Holiday Photo Cards from Shutterfly

I love sending and receiving holiday photo cards.  I know that some people dispense with Christmas cards these days, but it is a tradition that is important to me to keep up.  Sure, I'm in contact with a lot of friends on Facebook and through email, but it's nice at Christmastime to send them a physical card letting them know I am thinking of them and wishing them blessings.  Also, we have a lot of older relatives that don't use the Internet very much, so photo cards are a chance for them to see pictures of our kids.  And I know that I love getting a cute updated picture of my friends' kids as well!

In the past, I've dressed my kids in holiday outfits early in December and tried to pose a festive shot for Christmas cards.  However, that is easier said than done, and I didn't even attempt it this year with three little ones!  Instead, I am using a great tip I picked up last year from the example of a friend's card.  Instead of trying to get all three of her kids to look good together, she took individual photos of them from earlier in the year, cropped them to head shots, and turned them black and white.  Then she added them to a card design with three identical photo slots.

I loved this idea because the card still looked more festive than using, say, a beach picture, but no stressful photo session was involved!  I'm definitely using that idea this year!

After hearing lots of good things about the company, I've just started using Shutterfly for some of my photo needs. I recently ordered a photo book of our summer vacation, and I was very pleased with how it turned out.  They certainly have plenty of choice of designs for Christmas Photo Cards - 803, to be exact!

Here's another cute one for three kids:

I like this religious design, too:

Right now all the cards on Shutterfly's site are 30% off, and you can get free standard shipping with orders over $50 with code SHIP50.  Holiday cards start as low as $.32 each. 

Photo cards are something for which I make room in my Christmas budget each year, and I am never sorry that I made the effort.  Not only are they a way of sharing our lives and staying in contact with family and friends near and far, but the extras make nice keepsakes to bring out each year.

Do you send holiday photo cards?  Do you enjoy receiving them?

Disclaimer: In return for writing a post about their cards and linking to their site, Shutterfly gave me 50 free photo cards.  However, all opinions are honest and my own.