Babylon to Jerusalem

But.

I found cards that are actually worth buying! Shutterfly has some really sophisticated, classy design options available, and after browsing for five minutes I had already picked out at least four designs that I would consider worthy of purchasing. Then I found even MORE to be excited about.

My favorite blogger, Katie, from Marriage Confessions, posted about a promotion that Shutterfly is running for bloggers. If you blog about your Shutterfly Christmas cards, they will give you 50 for free (learn more)! Shutterfly is a company Mike and I have used frequently when making photo-themed gifts, especially photo books and calendars (which right now, by the way, are Buy one - Get one half off!). I like buying from Shutterfly because A) they have great promotions and prices, and B) their stuff makes great gifts because it's personalized and high quality. I'm thinking about ordering their adorable gift tags for this year to attach to my holiday baking. We've always been super pleased with the results and have often given these as gifts to our family members or to ourselves . So I'm excited for a chance to promote a good company in exchange for some really nice merchandise!

Using photo cards, to me, makes sense in this economy. Money is tight this year, so our Christmas cards are in a lot of ways our gifts to our friends and family. Everyone loves pictures of the baby (come on, admit it, you do), and by using these photo cards we can let everyone know that we're thinking about them and wishing them a merry Christmas, even if we can't afford to buy gifts to show it.

Maybe I just haven't looked seriously at Shutterfly's Christmas card selection in years past, but I feel like this year they're really offering some great designs. I had a hard time deciding which one to use for our family. Here are a few I really liked (please ignore the "click to edit" bits in these photos - we were taking screen shots of each card):

I really loved the brightness and cheeriness of this one.

I thought this one looked really classy, and I liked that I could use a collection of pictures. I might remove me and Mike from this one, because really, who wants to look at us when they can look at Fox instead?

I really like the simplicity of this one. The design is simple and modern and doesn't distract you from the picture.

I think this one is the winner. I love the brightness and cheeriness of the design. I love the way it frames this picture in a way that, even though it was taken in November, makes me believe that Fox must be standing there watching Christmas snow fall from the sky. This makes me feel wintery, Christmasy, warm, and fuzzy at the same time. I love it.

As you can see, I really went for the black-and-white photo with the bright, colorful card design. I think it looks so much more artistic. But color photos look great with the Shutterfly designs too!

I am really excited about these cards. I wish I could order several different designs! That's a far cry from my old, "photo cards aren't worth the money" view. I think Shutterfly has converted me AND put me in the Christmas spirit.

And now, you'll have to excuse me. I have to go decorate my house for Christmas. Two weeks before Thanksgiving.