Do Christmas Cards Put You in the Mood? (Shutterfly Review)

I know that when the first few cards start to roll into my mailbox after Thanksgiving, I am really put in the Christmas mood. I especially enjoy receiving cards from friends and family members. I love seeing family photos and keeping up with how big their children have grown. At the end of the season I save them. I treasure them. So then, would you be surprised to hear that I don't send them myself?

Oh, yeah. I have had the best of intentions. Since my children arrived I have been wanting to show them off as only a Christmas card can do. But, we are always busy and we run out of time. This year I am determined to change all of that. Luckily, shutterfly.com has me covered!

This is the same fabulous company I used to make photo albums of my son's firsts for our family. I was amazed how easy it was to upload my photos, design & customize the pages and then have it shipped. I was able to scrapbook and organize my photos with very little effort. The finished product was wonderful.

So, I am excited to use Shutterfly for our Christmas Cards this year. This year I am starting with plenty of time to avoid the holiday rush in my life. Okay, here is my absolute favorite...

This is "Holiday Window" in the Christmas Cards section under Cards & Stationery. It took me a while to decide on my favorite since the site lists 748 in that section alone. I was drawn to the simple greeting and fun use of color! The light blue adds some pizazz to the strong red. I really love the simple designs that focus on the photo of family. My ideal cards usually have the photo taking up the majority of the white space. Of course, I am also loving this particularly adorable photo of the two darling girls. Where do I find a memorable moment like that? Well, I don't have it yet. But have a few sneaky ideas up my sleeve to get the perfect photo of my two adorable little ones.

1. I could let them get crazy in the mud. Wouldn't a crazy mud caked photo of my little cuties be perfect? I am sure it would not be difficult or take much time to get that one.

2. I could bribe them to sit together with candy. This would require me to have a lightening quick finger as it wouldn't keep them in close proximity for long.

3. Give them each big plates of spaghetti. Yes, another messy shot. But, it would be memorable and  again make my kiddos happy in the process.

Well, I am giving myself another week to capture that perfect card quality shot. Then I will be customizing this card to proudly show off my darling kiddos for all to see. And by the way, did you know that Shutterfly can even stamp and send out your cards to your recipients? That was new to me. I also noticed they can make gift tags as well as make Christmas invitations a breeze!

So if you are like me and love getting Christmas cards in the mail, just don't forget to send yours out! Head over to Shutterfly and see all the options they have to make your cards, tags, invites and more come together beautifully and quickly.

*Disclaimer - I received a code for free holiday cards in exchange for posting an honest review about their holiday designs. I did not receive any other form of compensation and all opinions expressed are my own.