Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Spreading the Joy

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is having the opportunity to spread joy and bring smiles to people's faces.

There are so many ways to do this. I made my Aunt smile just by sharing my homemade advent calendar. Riley giggled and laughed when I gave her a bell and sang Jingle Bells with her tonight. My husband grinned when he came home and smelled the yummy peppermint candle I had lit.

But my favorite way to spread joy in the holiday season is by sending out holiday cards. I love sending them and I absolutely love getting them. I used to buy the card boxes in the store and print pictures out separately, but when Riley was born another Mommy friend told me about Shutterfly.

And oh the world of photos and gift giving that was opened up to me! When I first started with Shutterfly I used it as a storage place for the hundreds, then thousands of pictures that we took of our baby girl. I even made a page just for her so our friends and family could watch her grow and share in our adventures.

Later I discovered all the things that could be made using our sweet memories. I have created and personalized photo books for myself and my family. We call them our brag books. I love looking back at Riley as she has grown and she's finally getting old enough to enjoy looking at her baby books too!

On her first Christmas, we started the tradition of giving both grandmas a photo calendar complete with personalized family dates and a year of Riley pictures! It is always so much fun to sort through my photos and pick the ones that fit perfectly with each month.

Two years ago I made my first photo Christmas card and have never looked back. The amazing choices at Shutterfly this year are making my head swim. When I first looked I was convinced Get Glowing was the one for us, but the Swirling Ornaments is so me and TG loved the Count Your Blessings card because of it's sweet message. Will I go whimsical, inspirational, or super chic like this one for 2010?

Check your mailboxes to see my choice for spreading the joy this season soon and if you're a fellow blogger Shutterfly is giving you the chance to do the same with 50 free holiday cards! Just go here!


1 comment:

  1. I want to see the finished advent calendar! When I was in college your dad would send me one home with Lesley! Now it's like my Weaverling Christmas tradition!

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