Christmas Card Time

Can you believe it's that time of year? I like to get my Christmas cards mailed by the 1st week in December. That means I've got to order the cards... this week!

My favorite place to order cards for any occasion is Shutterfly.

I've picked my 3 favorite cards from their site. They have over 600 designs to choose from. Everyone can find something they like. Check out the cards

We had our family pictures taken today. I can't wait to see them. I'll be writing about those this week.

Option #1 I love the monogram and a spot for a family photo plus an individual shot of the kids.

Option #2 I just love the saying and the black and white photo.
Option #3 It's just beautiful I think it's my favorite!


Which one do you like best? Check them out they are offering 20% off cards right now.



Personalized Gift Tags
Something else I found on the shutterfly site was Christmas gift tags. Who knew you could personalize them.

I'm going to order a set. I'm thinking this will cut down time and really make a cute accessory on the homemade gift we make for family.



Photo Calendars
A very personal and frugal gift, and always a hit with grandparents..... Photo Calendars! We give one every year to our parents. It's affordable and grandparents love it. I like that you can pick out special photos for each month and make each one different. Right now they are offering buy one calender get one 50% off.



If your planning to order photo Christmas cards hurry on over, Shutterfly has my vote for the best Christmas cards! We've ordered them for the last couple years for Christmas cards and birth announcements. Love them!

So help me out which card do you like best?

Christmas Card Decorating

As I was reading McMommy's Blog today I was inspired to do another post today. She was wondering what to do with her Christmas cards.

Well here's what I do. This photo was taken last year close to Christmas. I paper clip the cards to the garland. It's a fun way to look at the cards for the kids.

So how do you display your Christmas cards?

Serious Mall Sales!

I usually don't hit the mall for clothing. Target is my good friend. Yesterday we ventured to the mall for Christmas attire for the kids.

I was SHOCKED to see cute children's dresses at Nordstrom for $15. Real designer stuff normally priced at $50. They had great deals in all areas. Lelli Kelli shoes for $39 normally $70 (although they were out of Madeline's size).

Then we headed to Gymboree, another big sale. Almost everything was 40% plus they take an additional 20% off. I had another 15% coupon. That made the stuff the same price as Target, bonus it's higher quality and holds up better over time.

Another stop Macy's. I got Will a nice heavy Nike jacket for $15 originally priced $85. (it snowed here today) WOW! Then we found a great shirt for Kate for $4 then we used the extra 25% off coupon.

Head out to the mall.... tomorrow! Check out the incredible deals. I plan to go back without the kids for some Christmas gifts.

The Best Kids Gift!

I can honestly say " I love Build-A-Bear Workshop".

Know why?

My kids absolutely go crazy to go. They even put on their best manners while I shop at the mall just to get a visit to the store.

Will made "puppy"when he was 1 and at the age of 6 still sleeps with him every night. When "puppy's" bark stops we simply go to Build-A-Bear and they replace his bark for free.

Not your typical stuffed animal. It's the special one your kid keeps over the years then fondly pulls out when they are grown up.

Knowing now how I feel about Build-A-Bear you can imagine my kids excitement when a special shipment arrived from mom select yesterday for me to review on my blog.

Christmas came early at my house!

Look at Will's new moose. Can't you see the excitement in his little eyes? The ears even light up.

We also got a girl. So the girls are "sharing". Kate is 12 and still sleeps with her Build-A-Bear Bunny she made when she was about 4. Shush... don't tell her I told you.

Here is the happy couple. Will put them out on the dining room chair before my cookie exchange party last night.
"Mr Moose" is already sharing clothes with "puppy". That's another great benefit of the store. You can take your special animal shopping and the outfits are affordable.



So this Christmas if you have a child to shop for, get a gift card to Build-A-Bear or build one online for a wonderful gift. Smiles and excitement are a guarantee!

Christmas Cards Already?

Can you believe Christmas is around the corner? It seems like I was just writing about our Christmas cards for last year.

We usually send out the cards the first week in December. In order to get them on time I order at least a week before Thanksgiving.

This year I used Kodak Gallery and a card template it was super easy. Get your coupon for $15 . Just sign up and they will email you a code.

I only ordered 10 to start I am silly like that. I wanted to make sure they looked good before I ordered 175. We've got an outragously long list we include some of my husband's client friends.