate, and the possibilities are truly endless. I think I actually made 7 or 8 different Christmas cards using our Christmas portraits.
Here are a few of my favorites:


I also like this one:


Check out Shutterfly's options for holiday cards. They have so many to choose from. Half the fun is trying all the different designs! But Shutterfly doesn't just do holiday cards. They also offer such cute designs for Christmas party invitations, so you can invite your loved ones over with style.

My other favorite offering from Shutterfly is their calendars.
My sister and I are planning on using Shutterfly to create cute desktop photo calendars of our children for our parents and grandparents. It is a perfect, practical gift for those people in your life who are so hard to shop for!

I hope you all enjoy your Christmas season, taking care to spend time with those you love most, and admiring the cards and letters from those who can't be with you through this precious, sweet season.

*Shutterfly has generously offered me 50 free Christmas cards in exchange for this blog posting. Thanks, Shutterfly.com!*