Easy, inexpensive holiday cards
Last year, we decided to try to start sending out
holiday cards, which has always been difficult for me
to do consistently. I usually end up having a stack
of unwritten cards around New Year's, and then I give
up. I understand why everyone with kids sends photo
cards. They grow so much over the year. The only
problem for me is that I think nice holiday cards are
too expensive, often costing $2-3 per card. Which
means spending a small fortune each year (not
including postage), depending on how many you need to
send.
I had a free sample of 20 cards from Shutterfly last year, so I decided to give them a try. They made beautiful cards - we were very pleased. But they were a bit out of our budget. If I wanted to have nice, professional looking, cardstock-quality cards, I'd totally order from them. I've ordered enlargement prints from them, as well as photo books, and they make good stuff. Shipping adds up though. My pick for prints and enlargements is Costco. They just have amazing prices and a rock-solid guarantee. They have holiday cards too, but they have very limited layout designs, and they are basically photo prints with a designed template on them. And frankly, I wasn't as impressed with their layout choices as I was with those from Shutterfly.
Determined to have a stylish, yet affordable holiday card, I decided to turn to Adobe Photoshop Elements. We've always been fortunate enough to have access to it, and it is a great tool to have for anyone who needs a bit more flexibility with photos and layouts. I created a basic 5x7 layout and pasted our photos on there, and voila - a custom card for a fraction of the cost. Granted, they were still only 5x7 prints and not cards, but it was a good compromise for us. We included a brief update letter (cheesy, but what can you do?). And the price was right - only 39 cents per print and free shipping (or option to pick-up directly at the Costco warehouse).
This is what we sent out last year:
It actually doubled as a nice photo for me to carry around in my white coat pocket to glance at from time to time during the day while I was on the wards.
I am putting the finishing touches on the card for this year, which will be a similar style, but blue. Hopefully I will have them mailed out by the end of the week. I'll post it later this month.
For those of you who'd like to try it out, Shutterfly has two promotions going on right now:
20% off calendars and photo books. Coupon code 33AF-CLBK (expires 1-3-2008)
20% off $40. Coupon code 32AF-11DR (expires 12-04-07)
I had a free sample of 20 cards from Shutterfly last year, so I decided to give them a try. They made beautiful cards - we were very pleased. But they were a bit out of our budget. If I wanted to have nice, professional looking, cardstock-quality cards, I'd totally order from them. I've ordered enlargement prints from them, as well as photo books, and they make good stuff. Shipping adds up though. My pick for prints and enlargements is Costco. They just have amazing prices and a rock-solid guarantee. They have holiday cards too, but they have very limited layout designs, and they are basically photo prints with a designed template on them. And frankly, I wasn't as impressed with their layout choices as I was with those from Shutterfly.
Determined to have a stylish, yet affordable holiday card, I decided to turn to Adobe Photoshop Elements. We've always been fortunate enough to have access to it, and it is a great tool to have for anyone who needs a bit more flexibility with photos and layouts. I created a basic 5x7 layout and pasted our photos on there, and voila - a custom card for a fraction of the cost. Granted, they were still only 5x7 prints and not cards, but it was a good compromise for us. We included a brief update letter (cheesy, but what can you do?). And the price was right - only 39 cents per print and free shipping (or option to pick-up directly at the Costco warehouse).
This is what we sent out last year:
It actually doubled as a nice photo for me to carry around in my white coat pocket to glance at from time to time during the day while I was on the wards.
I am putting the finishing touches on the card for this year, which will be a similar style, but blue. Hopefully I will have them mailed out by the end of the week. I'll post it later this month.
For those of you who'd like to try it out, Shutterfly has two promotions going on right now:
20% off calendars and photo books. Coupon code 33AF-CLBK (expires 1-3-2008)
20% off $40. Coupon code 32AF-11DR (expires 12-04-07)
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