Shutterfly Holiday Giveaway!

UPDATE: GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

I love to show off my amazing husband and son with Christmas cards every year- they are too handsome to keep to myself! This year, I have several possible cards that I like from Shutterfly's new holiday card collection. If you're looking for unique photo gifts to give Grandma (or keep for yourself), they have a great selection of those too!




For 2013, Shutterfly has introduced some even better products to top last year's awesome selection!

- New card design styles for 2013 - 5x7 folded tri fold & back of card designs
- Classic: Traditional colors, iconic illustrations, aspirational sentiments, snowflakes, monogram
- Contemporary: trend forward colors, texture and layering, water color techniques, shine, glitter
- Whimsy: humor and nostalgia meet, fun sentiments
- Merry and Bright: all about color and having fun
-  Religious: metallic type treatments, incorporated story ideas
-  Photo Basics: multiple colors, vertical type, family name highlights

Now onto the contenders for the Hurley family cards:

You know I love a bright chevron!

I love that Shutterfly gives you great options to share your faith!

 

So bright and cheerful- and room for so many pictures!

This year, Shutterfly has introduced tri-fold cards, which are so pretty!

 I love how this one gives sections to update on each person in the family.

Shutterfly is giving one lucky reader $50 off total order (plus free shipping) to order your holiday cards or gifts!

Here's how you enter:

1st entry: Visit Shutterfly's Holiday Card collection and comment on this post with your favorite card.
2nd optional entry: Pin your favorite card on Pinterest with the hashtag #PhotosYouLove. Comment with a second entry on this post to let me know you pinned it.

Giveaways will end on 10/22 at midnight. Winner will be chosen by random generator and announced on 10/23.



Disclaimer: I received compensation from Shutterfly for this post, but even if I didn't, I would still share my love! :)

Merry Christmas 2012... in 2013.

We celebrated our sibling Christmas on New Year's Eve this year. At ten to midnight, we stopped opening presents to celebrate the new year and shoot fireworks. When we came back in, my parents finished their gifts. 

This is my mom's reaction when she realized my dad bought her a new tablet/laptop. She had been wishing for it for a while but never dreamed he'd get it for her. 

Captain Christmas

Tonight was the Christmas play at church, Christmas Superhero. My pastor's wife Stacy and I wrote the play and worked with the kids during their children's church services in December. For being fairly last minute, I thought they did great!

As you can see, the kids were dressed as toys in Sullivan's Toy Shop. After discussing the meaning of Christmas- toys and the kids who are good all year to get them- Angel Mandi tries to tell them the real meaning of Christmas. Captain Christmas and Major Mistletoe come to the rescue to share the story of the Christmas Superhero, Jesus Christ.

I love how hysterical Captain Christmas and Major Mistletoe were as they interacted with each other. They added some lines that were perfect! My favorite line at the end...

Captain Christmas: "Superheroes. Away!"
Major Mistletoe: "In a manger!"

And the Tiny Prints winner is....

My previous post had a giveaway for $50 in Tiny Prints holiday cards. I used www.random.org to generate a winner and the winner is...

Comment 3, Stacy F! I've emailed you Stacy and you will get your code. Thanks for checking out Tiny Prints for your Christmas cards! I can't wait to get mine in the mail soon...

Tis the Season to by Jolly!

My favorite season is almost here. Living in Florida, our seasons are basically, summer, summer, summer and summer. I can't do anything about the fact that we wear shorts on Christmas Day, but I can decorate my house, light my candles and pretend that its snowing outside!




Now that I have Maxon, one of my favorite things about Christmastime is sending out our Christmas cards. Maxon is such a cute kid and I love showing him off every chance I get. Last year, I got these Christmas cards.









They have a hole punched and come with ribbon to make them an ornament. I remember seeing them on my family's trees through the whole season. Love it.




This year's selection of cards is awesome possum. Seriously. I kept scrolling and thinking, "This has to be the end" and then I see that I'm not even halfway done. Their artists had to be working overtime all of 2012 to get all these styles.




I am really big on having "Merry Christmas" on my cards, not seasons or holidays, but the genuine Christmas. So I was pleased to see so many religious cards in cute designs. I may want to say "Merry Christmas," but I still like a stylish polka dot or chevron. Tiny Prints delivers style and the message.









With so much going on in life, I like the idea of a year in review card, rather than the age old letter.







