Christmas Greetings

Do sending out Christmas cards excite you or stress you out?  Ours is a little of both every year.  We look forward to doing something creative and fun.  Yet the expense and time involved can sometimes be a bit overwhelming.

Here's a look at a few of our favorites.

2005 - I was 9 months pregnant here. Don't I look fantastic?!

                      FRONT                                                            BACK

2007 - the year the iphone was released              

2008 - Election Year

The past few years, we've just done the standard family picture.  While we try to choose a fun one of the four of us, there hasn't been anything terribly unique about them.  This year wasn't too different.  We were debating between a great family picture of us up in Canada, at one of our favorite places....one of Young Life's camps called Malibu.  The water and mountains were in the background. Everyone was clean, dressed up and smiling directly at the camera.

Christmas Card Option 1

The second choice was from a camping trip. It is a silhouette picture of us as the sun was setting.  That evening was terribly cold. And even though it was August, we were bundled up with plenty of layers.  My hair was pulled back in a messy fashion.  My jeans were old and faded and I had on my running shoes. The kids were in sweats. But the great thing about a silhouette picture is that none of those details matter!

Christmas Card Option 2

So in an effort to be a bit out of the box, we went with the silhouette picture.   Our assumption was that thanks to Facebook, people already know what we look like...so why not go with something a touch different this year.

I also wanted to use a unique mailing labels this year.  I figured Etsy had to have an answer to my boring envelope woe's.   I came across these fun ones below by Tara at Paper Patch Ink.

via paper patch ink

I ordered option three and Tara was kind enough to change the coloring for me. I kept the brown and white dots.  The red turned to green. And the turquoise changed to red. I love it!  Here is what the envelopes looked like as I addressed them.

The return address gets folded onto the back.

For $9, I had personalized labels.  Six labels can be printed on a sheet.  Office supply stores sell labels where the entire sheet is one giant label.

The return address would appear below our names. 

So after you print your set of 6, you have to cut each one out.  I admit this part was a bit time consuming. But because I love to have my cards feel like a personal gift to each person, I figured it was worth the effort!

We wish a very Merry Christmas to all of you.  May your find some peace and joy amidst the chaos that this season often brings.

The final product....the 2011 Gilday Christmas card.

Jen

linking up to:

shabby art boutique, the shabby creek cottage, fingerprints on the fridge, chic on a shoestring decorating, nifty thrifty things, my 1929 charmer