This is one of the new styles for the ornament. So classic and pretty. Of course I may be drawn to that snow. Lucky ducks.






This year, Tiny Prints is offering a great giveaway! One random comment on this post will receive $50 off an order of holiday cards at Tiny Prints! All you have to do is comment on this post and tell me what you love about the holidays! Easy peasy!




The giveaway will close on October 28, 2012. One lucky winner will be selected to win a code for $50 off their Tiny Prints order (does not include shipping & cannot be combined with any other promos).




Check out Tiny Print's Christmas Cards and find the one that shares your spirit of Christmas! Tiny Prints' special offers can be found here and don't forget to comment on this post!










NOTE: This post was sponsored by the wonderful folks at Tiny Prints. I received compensation, but the thoughts and crazy comments are all my own!

This winter, we took our first family vacation as the three of us. Matt finished school and we headed out. Our first stop was Savannah. We got two parking tickets for apparently not knowing how to park in downtown (street sweepers come through Saturday mornings). We visited my Great-Grandmother's old house, where my dad used to sit on the back porch and watch the car dealership unload cars onto the lot. We walked along the River and rode the ferry over to the hotel to see the Gingerbread House competition. We walked all through the squares and looked at all the fun parks! 

We went to Paula Deen's restaurant to put in our reservation first thing in the morning. When we got there, we found out they were giving out free buffet if you gave blood. My husband gave blood and while I waited, I stood in line to see Paula Deen! She was in town for one day signing her new cookbook. After 4 hours of waiting, she signed our ornaments and cookbooks and said my son was the cutest thing. What a great memory! 

Savannah is such a beautiful town and a great start to the vacation. 

Maxon on the road trip 

First time using Maxon's backpack. 

 

Meeting Paula Deen and sons

Forsyth Park 

Our next stop was Charleston, where we stayed for two days. We drove across the bridge every morning, which Matt and Maxon loved. We visited Fort Sumter, the aquarium, and the Battleship and submarine. so fun.

From Charleston, we drove to Asheville to see the Baltimore all decorated for Christmas. Let me tell you, WORTH IT! They had trees and lights everywhere and choirs singing Christmas carols. The only downside was that Maxon couldn't be in his stroller and he is heavy. By the end, we just wanted to go put him down. 

 Our final stop was Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA. Matt's parents met us here and we did the light show after the gardens closed. So great. Maxon stayed awake the whole ride and we saw an hour's worth of lights.

We drove home on Christmas Eve and got here just in time for C

Christmas Cards- Have a Merry Everything!

Last year, as you can see below, I got Christmas Cards from Shutterfly. I chose this card and my little baby boy looked so adorable.

This year, I have a one year old and I'd love to celebrate the eventful year we've had. We've had Mother's Day, Father's Day, first birthday, and many other firsts. And you know what, I realized that I've ordered all the holiday cards in 2011 from... Tiny Prints.

We have ordered all of our holidays from Tiny Prints this year, including Mother's Day and Father's Day.

I love how unique the Tiny Prints cards are- they have great themes, and the ability to personalize the card with Mimi, Noni, Papa, Granddaddy, etc. No "Grandpa and Grandma" here!


For Christmas, I am having a hard time choosing our Christmas cards. I love how many variations in color, theme, style, greeting (Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays) and layouts they have!

I love this ornament style:

I also like this card

and this one

These tri-fold cards are lovely:

And these with the cut out pictures are to die for!

Order your Christmas cards from Tiny prints this year!

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

I ordered Maxon's birth announcements from Shutterfly using my free coupon from Motherhood Maternity. I was VERY pleased with their paper and the quality of the cards- so professional and yet so affordable! I decided that it didn't matter what deals I got from other places, my Christmas cards were coming from Shutterfly.

Above is Maxon's birth announcement from Shutterfly- so classic and modern at the same time.

So I was reading in my Google Reader and I see that Shutterfly is giving away free prints for sharing your story on your blog! How cool is that?? Head here to see what its all about. As for me... I"m taking this adorable picture and figuring out our Christmas cards!

*Photo taken by Rebecca Dodson, http://www.rebeccadosonphotography.com./

The Christmas photo cards are here. I'm thinking about using this one

or this one

or this one

I also decided I'm getting a desk calendar for my work desk but that will come later. Which card are you getting?